Los Angeles Spaarks, the team with the best WNBA mark, before succumbing.ddddddddddddAlex Bentley continues to lead the Sun in scoring at 14 points a game. Three others of her teammates also are in double figures: Alyssa Thomas (11.1), Chiney Ogwumike (10.2) and Jasmine Thomas (10.0).The Wings have lo

Call the cops. Call the FBI. Call the CIA. Tell them somebody kidnapped all the aces, because if youre trying to trade for one at this years trade deadline, hey, good luck.Over and over, we hear the same grumbling from one club official after another. If this isnt the worst deadline starting-pitching market ever, its definitely in the argument.If youre a team that desperately needs a starter, one NL executive said this week, its a tough year to try to find one who can make a difference.Oh, there are names out there, another NL exec said. I mean, you can call the White Sox about Chris Sale and they wouldnt hang up. You can call the Rays about Chris Archer. They wouldnt hang up. I just dont feel like theyre really as available as the kind of pitchers who were available in the past. Those guys in the past, they were getting moved. I dont see that this year.If Sale and Archer dont get traded this week, and with Drew Pomeranz already off the board, its likely that, if you check the major-league ERA leaders, NOBODY in the top 40 (among qualifying starters) will get dealt between now and the deadline. And the only qualifying starters with ERAs under 4.00 who are showing up in any legitimate rumors at the moment are Jeremy Hellickson (3.65), Ervin Santana (3.93) and Matt Shoemaker (3.99).Now compare that with the big-name starters who filled up the transactions column at previous deadlines:2015 - David Price, Cole Hamels, Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake, Scott Kazmir 2014 - Price, Jon Lester, Jake Peavy, John Lackey, Jeff Samardzija 2013 - Peavy, Matt Garza, Ian Kennedy 2012 - Zack Greinke, Ryan Dempster, Francisco Liriano 2011 - Ubaldo Jimenez, Doug Fister 2010 - Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Dan Haren 2009 - Lee, Peavy 2008 - CC Sabathia, Rich HardenHeard of those guys? Great. Now lets put all those names in better perspective. Over the last eight deadlines, there were nine trades that involved former Cy Young Award winners. And the only year in that span that didnt include a deal involving at least one former Cy Young was 2011.But even 2011 featured the trade of Jimenez, a top-three Cy Young finisher the year before who was still a big-name guy at the time, one exec said. So to find the last deadline as bereft of impact starters as this one, youd have to journey all the way back to 2007, when Kyle Lohse, Matt Morris and Joel Pineiro were the only veteran starters who changed zip codes.At least this year there is more depth to the market, with Hellickson, Santana, Edinson Volquez, Rich Hill, Hector Santiago, Andrew Cashner, Ivan Nova and the Tampa Bay buffet line of Matt Moore, Jake Odorizzi and Drew Smyly all realistically available. But that still doesnt compare with the guys last year, an AL exec said.So how did it come to this? What forces have converged to produce this shaky a market? Lets take a look.1. A lousy free-agent classThe trade market, one of the execs quoted earlier said, is a direct reflection of the free-agent market. And this free-agent market isnt good.With Stephen Strasburg?signed through 2023 in Washington now, the best free-agent starters aged 32 or younger this winter are likely to be Hellickson, Nova, Cashner, Brett Anderson, Jon Niese and Clay Buchholz. All employable, but nobody youd confuse with Price, Greinke or Cueto.Hill, Volquez and possibly Kazmir (who has an opt-out) are attractive in the 33-and-up group. But the only current starters, at any age, who rank in the top 40 in ERA and are definitely heading for free agency are Fister and 43-year-old Bartolo Colon. So thats severely limiting the group of rent-a-pitchers you can trade for right now.If you look at past deadlines, how many guys were rentals? another exec wondered. Im betting its a lot.That would be correct. Of the five biggest deals involving starters last July, the only trade for a pitcher under control for multiple years was Texas deal for Hamels.2. Not enough sellersGet ready for that annual chorus of folks screaming that its time to move back the deadline, because too many teams find themselves in limbo in the last week of July. Its a tradition right up there with Mark Rzepczynski getting traded about 12 minutes before every deadline.There are still so many teams who are still in it, an AL exec said. With that second wild card, you have more teams than ever who think theyre still in contention. And this is one of those years. There just arent enough sellers.Heading into Tuesday night, there were 18 teams within six games of a playoff spot, versus only 12 that were clearly out of any sort of race. Then again, even that wasnt so clear.A year ago on July 26, Texas and Toronto were both more than six games back in both their divisions and the wild card. And we know how their seasons turned out. So even teams like Kansas City (8 1/2 out in the division, seven in the wild