The Toronto Blue Jays will be one of the most intriguing teams to monitor in the lead-up to the July 30 MLB trade deadline

Will the Blue Jays buy? Will they be sellers? Will they stand pat?

Right now, they aren't even sure.

Sources say that unless Toronto completely collapses over the next two months, it won't signal its trade deadline intentions until after the All-Star break ends on July 18, via Jeff Passan of ESPN.

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins recently said that “it just doesn't make any sense” for the club to entertain trading players like first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or shortstop Bo Bichette, but that could obviously all change if the Jays endure a major slide.

Atkins' comments also sound a lot like when Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo said that the club was not trading Juan Soto back in 2022, Passan notes. Of course, the Nationals ended up sending Soto to the San Diego Padres.

So, at this moment, we probably can't put too much stock into what Atkins says.

The Blue Jays clearly aren't contenders this season

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) and shortstop Bo Bichette (11) celebrate after scoring against the Seattle Mariners in the third inning at Rogers Centre.
Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Here's the thing with the Blue Jays: they obviously are not contenders this season.

Toronto is just 28-31 and sits 13 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. As a matter of fact, the Jays are currently in the cellar of the division. To be fair, the Blue Jays are just five games back of the third and final Wild Card spot, but they haven't shown any signs of making a serious push.

There has never been a point this season where Toronto has looked like a dangerous ballclub. Its best mark was 13-10 back on Apr. 22. Since then, the Blue Jays have gone just 15-21. They have won five of their last seven games heading into their Tuesday night matchup with the Baltimore Orioles, but they would need a much more prolonged stretch of strong baseball to convince everyone that they can make the postseason.

Guerrero and Bichette are two of the top candidates that the Jays could potentially move ahead of the deadline.

The former has picked things up considerably after a miserable start to the season, as he slashed .357/.447/.469 in May and has gotten 5-for-11 with a home run thus far in June. However, Guerrero's power has certainly been lacking, as he has homered just six times in 2024. He owns a .295/.389/.419 slash line for the campaign overall.

Meanwhile, Bichette has been unable to get going. The 26-year-old is slashing a meager .236/.284/.345 with four long balls and 25 RBI across 236 plate appearances. That comes after posting an OPS over .800 in each of his first four big-league seasons. Last year, Bichette slashed .306/.339/.475 with 20 dingers.

Both Guerrero and Bichette are under contract through next season, so the Blue Jays don't have to be in any sort of rush to move either player. However, the value of both young stars would definitely be greater now given that any potential trade suitors would have the extra year of club control.

We'll see what Toronto decides to do in the coming weeks.