Olney: Blue Jays will acquire 'at least one reliever and a left-handed batter' at trade deadline

With seven days remaining until the Aug. 2 MLB trade deadline, the Toronto Blue Jays are likely to be active in trying to add pieces to the roster.

After a three-game sweep of the Red Sox, in which they outscored Boston 40-10, the Jays are second in the AL East and hold the first Wild Card spot in the American League.

MLB Insider Buster Olney predicts the Jays will shore up at least two crucial areas of the roster ahead of next Tuesday’s deadline.

The Blue Jays' offence scored 40 runs over three games against the Red Sox on the weekend. With their bats heating up, should the Jays be looking for other help heading into the trade deadline? MLB Insider Steve Phillips joins SportsCentre to discuss.

“They will get a left-handed hitter of some kind, as we’ve been talking about since the beginning of the year, to try and balance out the lineup and have more favourable matchups for the team,” said Olney, on TSN’s First Up. “I don’t know if that’s going to be Josh Bell, who’s a switch hitter, or if it’s going to be some other guy. It does feel like we’re still waiting for the available players to be completely defined by the sellers.”

Bell, a first baseman for the Washington Nationals, is hitting .302 with 13 home runs and 51 RBI in 97 games this season. In 1,994 career at-bats hitting from the left side, Bell holds a .275 average with 91 home runs and 330 RBI.

Olney adds that the Jays will also look for a reliever to add to a bullpen that sits 19th in the majors with a 4.05 ERA and has blown 17 saves, fifth most in the league.

“I also think [the Blue Jays] are going to get a reliever. I think every contender is going to get a reliever because the way teams look at relievers now is kind of the way NFL teams look at running backs,