3 MLB Trade Deadline 'Buyers' Who Need to Rethink Their Strategy

With just 10 days remaining until the non-waiver trade deadline, it's crunch time for many of Major League Baseball's fringe contenders. Over the next week, major decisions must be made involving franchises on the precipice of contention in 2013.

Heading into play on Wednesday, 20 of baseball's 30 teams sat within eight games of a postseason spot.

From the respective division races to a pair of wild-card spots up for grabs in each league, an era of parity has engulfed the sport. More than ever, the goal is to just reach October, with the knowledge that anything can happen within the uncertainty of short series and small sample results.

As Dave Cameron of Fangraphs suggested yesterday, it would make sense for baseball to push back the trade deadline, allowing buyers to asses themselves and the temperature of the league for at least a few more weeks.

Until those necessary changes are facilitated, general managers have much to consider over the next 10 days.

Here are three MLB trade deadline buyers who must rethink their strategy heading towards July 31.

1. Philadelphia Phillies

The 2013 Philadelphia Phillies have played 100 baseball games and showed little promise of being anything other than a mediocre team, capable of hot stretches, but, ultimately, lucky to be as close to the top of the NL East (seven games back) as they are.

With a minus-49 run differential, Philadelphia profiles as a team that will stay below .500, far, far from a postseason spot. Their 51 losses puts them closer to falling behind the Nationals and Mets, and into fourth place in the NL East, than it does to catching the Atlanta Braves.

Yet, their general manager, Ruben Amaro Jr., hasn't conceded the season or put up a 'for sale' sign on veterans such as Michael Young, Carlos Ruiz and Chase Utley.

In fact, over the past few weeks, he's done the opposite (via Delaware Online) talking about adding pieces for a stretch run and giving hope to a fan base that is looking to squeeze one more postseason run out of an aging, rundown group.

Selling big, including moving Cliff Lee, seems extreme, but if the Phillies actually surrender prospects like Jarred Cosart for help in center field or in the bullpen, the city of Philadelphia should be outraged, not excited.  

The idea of Philadelphia surpassing Atlanta and/or Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Arizona in the National League postseason chase is far-fetched.

It's time to think long term at Citizens Bank Park.

2. Toronto Blue Jays

Since an 11-game win streak in mid-June catapulted a disappointing Toronto Blue Jays team back onto the AL East radar, the team has lost 18 of 25 games, including five straight out of the All-Star break.

Last evening, in an inter-league battle with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Adrian Gonzalez's late inning home run gave the Dodgers an improbable comeback and served as a microcosm for each franchise's season.

The Dodgers have risen from their early season slumber to become legitimate contenders, while Toronto has sunk further and further from the playoff picture.

Heading into play on Wednesday, only three teams (Minnesota, Chicago and Houston) sat further from an AL Wild Card berth than the Blue Jays.

Over the past 25 games, the Angels, Mariners and Royals have surpassed Toronto in the American League pecking order.

After an offseason of spending and trades, the team needs to take stock of their 2013 situation and reload for a true run in 2014.

That doesn't mean moving Jose Reyes, Edwin Encarnacion or Jose Bautista, but after being rumored as potential buyers in the Matt Garza sweepstakes, adding for the stretch run of this season would be foolish for general manager Alex Anthopoulos.

The team isn't a disaster and can win in 2014, but long-term assets can't be sacrificed for this summer.

3. Kansas City Royals

At 46-51, the 2013 Kansas City Royals, just months after surrendering their top prospect for James Shields, should be realistic about their chances in 2013: Outside of a .500 finish for the first time since 2003, the team isn't good enough to achieve more.

Yet, partly due to the Detroit Tigers' refusal to run away and hide atop the American League Central, Kansas City sits only seven games back in the loss column entering play on Wednesday.

By the end of the weekend, especially considering Miguel Cabrera's balky hip flexor, Dayton Moore's team could be within a handful of games in the division race.

As Bob Dutton wrote in The Kansas City Star on July 18, Moore wants to 'keep pushing' and trying to win as many games as possible before the end of September.

For a city that rarely sees winning baseball and a general manager that is desperate to show ownership a real improvement from the past few years, the strategy makes sense.

But adding pieces to facilitate that run doesn't.

In reality, despite how well James Shields has pitched, the team should have recognized that they would have been better off long-term with a stud hitting prospect like Wil Myers than two years of top-of-the-rotation pitching of Shields.

While that mistake can't be reversed, selling more jewels of the farm system in an fruitless effort to catch the well-armed Tigers can't be tolerated by management or fans in Kansas City.