Sanchez a factor in Blue Jays’ Deadline plans

The Red Sox made their moves and there’s a good chance more transactions are on the way. Now the question is what — if anything — the Blue Jays and Orioles will do to respond before the Aug. 1 non-waiver Trade Deadline.

With 2 1/2 months remaining, the American League East is completely up for grabs. Baltimore entered play on Monday with a two-game lead over Boston and a three-game lead over Toronto for first place. At this point, it’s anyone’s game.

That’s one of the main reasons the Red Sox decided to strike early. Boston recently completed a pair of deals for Drew Pomeranz and reliever Brad Ziegler. The moves didn’t come cheap as the Red Sox parted with top pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza, but such is life when doing business in a market where pitching is king.

“It’s really more indicative of the alternatives, or lack thereof,” Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said over the weekend when asked about the Pomeranz deal. “There just aren’t a lot of [starters]. I’m not so sure it’s going to increase the market drastically.

“There’s just more buyers than there are sellers at that position. The market was already set very high based on the alternatives. It wasn’t surprising to see that’s what it took to get some deals going.”

With that in mind, here’s a closer look at Toronto’s situation with two weeks to go before the Deadline:

The Sanchez factor

Toronto’s needs are directly tied to the future of Aaron Sanchez. The organization had been saying all year that Sanchez would end up in the bullpen because of an undisclosed innings limit, but that stance might be changing. The …

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