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MLB

Buy or sell? Five struggling MLB teams stuck in the middle as trade deadline approaches

USA TODAY Sports examines the five teams that find themselves in the place no one wants to be in late July.

Gabe Lacques
USA TODAY

Late July means five-year plans suddenly junked after a bad two weeks, season-long hopes dissipating in a stretch of poor play and an exercise that for Major League Baseball teams provides a challenge in objectivity.

It’s time to assess reality.

This season, with a pair of playoff teams added to a field now swelling to 12, it’s harder than ever to determine if you are loitering in the playoff mix, harboring a potential sleeping October giant or are wallowing in delusions. As the Aug. 2 trade deadline grows ever closer, and at least one franchise-changing superstar dangles on the market, determining whether you’re in, out, or nominally interested is harder than ever.

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