Should the Phillies be buyers or sellers? It's almost time for Dave Dombrowski to decide

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Major League Baseball trade deadline is on July 30, and the Phillies find themselves in an interesting spot.

Despite being at or below .500 most of the season, the Phillies are still within striking distance of the first-place Mets. The NL East is very much up for grabs and the players know that.

But if you're President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski, what do you do?

Are you a buyer at the trade deadline and go for broke? Or do you cut your losses and sell?

And if you are a buyer, what are you giving up? It's well-documented that the Phillies farm system is depleted.

Dombrowski will likely use these next few weeks to assess for any signs of life.

If the offense can show some power like it did Monday night against the Cubs, or the bullpen can tighten things up, or the team can remain within a handful of games of first place, Dombrowski might go shopping.

Every stop he's made, with the Marlins, Tigers and Red Sox - he's shown he's not afraid to pull out the credit card and spend, spend, spend. He's also shown that he knows how to win as evidenced by his two World Series rings.

The players just have to give him a reason to go for it. We'll get our answer soon enough.