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Since joining the Jays prior to the 2016 season, general manager Ross Atkins has been in charge of nine trade deadlines. He was a buyer in five and a seller in the other four.

The common theme of each deadline as a buyer was pitching. Atkins acquired at least one reliever every year, the most notable coming in 2023 with the addition of Jordan Hicks. In three seasons, he traded for a starting pitcher, including the 2021 arrival of José Berríos.

There haven’t been nearly as many position players brought in. The only bat that had an impact was Whit Merrifield in 2022 while others such as Melvin Upton Jr., Jonathan Villar and Paul DeJong did more harm than good during their brief stints.

On the seller front, there have been mixed results. The Jays appear to have done well at least year’s deadline, and they fetched a strong return for Marcus Stroman in 2019. But others such as Josh Donaldson and J.A. Happ left for not much of anything in return.

Here’s a closer look at all Atkins’ deadline moves, which provide clues about what his strategy might be before the end of the month:

2016 — Buyers

• Acquired RHP Joaquin Benoit from the Seattle Mariners for RHP Drew Storen

• Acquired OF Melvin Upton Jr. from the San Diego Padres for RHP Hansel Rodriguez

• Acquired RHP Mike Bolsinger from the Los Angeles Dodgers for RHP Jesse Chavez

• Acquired LHP Francisco Liriano, C Reese McGuire and OF Harold Ramirez from the Pittsburgh Pirates for RHP Drew Hutchison

• Acquired RHP Scott Feldman from the Houston Astros for RHP Guadalupe Chavez

Analysis — Benoit was in the change-of-scenery trade that involved two struggling relievers. Once in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, he went from having a 5.18 ERA to a 0.38 across 23 2/3 innings. The only downside was that he tore a calf muscle during a benches-clearing brawl against the Yankees in late September and was unavailable in the playoffs ... The Jays went with a six-man rotation to accommodate Liriano and he delivered a 2.92 ERA before getting injured in the first round of the playoffs ... Upton was a flop with a .578 on-base plus slugging percentage in 57 games while Bolsinger and Feldman failed to make an impact ... The only prospect who panned out was Ramirez, but he moved to the Rays before it happened ... The Jays also acquired reliever Jason Grilli in May and catcher Dioner Navarro in August.

2017 — Sellers

• Traded Liriano to the Astros for OF Norichika Aoki and OF Teoscar Hernandez

• Traded RHP Joe Smith to the Cleveland Guardians for LHP Thomas Pannone and 2B Samad Taylor

• Acquired IF Rob Refsnyder from the New York Yankees for 1B Ryan McBroom.

Analysis — Liriano transitioned to the bullpen in Houston, but he wasn’t effective with a 4.40 ERA in 20 appearances. Hernandez went on to slug 129 homers for the Jays across six seasons, which made this one of Atkins’ best trades ... Smith put up a 3.44 ERA in 21 appearances for the Guardians and he tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings in the playoffs ... Pannone had a cup of coffee with the Jays while Taylor was later included in the 2023 deal to acquire second baseman Whit Merrifield.

2018 — Sellers

• Traded 3B Josh Donaldson to the Guardians for RHP Julian Merryweather

• Traded OF Curtis Granderson to the Milwaukee Brewers for CF Demi Orimoloye

• Traded LHP Aaron Loup to the Philadelphia Phillies for RHP Jacob Waguespack

• Traded RHP John Axford to the Dodgers for RHP Corey Copping

• Traded RHP Roberto Osuna to the Astros for RHP Ken Giles, RHP David Paulino and RHP Hector Perez

• Traded RHP Seunghwan Oh to the Colorado Rockies for 1B Chad Spanberger and 2B Forrest Wall

• Traded LHP J.A. Happ to the Yankees for 3B Brandon Drury and OF Billy McKinney

Analysis — Happ entered July as one of the most coveted starters on the market, but he struggled in three consecutive starts and the Jays barely got anything for him. Drury was a liability across three seasons while McKinney never became anything more than a bit player ... The big win for the Jays was being able to move on from the disgraced Osuna by acquiring a comparable closer in Giles ... The loss was hanging onto Donaldson for too long and only getting 52⅔ mediocre innings out of Merryweather ... The Jays also traded DH/OF Steve Pearce to the Red Sox in June for Santiago Espinal. Pearce later won the World Series MVP while Espinal was a surprise all-star in 2022 before getting dealt to the Reds ... None of the other prospects panned out.

2019 — Sellers

• Traded RHP Aaron Sanchez, RHP Joe Biagini and OF Cal Stevenson to the Astros for OF Derek Fisher

• Traded RHP David Phelps to Chicago Cubs for RHP Thomas Hatch

• Traded RHP Daniel Hudson to the Washington Nationals for RHP Kyle Johnston

• Traded IF Eric Sogard to the Tampa Bay Rays for RHP Edisson Gonzalez and RHP Curtis Taylor

• Traded RHP Marcus Stroman to the New York Mets for LHP Anthony Kay and RHP Simeon Woods Richardson

Analysis — Fisher was an unmitigated disaster for the Jays but Sanchez didn’t pan out either as he made four starts with a 4.82 ERA for the Astros ... Atkins fetched a solid return for Stroman as Woods Richardson was later used to acquire José Berríos from the Twins ... Hudson became the closer on a World Series winning team ... Hatch had a brief stint as one of the Jays top prospects but ended up having only one good season.

