KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As the Aug. 3 trade deadline approached and it became clear the Toronto Blue Jays were headed for some degree of subtraction, manager John Schneider and GM Ross Atkins made a point of speaking to key players on the roster. Those conversations, Schneider said, were “very deliberate,” explaining that the club wasn’t planning to “sell our entire (expletive) roster,” adding that “we are going to continue to compete.”

“Saying that was important every day,” he added, “and the guys believing that and then going out and playing the way they've been playing, that was kind of what we tried to do, both transactionally and communicating.”

In the month since, vision has become reality as the Blue Jays piled up series wins, climbed up the cluttered wild-card standings and steadily worked to even their record, returning to the .500 mark Friday with a 9-2 thumping of the Kansas........

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