The Toronto Blue Jays want to be 'THE' Birds in the American League East, and everybody knows, to be 'The Bird', you have to beat 'The Bird'. The Big Bird in the East right now is the first place Baltimore Orioles, who are strutting around at 49-40, 3 games in front of the Jays.
As the trade deadline approaches, one of these two teams, or maybe the Yankees, will make a trade or two that will establish them as the team on top.
To climb up the list a bit, the Blue Jays are looking in one or two areas. They have been linked to David Price, as a starting pitcher would help their rotation, but they have also identified some holes in their lineup that need to be addressed.
Currently Toronto has Juan Francisco at third base, and although he can hit for power, he strikes out a lot, and doesn't play great defense. They use Brett Lawrie at third also, but ultimately it's believed they would like to get him back over to second base.
But as it has been proven almost every year, if the Blue Jays truly want to be The Big Birds, if they want to go far in the postseason - defense and getting on base become extremely important.
According to ESPN's Jim Bowden, the Blue Jays might have found the answer to their 3rd base blues in San Diego.
Apparently Toronto has been scouting Chase Headley, the Padres third baseman. The 31 year old is still one of the league's best defensive third baseman, and although he has had struggles at the plate some this year, he has heated up lately.
His slash line of the season so far is .229/.306/.350, but he has had two four hit games in four days which has also given the team a boost.
Currently the Padres are 40-49, and have climbed up a few places in the NL West.
According to Jon Morosi of FOX Sports, the Blue Jays continue to talk to the Padres about acquiring Headley, and it seems the Padres are receptive.
With the recent injury to Edwin Encarnacion, the Jays now have an even bigger need for a right-handed bat in the middle of their lineup, and Headley seems like a nice fit, especially considering the team's situation at third base.
