Tuesday was another difficult night for the Toronto Blue Jays, as they dropped a 12-2 contest against the Tampa Bay Rays 12-2 at Rogers Centre.

We pointed to the first seven games out of the All-Star break as the key to the Blue Jays season, and so far, Toronto is 1-5. At 46-55, they are headed for the painful reality of selling at the trade deadline just one season after getting to Game 7 of the World Series.

And when they do inevitably sell, starting pitcher Kevin Gausman is expected to draw interest on the market.

More information on that below:

A 14-year veteran of the Baltimore Orioles, Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves, and Cincinnati Reds, Gausman has gone 116-122 for his career with a 3.85 ERA. However, he's been very good for Toronto over five seasons, going 52-50 with a 3.62.

He led the American League in strikeouts in 2023 with 237, and he still has excellent swing-and-miss stuff, but he's had a much tougher year this season.

So far, he's 4-9 with a 4.51 ERA. He gave up four earned runs in just 3.1 innings in that loss on Tuesday. Perhaps the trade rumors are affecting him.

Because so many teams are within striking distance of the playoffs, there are not many defined sellers. The Blue Jays will be in position to take advantage of that before the Aug. 3 deadline.

The Minnesota Twins could move Joe Ryan, the Detroit Tigers could move Tarik Skubal, and the Seattle Mariners could move Luis Castillo, but none of that is guaranteed.

Robbie Ray of the San Francisco Giants is expected to be available, but the number of sellers limits the market, and the Twins and Tigers could both hold onto their arms.

As noted by Ken Rosenthal of 'The Athletic,' Gausman has a limited no-trade clause. He can block trades to eight teams: The Reds, Brewers, Tigers, Mets, Athletics, White Sox, Pirates and Mariners.

The Brewers and White Sox could use starting pitching, so it's not a guarantee that Gausman would definitely block moves there, but this mechanism gives him a little bit of leverage and control over his situation.

The Blue Jays and Rays will play again on Wednesday at 7:07 p.m. ET. Braydon Fisher will open the game for Toronto, and he'll be opposed by right-hander Griffin Jax. Fisher is 3-3 with a 3.65 ERA.

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