card) arent ready to sell the way clubs used to in the pre-wild card game era.This might not be the best explanation for this particular market. But its a factor.3. Bad teams have bad pitchersOK, we exaggerate. That isnt totally true. But if you peruse the list of teams at least 10 games under .500, theyre not exactly overflowing with starters to move -- either because theyre too young or too mediocre.A lot of these bad teams, you knew going in [to the season], they were going to be bad, an executive from one contender said. Theyre rebuilding, so theyd already sold off a lot of their guys.Hard to argue. The Phillies traded Hamels LAST July. The Braves moved Alex Wood at last years deadline and Shelby Miller over the winter. The Reds did their unloading, of Cueto and Leake, last year this time. Etc., etc.Those teams have already moved pretty much everything they had, another exec said. So theyre basically tapped out.4. R.I.P. the old-fashioned money dumpWhat used to drive the trades of legends and Cy Youngs at the deadline? Money, of course. What else? Life was so much simpler then -- for the rich teams. You had your haves. You had your have-nots. And they each knew their roles so well.But we dont live on that planet now. In a $9 billion industry with massive revenue-sharing, every team can afford to sign at least a handful of its best young players. And almost no club arrives at July obsessed with just clearing dollar signs off its books.Its not the same, one exec said. No team in the game has NO money. Some teams have less money than others. But no team has no money. It used to be that the teams with no money knew they had to move guys at the deadline. That basically doesnt exist anymore.To find the last legitimate midseason money dump of an ace, youd probably have to ride the time machine all the way back to 2008 and 2009, when the Indians sold off two Cy Youngs (CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee) at back-to-back deadlines. Thats a long, long time ago.The death of the good (or bad) old-fashioned money dump was a great thing for the game. It just wasnt a great thing for the late-July editions of Rumor Central. And the lack of top-of-the-rotation forces available here in July 2016 is pretty much all the proof you need.Lance McCullers Astros Jersey . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. Lance McCullers Jersey . Clarkson had been dealing with an elbow injury in early January and will be out of action for at least one week. He has three goals and five assists through 36 games with the Leafs this season. http://www.baseballastrosproshop.com/customized/ . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. Justin Verlander Astros Jersey . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. Jose Altuve Astros Jersey . Louis Blues. Shane Hnidy joins Brian Munz for the broadcast on TSN 1290 Radio at 7pm ct.With two games to play before taking a monthlong break for the Summer Olympics, the Connecticut Sun and the Dallas Wings square off in a Wednesday matinee with a few things in common.They both struggled the past four games. They both had a chance at notching upset wins Sunday. They both lost, and both now must try to rebound and close out the first part of the season on a positive note.That next step comes at Wednesday at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.How the Wings respond coming off a crushing overtime loss to the Minnesota Lynx will say a lot about the mental toughness of the team. Dallas (9-14) fought back from a 13-point, fourth-quarter deficit only to lose 98-87 in overtime to the team with the second-best record in the WNBA.On Sunday against the New York Liberty, the Sun fell behind early, then scored 19 of 22 points in the second period to take a seven-point, third-quarter lead. Connecticut (6-16) led midway through the fourth until running out of steam and falling 83-76.Even though the Sun have lost three of four, they have shown signs of life. Before they were unable to close out the Liberty, they took a 16-point lead in the third quarter Friday against the Los Angeles Spaarks, the team with the best WNBA mark, before succumbing.ddddddddddddAlex Bentley continues to lead the Sun in scoring at 14 points a game. Three others of her teammates also are in double figures: Alyssa Thomas (11.1), Chiney Ogwumike (10.2) and Jasmine Thomas (10.0).The Wings have lost four straight. However, throw out a 37-point loss to the Lynx, and they dropped the other three games by a total of eight points.Dallas has plenty of firepower, as six players, led by Odyssey Sims (14.7), Karima Christmas (13.5) and Glory Johnson (13.2), are scoring in double figures.The Wings added some much needed experience on Monday when they signed guard Tiffany Bias and waived Brinna Kiesel.Tiffany brings energy, speed and tenacity to our roster, Dallas general manager Greg Bibb said. She has playoff experience and has won a WNBA Championship. We are excited to have her join our team and help us improve.The Sun travel to Chicago to take on the Sky on Friday, while the Wings head to Atlanta to take on the Dream the same day.Play will resume following the Olympics on Aug. 26. ' ' '