The 2010 Major League Baseball trade deadline is quickly approaching with the deadline being its customary date of July 31st on a yearly basis.

I will try and tackle every Major League team as the deadline approaches to see if they will be buyers, sellers or stick to their current roster.

I will be basing my assumptions on the direction the team is going, their record as of the date I post the article, possible roster injuries and so on and so forth.

I will provide the information about each team by division.

Earlier today I began my look at the American League East focussing on the New York Yankees.

I will continue my look at the division with the second place Tampa Bay Rays.

Coming into play today the Rays hold a record of 56-36, two and a half games behind the division leading Yankees.

The Rays are widely considered one of the deepest franchises from a player standpoint in all of baseball.

The depth of the Rays has led to their success over the past two seasons, with the team advancing to the World Series in 2008.

The Rays feature a legitimate starting rotation with talent all across the board featuring James Shields (7-9, 4.86ERA), Matt Garza (10-5, 4.05ERA), Jeff Niemann (8-2, 2.92ERA), David Price (12-5, 2.84ERA) & Wade Davis (7-9, 4.41ERA) which gives them a starting rotation ERA of 3.80, good for fourth in the AL.

Throw in the Rays impressive bullpen which added a shutdown closer in Rafael Soriano (2-0, 1.60ERA, 23SV in 24SVO) & surprise minor league pickup Joaquin Benoit (0-0, 0.92ERA) in the off-season and also features Grant Balfour (1-1, 2.08ERA), Randy Choate (2-3, 6.56ERA), Lance Cormier (3-1, 4.29ERA), Andy Sonnanstine (2-0, 4.22ERA) & Dan Wheeler (2-0, 3.03ERA) and the ERA as a team is the best in the AL. Overall, the Rays bullpen sits third in the AL with an ERA of 3.31.

The Rays do not just feature impressive all-around pitching, but an impressive all-around offensive squad as well.

Evan Longoria continues to showcase why he is one of the top third baseman in baseball from an offensive standpoint (.306, 13HR, 63RBI) while Carl Crawford showcases one of the best all-around games from any player in the AL hitting .318 with 11HR, 51RBI & 33SB and playing an exceptional left field.

Add the depth of BJ Upton, Ben Zobrist, Carlos Pena, Jason Bartlett and a slew of others to the mix along with excellent managing from Joe Maddon and you have the current wild card leading Rays.

The Rays possess a fantastic starting rotation, a top five bullpen, power, speed and play intelligent baseball under the guidance of Maddon and certainly will be one of the major teams to watch come the second half, but could the Rays improve via the July 31st trade deadline?

One area of concern for the Rays comes from a power standpoint at the designated hitter’s spot. The Rays released the struggling Pat Burrell, who was supposed to fill the team’s role at the spot and are currently using a combination of Willy Aybar (.248, 5HR, 24RBI) & Matt Joyce (.208, 1HR, 7RBI), but surely could improve from a run production standpoint.

The Rays, like a number of teams have shown interest in the Milwaukee Brewers Corey Hart and even the Philadelphia Phillies Jayson Werth has been mentioned as going to the Rays if the Phillies fall out of contention. One power-hitting name the Rays will not go near is the Brewers Prince Fielder, who is certainly going to demand a large contract once his current deal ends and is set to earn $16 million in 2011, far too expensive for the Rays.

Rumours have even arisen that the Rays may be willing to trade Garza in exchange for a power bat with prospect Jeremy Hellickson waiting for his call to the big league club, although the Rays would certainly demand a controllable player for Garza’s services. Garza is an innings eater and is still only 26 years old.

Would the Rays be willing to trade top pitching prospect Jeremy Hellickson for a big bat at the trade deadline?

The Rays definitely have the farm system available to make a big time trade adding to their current ball club.

The Rays have super prospects Desmond Jennings & Hellickson, although it would take quite a big name to pry either away from the Rays. The Rays are deep at the shortstop position with prospect Tim Beckham and current Major League bench player Reid Brignac in their depth charts. Brignac (.272, 4HR, 30RBI) has played well for the Rays in place of Bartlett, who has missed the better half of the season, but is back as the team’s starting shortstop.

If the Rays offered up one of their big name prospects they could easily grab themselves the DH of their choice. If Hart or Werth are not available or if a trade cannot be agreed upon, the Rays could try and trade for the Kansas City Royals Jose Guillen, Toronto Blue Jays Jose Bautista, Washington Nationals Adam Dunn, Chicago Cubs Derrek Lee or even the Houston Astros Lance Berkman, although Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo wants a ton for Dunn according to reports, Lee would have to waive a no-trade clause to head anywhere and Berkman will take an awfully large package of players to acquire.

Other available options that do not call for a huge package of players that could add some extra pop to the Rays line-up include the Arizona Diamondbacks Adam LaRoche or former Rays infielder Jorge Cantu, who the Florida Marlins are apparently shopping.

There are a lot of power bats available throughout baseball and the Rays certainly have the talent available to add at the trade deadline. The Rays may be content with what they currently run out to the ball field on a daily basis as they currently hold a playoff spot, but they may want to overtake the Yankees in the AL East, which might just mean a deal will occur for the Rays at the July 31st trade deadline.

Will the Rays make a deal?

Only time will tell, so let’s wait and see.