2020 — Buyers

• Acquired RHP Taijuan Walker from the Mariners for OF Alberto Rodriguez

• Acquired LHP Robbie Ray from the Arizona Diamondbacks for LHP Travis Bergen

• Acquired RHP Ross Stripling from the Dodgers for RHP Kendall Williams and IF/OF Ryan Noda

• Acquired IF Jonathan Villar from the Miami Marlins for OF Griffin Conine.

Anaylsis — The Jays transformed their rotation during this pandemic shortened year by acquiring Walker and Ray. Initially, Walker was the more effective of the two but Ray re-signed the following year and won the Cy Young award ... Stripling also proved valuable across three seasons ... Villar was a bust but none of the prospects the Jays surrendered at this deadline turned into much of anything, although Conine has appeared in 50 games for the Marlins over the last two years.

2021 — Buyers

• Acquired RHP Adam Cimber and OF Corey Dickerson from the Marlins for RHP Andrew McInvale and 2B Joe Panik

• Acquired LHP Brad Hand from the Nationals for C Riley Adams

• Acquired RHP Joakim Soria from the Diamondbacks for LHP Yaifer Perdomo and C J.J. D’Orazio

• Acquired Berríos from the Minnesota Twins for IF/OF Austin Martin and Woods Richardson

Analysis  Cimber and Trevor Richards, who arrived earlier in July, improved the performance of the bullpen, which was the biggest weakness on this roster. Soria and Hand had the opposite effect as they posted ERAs above seven. The inability to properly fix this ‘pen resulted in the Jays just missing the playoffs despite having the most talented roster of the Atkins era ... At the time, the cost to acquire Berríos was high as Martin and Woods Richardson were consensus top 100 prospects. Neither performed as expected with Martin plagued by a lack of offensive upside while Woods Richardson has started to turn things around with a 3.95 ERA in 15 appearances this season.

2022 — Buyers

• Acquired RHP Mitch White and IF Alex De Jesus from the Dodgers for RHP Nick Frasso and LHP Moises Brito

• Acquired RHP Anthony Bass, RHP Zach Pop and C Edward Duran from the Marlins for IF Jordan Groshans

• Acquired IF Whit Merrifield from the Kansas City Royals for RHP Max Castillo and IF Samad Taylor

Analysis —The White trade initially looked like a fireable offence as White was awful with the Jays and Frasso emerged as a top-ranked prospect. Frasso has since struggled to stay healthy and has yet to debut with a 5.81 ERA this season in Triple-A ... Bass and Pop had moments of effectiveness but neither one was a difference maker ... Merrifield stuck with the Jays for a season and a half while Castillo and Taylor haven’t done much.

2023 — Buyers

• Acquired LHP Genesis Cabrera from the St. Louis Cardinals for C Sammy Hernandez

• Acquired RHP Jordan Hicks from the Cardinals for RHP Sem Robberse and RHP Adam Kloffenstein

• Acquired SS Paul DeJong from the Cardinals RHP for Matt Svanson

• Traded RHP Trent Thornton to the Mariners for SS Mason McCoy

Analysis — Hicks was the big addition and he performed well for the Jays by striking out 22 batters across 24 innings. However, the Jays only used his 100-mph arm for one inning in the playoffs and it came in a loss ... DeJong was so bad that he had to be cut loose after getting three hits in 44 at-bats ... Robberse was once a top prospect but he now has a 4.08 ERA across six seasons in the minors.

2024 — Sellers

• Traded CF Kevin Kiermaier to the Dodgers for LHP Ryan Yarbrough

• Traded RHP Trevor Richards to the Twins for SS Jay Harry

• Traded IF Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Pirates for IF Charles McAdoo

• Traded IF/DH Justin Turner to the Mariners for OF RJ Schreck

• Traded LHP Yusei Kikuchi to the Astros for RHP Jake Bloss, OF Joey Loperfido, IF Will Wagner

• Traded Danny Jansen to the Red Sox for IF Cutter Coffey, IF Eddinson Paulino and RHP Gilberto Batista

• Traded RHP Nate Pearson to the Cubs for SS Josh Rivera and OF Yohendrick Pinango

• Traded RHP Yimi Garcia to the Mariners for OF Jonatan Clase and C Jacob Sharp

Analysis — The jury is still out on most of these trades, but at least on paper the Jays appear to have done well. McAdoo, Schreck, Bloss and Pinango all rank inside for the organization while Loperfido, Wagner and Clase have played in the majors at various times ... Kikuchi was dominant with a 2.70 ERA for the Astros, but they were eliminated before he was able to make a post-season start.