If the Blue Jays’ disappointing record continues to reside south of the break-even border in July, the window of this current, aging Jays roster to compete may be deemed closed in the minds of the front office. And if president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins are then looking to reload at the MLB level, the best trade chip they have is third baseman Josh Donaldson, a free-agent after 2018.

The news keeps going from bad to worse for a team that can’t hit with runners in scoring position, that is insisting — at least in their minds — they will overcome a dismal 2-10 start because it’s early, and that has a closer, Roberto Osuna, still seemingly recovering from a bad neck after blowing his only save opportunity since returning to the active roster. That last observation is not as much a condemnation of the 22-year-old Osuna as it is the fact the Jays have only led two games in late innings out of the 12 they have played.

How ominous has the situation become?

Consider that annual MVP candidate Donaldson is on the DL, suffering through a thrice-injured right calf since the start of spring.

Consider right-hander Aaron Sanchez finally turned himself in to trainers and revealed a blister issue has been worse than he had let on.

Consider that left-hander J.A. Happ, a 20-game winner a year ago, felt something in his left elbow and exited his last start. At least he didn’t hear it pop, like usually happens when it is Tommy John bad. Happ and the Jays were awaiting the result of an MRI exam.

It says here that because of all this recent bad news, the Jays’ task of crawling back to .500 as soon as possible has become a tougher and much slower task.

The question is not likely to be: Are the Jays buyers or sellers at the July 31 deadline? The question will likely come down to: Are the Jays sellers, or do they maintain the status quo and pray?

It seems the Jays as buyers is not an option.

Sellers? This team would be in big trouble if they tried to trade veterans at the deadline, if the belief was that they could still compete this year via a hot second half. No, they are stuck with a farm system that is almost bankrupt of major-league-ready talent at the upper levels. Most of the quality in terms of future MLB talent is still at the lower levels — teams with a lone A in front of the city’s name.

Basically, all of the Jays’ legitimate, ready-for-prime-time talent is at the major-league level. And if the Jays should choose to begin a rebuilding process at the end of July, by trading for other teams’ not-ready-for-prime-time prospects who are also still a couple of years away, they would be forced to promote prospects they were not planning on bringing up to the majors until perhaps 2019.

That young group of homegrown Jays a year or two away is led by third baseman Vlad Guerrero, Jr., pitcher Sean-Reid Foley, shortstop Richard Urena and other talented pitchers who need to accumulate more minor-league innings.

The short list of those close to being ready at some time later in 2017 includes first baseman Rowdy Tellez, infielder Lourdes Gurriel and outfielders Dalton Pompey and Anthony Alford. Others for an immediate rebuild would need to come from outside.

That makes Donaldson the most attractive trade bait.

What makes Donaldson the right player to move should the swoon continue through June is that he is controllable by any team for another season beyond 2017, giving whoever lands him another year to try to ink him long term.

With the hugely talented free-agent class that is coming eligible after the 2018 season, one that could also include Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Chase Headley, Adam Jones, A.J. Pollock, Adrian Gonzalez, Brian Dozier, it would seem that this Jays front office would choose not to compete for Donaldson, a 33-year-old with lower-body issues on an artificial surface that the Jays will still have. They are grooming Guerrero Jr. to take over the hot corner at some point.

The Jays, with a controllable Donaldson through 2018 to dangle, will have the best opportunity to obtain at least two young players who are close to being ready, and maybe even a third further down the minor-league ladder.

The other tradeable Jays in July are not as attractive as Donaldson and would do little to fill the need for fill-in prospects at the major-league level. Catcher Russell Martin has $40 million left over two more years, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki $54 million over three years.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Any signing interest in free-agent Jose Bautista was not there in the winter, so why would trade interest be there now? Kendrys Morales would not bring very much in return, while trading Happ with one more year on his deal, or free-agents-to-be Marco Estrada and Francisco Liriano, would be simply wheel-spinning for the current year.

The Jays will never confirm any talks, but fans should count on the fact that behind the scenes, between May 1 and the end of July, Atkins and Shapiro will be squeezing information out of every conversation with the 29 other GMs, at least including acknowledgment that Donaldson offers will be listened to.

Of course, this early speculation on trading Jays veterans may all become meaningless if the team gets its act together and runs off perhaps a 12-game win streak with the three remaining starters all getting hot at once.

Read more about: