5 Reasons Why the Toronto Blue Jays Were so Quiet at the MLB Trade Deadline

Despite bolstering their bullpen with the acquisitions of Brad Lincoln and Steve Delabar, the Toronto Blue Jays were relatively quiet at the MLB trade deadline.

They had lingered around the .500 mark for much of the season (excluding their recent swoon), and were within striking distance of one of the two wild-card spots as they entered the deadline with a 51-51 mark.

However, with several clubs sandwiched in between them and a wild-card spot, leapfrogging ahead of all those teams would have been a daunting task.

Here are five reasons why the Jays didn't make a bigger splash at the deadline.

5. Not Exactly a Contender

Most of the big trades were made by contending teams hoping for a deep playoff run. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Hanley Ramirez, Shane Victorino and Brandon League. 

The Los Angeles Angels added Zack Greinke. 

The San Francisco Giants picked up Hunter Pence and Marco Scutaro. 

The Texas Rangers traded for Ryan Dempster.

Even the small-market and playoff-starved Pittsburgh Pirates were busy as they added Wandy Rodriguez, Travis Snider, Gaby Sanchez and Chad Qualls. 

Each team was better positioned in the standings than the Blue Jays. They were either leading their division, within striking distance of their division or were among the wild-card leaders. 

4. Looking to Next Season and Beyond

As the year progressed, it became apparent that the Jays were nowhere near a player or two away from becoming contenders. 

With many of their everyday players on the disabled list, GM Alex Anthopoulos has been able to evaluate what Yan Gomes, David Cooper, Anthony Gose, Moises Sierra and Adeiny Hechavarria are capable of at the major league level as he plans for next season. 

3. Will Make Moves in the Offseason

The Jays have built a strong core and appear to have all the pieces in place to be a contender, but they are lacking in one area: starting pitching. 

“Certainly the ingredients are there,” said Anthopoulous, via thestar.com. “The rotation is where, right now, we still need to do some work.”

The Jays will have plenty of options to revamp their rotation with Zach Greinke, Ryan Dempster, Anibal Sanchez, Kyle Lohse, Brandon McCarthy, Edwin Jackson, Shaun Marcum, Francisco Liriano, Erik Bedard and Joe Blanton, among others, set to become unrestricted free agents in 2013.

2. Prices Were Too High

The Los Angeles Angels paid a steep price to the Milwaukee Brewers to obtain Zack Greinke’s services for the remainder of the season. 

They dealt three of their top 10 prospects: infielder Jean Segura and minor league pitchers John Hellweg and Ariel Pena.

Segura entered the season rated the 55th-best prospect, according to Baseball America. 

By comparison, Blue Jays’ prospects Travis d’Arnaud, Anthony Gose, Jake Marisnick and Daniel Norris were rated 17, 39, 67 and 91, respectively. 

Trading any one of those prospects for half a season of Zack Greinke would have been a big mistake. 

1.Too Many Injuries

It's impressive that the Jays were able to hover around the .500 mark for as long as they did, but it didn't make any sense for them to load up and overpay for players with so many key players missing from their roster.

Here's a look at their disabled list as of Aug. 16, via Yahoo! Sports. 

No	Player	Pos	Date	Status	Injury
9	Arencibia, J.P.	C	Jul 26	15-Day DL	Broken right hand
19	Bautista, Jose	RF/3B/1B	Jul 17	15-Day DL	Left wrist inflammation
56	Coello, Robert	RP	Jun 25	60-Day DL	Right elbow inflammation
4	Drabek, Kyle	SP	Jun 14	60-Day DL	Torn right elbow ligament
54	Frasor, Jason	RP	Jul 17	15-Day DL	Right forearm tightness
36	Hutchison, Drew	SP	Jun 16	60-Day DL	Right UCL sprain
13	Lawrie, Brett	3B/SS	Aug 4	15-Day DL	Strained left oblique
26	Lind, Adam	1B	Jul 26	15-Day DL	Mid-back strain
51	Litsch, Jesse	SP	Mar 26	60-Day DL	Right shoulder tendinitis
29	McGowan, Dustin	SP	Mar 26	60-Day DL	Plantar fasciitis, right foot
23	Morrow, Brandon	SP	Jun 13	60-Day DL	Strained left oblique
47	Perez, Luis	RP	Jul 9	60-Day DL	Torn ligament in left elbow
21	Santos, Sergio	RP	Apr 21	60-Day DL	Right shoulder inflammation