TORONTO — Five things we think we know about the Rays’ history and, if past is indeed prologue, future at the trade deadline, which is coming at 4 p.m. Wednesday:
1. They’re not much for buying big
Here is the list of big-league players the Rays acquired in late July deals during the six-season run from 2008-13 when they made the playoffs four times:
Chad Qualls, Ryan Roberts, Jesse Crain.
And here is who they got in the 2017 when they felt in mid-July they had a shot and got uncharacteristically aggressive:
Sergio Romo, Dan Jennings, Lucas Duda, Steve Cishek.