One hundred and one days into the 2010 major league baseball season, things have gone pretty much according to Hoyle in the American League East.

The New York Yankees have a slim lead atop the standings, second-place Tampa Bay is the wild-card leader and Toronto and Baltimore sit fourth and fifth in the five-team division.

The Blue Jays return home from a 6-4 road trip to host the Orioles in what some people would say is a meaningless three-game series, starting Monday at 7:07 p.m. ET.

But Toronto general manager Alex Anthopoulos certainly isn't one of those in the "who cares?" camp as he continues to evaluate his club leading up to Saturday's non-waiver trade deadline.

Relief pitchers Kevin Gregg, Scott Downs and Jason Frasor appear to be drawing the most interest from contending teams, with the names of first baseman Lyle Overbay, catcher John Buck and infielder-outfielder Jose Bautista also tossed into various rumours.

"I don't read anything into trade stuff; I don't talk about it usually because rumours are rumours," Overbay told reporters after the Blue Jays split a doubleheader in Detroit on Sunday. With a .315 batting average and four home runs in July, he has upped his trade value.

The competition for Downs reportedly is heating up, with the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox at the forefront. The lefty reliever earned the win in Sunday's first game, striking out Scott Sizemore and Jeff Larish with the bases loaded on six pitches to end the eighth inning of a 5-3 decision.

Big return

Anthopoulos is said to be asking for a big return in a deal involving the 34-year-old Downs, in part because of his Type A free-agent status, meaning he could be worth two draft picks if he turns down an offer of salary arbitration to sign elsewhere.

In 41 innings pitched this season, the ninth-year major leaguer sports a 4-5 record and 2.41 earned-run average, tops among regular Blue Jays relievers.

One baseball executive told ESPN he expects Toronto to continue "stoking fires" and wait until Friday or Saturday to move Downs.

Over the weekend, FOXSports.com described the competition in the Downs sweepstakes as "fierce," with the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies and Philadelphia Phillies also in the running against the Yankees and Red Sox.

Downs is believed to be the top left-handed arm available in an underwhelming group of southpaws, and one of the best overall relief pitchers on the market.

He also has an affordable $4.4-million US contract.

The bullpen is a huge reason Toronto's pitching staff posted a 2.71 ERA in the first nine games of the recent road trip. Relievers entered Sunday's doubleheader with a 1.84 mark. A few hours later, Brian Tallet and Frasor combined to allow four runs in 2 2/3 innings.

Blue Jays starters and relievers will be seeing some fresh faces in this series as catcher Matt Wieters, second baseman Brian Roberts, former closer Mike Gonzalez and outfielder Luke Scott recently were activated from the disabled list.

Scott on a tear

Scott has 13 hits in 28 at-bats since his return and is a career .200 hitter (1-for-5) against Toronto right-hander Brandon Morrow, Monday's starter at Rogers Centre.

Morrow hasn't pitched since giving up two runs and striking out eight in seven innings in a 3-2 win on July 17 at Baltimore, his first victory in 10 road starts this season. Morrow has fared much better at home, going 5-1 with a 3.27 ERA in nine outings. He is 6-6 with a 4.71 ERA overall in 2010.

Starting pitching has been the Orioles' most glaring fault, according to interim manager Juan Samuel, whose club is winless in nine games versus the Jays this season. Baltimore has given up at least 10 runs three times in the past eight starts and owns a league-worst 5.11 ERA.

Samuel hopes Brad Bergesen (3-8, 6.51 ERA) can reverse this trend when he takes the ball Monday, but he hasn't had much success lately.

The right-hander has lost his last four starts and is 0-6 with a 7.20 ERA in nine outings since defeating Seattle on May 12. Against Toronto on July 16, Bergesen yielded four runs in six innings in a 4-2 defeat.

Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar begins the week with an eight-game hitting streak. He is batting .382 with two homers and seven runs batted in since being acquired from Atlanta in a July 14 trade.