Report: Blue Jays 'in on everyone' including Price, Hamels, Utley

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The Toronto Blue Jays went for broke two offseasons ago, betting the farm (system) on established vets like R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, and Mark Buehrle. 

You might remember how that worked out. Jays flocked to the disabled list in droves, as the team went 74-88 and finished last in the AL East for the first time since 2004. The Jays' uncommon "win now" mantra rolled into the far more familiar "win next year." 

But apparently the team hasn't abandoned its 2013 philosophy. At least not yet. Despite being mired in a disastrous 12-24 stretch that's turned a six-game AL East lead into a four-game deficit, the Jays, at 50-48, sit just 2.5 games back in the wide-open American League wild card chase. 

Beset by another rash of injuries that have struck at the wrong time, the team's front office is looking to patch up some holes - namely in the infield and the starting rotation - via trade, ahead of the July 31 deadline. 

Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe reports that the Jays are "in on everyone, from David Price to [Cole] Hamels to Ben Zobrist and Chase Utley." 

He goes on to quote an 'AL special adviser' who claims that "they've got their scouts looking at everyone, and [GM Alex] Anthopoulos is very active himself scouting."

Regarding Utley, Cafardo adds that the Phillies second baseman "looks as if he wants to remain in Philadelphia," but that "it hasn’t stopped teams such as the Blue Jays and Giants from taking their best shot."

It's unclear what the Jays' "best shot" would even look like, given that they effectively drained their minor league talent pool in the aforementioned offseason spree. Pitcher Aaron Sanchez is still seen as a valuable asset, but he wasn't enough on his own to return a starting big-league pitcher this past offseason, and that's unlikely to have changed with Sanchez walking five guys per nine innings between Double-A and Triple-A this year. 

Whether or not they can get a deal done for Utley, Toronto would love to find any kind of solution at second base. Brett Lawrie is out with a fractured finger, and the stop-gap platoon of Steve Tolleson and Munenori Kawasaki isn't exactly setting the world on fire. 

Blue Jays second basemen have combined to post a .254/.312/.365 slash line this season, and while Utley's best years are behind him, he's still hitting .289/.347/.441 with eight home runs and 25 doubles in his age-35 season.