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. Ryan Schraeder Jersey .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night. Vic Beasley Jersey . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". http://www.falconsauthenticofficialonline.com/authentic-tevin-coleman-jersey.html . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. Julio Jones Jersey . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence. Custom Atlanta Falcons Jerseys . The Vikings announced Thursday that Priefer will be one of seven holdovers from the previous staff, along with offensive line coach Jeff Davidson, wide receivers coach George Stewart and others. Norv Turner will mark his 30th year of coaching in the NFL as the offensive co-ordinator, as widely reported for weeks, and George Edwards will be the defensive co-ordinator. Is Tiger Riewoldt on the trade table?Now that the home-and-away season is finished, stand by for a flurry of player trade speculation. And much of it will involve Richmond, a club at its lowest ebb for many years - so much so that Tigers legend Kevin Bartlett this week tipped a bottom-four finish for them next season.Highly-rated Gold Coast midfielder Dion Prestia announced on Wednesday that he wanted to be traded and the Tigers were his preferred club, which was some good news for long-suffering Richmond fans. But there is one big hurdle to be cleared before Prestia dons the yellow and black.The Suns want a very good player in return for Prestia - not draft picks, of which they have a poultice. Suns officials first inquired about Tigers captain Trent Cotchin as a possible swap and, when they were told Cotchin was completely off limits, then asked about full-forward Jack Riewoldt.The answer they received was not quite as emphatic as the one they got about Cotchin.Which has given rise to growing speculation that the enigmatic spearhead, who was controversially left out of the players leadership group, might become Tiger trade bait in the coming month.Perhaps catching a whiff of this, an Essendon supporter - posting on a Bombers fan forum - claimed on Wednesday that he had seen Dons list manager Adrian Dodoro having a meeting with Riewoldt at a suburban café.As we say, stand by for a flurry of speculation, rumour and innuendo, some of which will have some basis in fact; others of which will be arrant nonsense.Lions gain could be Hawks lossIf Hawthorn footy operations boss Chris Fagan is appointed Brisbanes new coach - and hed be posted up there in a flash if the AFL had its way - the wailing from Hawks HQ will be heard all the way to the MCG.For Fagan, you see, is considered by many at Hawk-land to be the glue that holds the whole show together.Not just a great footy brain and a cool head in a crisis, the 55-year-old is also a calming influence for the Hawks combustible coach Alastair Clarkson - and someone who knows how to keep Clarksons sometimes rampant ego in check.Of course, no-one would ever decry any aspect of Clarksons performance as the clubs four-time premiership coach. The clubs position of pre-eminence in the AFL certainly wouldnt have happened without him.But Fagan is just about the best behind-the-scenes fixer, second-in-command, man manger and match-day deputy there is in the game.Which is why one Hawthorn insider said this week, when news emerged that Fagan had emerged as a frontrunner for the vacant Brisbane job: Clarko will be apoplectic, and (chief executive) Stuart Fox absolutely beside himself ....Fagan, a Tasmanian who has had stints in the footy departments at Melbourne, Tassie Mariners, North Hobart and Sandy Bay, is among a group of current AFL assistants (including Scott Burns, Robert Harvey and Adam Kingsley) in line for the Lions job vacated when Justin Leppitsch was sacked on Monday.The AFL will ensure the right people are put in place at Brisbane, just as it did with the hapless Melbourne three years ago, by overseeing the appointment of the coach and other key staffers. Two of the leagues top men, Mark Evans and Travis Auld, have been tasked with getting the Lions back on their feet and competitive again, on and off the field.Leppitsch sacking a disgraceThe fallout from Leppitschs axing continues to be felt, with former premiership defender Chris Johnson describing the boards recent conduct in sacking two of the clubs most decorated stars as coaches - first Michael Voss and now Leppitsch - as a disgrace.Johnson, who played in Brisbanes 2001, 2002 and 2003 flag-winning teams, said the club was squarely to blame for its current position languishing near the bottom of the ladder.Its a disgrace (sacking Leppitsch), Johnson told ESPN. It goes right back to how they treated Michael (Voss), a captain Id go to war with any day of the week. They got that wrong and now theyve done it again to Justin (Leppitsch).It is a cut-throat industry, I know that, but I wish they had both been given a little more time to work the list that will be at some stage a very good contender.Johnson said he feared the club was fraying in a similar way to Fitzroy in its final days 20 years ago. But he said the Lions playing stocks, which feature plenty of talented young draftees, meant they were in a much better position to turn around their fortunes.Whoever they appoint as coach will be very lucky, Johnson said. The club has a wealth of kids who look promising and can be the building blocks to something special.Roy boys still feel betrayed by Fitzroys demiseIt is 20 years - almost to the day - since Fitzroy played its final AFL match: a 86-point drubbing against Fremantle at Subiaco Oval on September 1, 1996.Chris Johnson recalled this week how he was overcome with emotion during one of his final training sessions ahead of that sad farewell game in Perth.The club did everything they could to give me the best opportunity to achieve the best outcomes as an athlete, but also as a person, Johnson told ESPN.Without the clubs guidance, I could have taken the path of crime and the sort of stuff that happens in Westmeadows and Broadmeadows where I grew up.It hit me like a sledgehammer at that training and I became quite emotional.Years of underperforming and mounting debt saw the 113-year-old Lions merge with the equally troubled Brisbane Bears to create a new entity, the Brisbane Lions.Johnson, one of eight Fitzroy players to relocate to Brisbane, says he feels sadness and betrayal when he reflects on his old clubs demise.Weve seen two franchise teams - Gold Coast and GWS - as well as Port Adelaide and Fremantle brought into the competition since then, Johnson said.?They (the AFL) bring in four other teams and kill one of the teams thats probably got the longest history in the game.It was probably an easy opption for the AFL in those days to just clear the debt of Fitzroy instead of relocating the whole football club somewhere else with the amalgamation with Brisbane.dddddddddddd.It will never be Fitzroy and it will never be the Brisbane Bears. Theres still a fair bit of history there but the AFL just ripped the heart out of them.Johnson sought a return to Melbourne from Brisbane when homesickness and a lack of senior opportunities took their toll in the 1998 season. But, after meeting with a number of Victorian-based teams, Johnson remained at the Lions after club official Scott Clayton removed the youngsters name from the trade table.The sliding doors moment allowed Johnson to be a member of the clubs historic three premierships from 2001.Its incredible how it turned out. It allowed me to be a part of one of the better teams the league has seen in a long, long time, he said.We had a couple of dark years finishing on the bottom. Winning those premierships did make it all that sweeter knowing how much the club, players and supporters endured.Hird a forgotten figure James Hird continues to work in London for sports consultancy group, Gemba, while making occasional forays back to Melbourne where his wife Tania and four children live.As Essendon set about welcoming back all their banned players for season 2017, and the drug saga which enveloped the club over the past three seasons fades slowly into the background, Hird remains footballs forgotten figure.The former coach, who received a 12-month ban for his part in the Bombers peptides scandal and later resigned his post, has sought to escape the media spotlight, as much for his familys sake as anything, by living and working overseas.His three boys have all turned their backs on Australian football - despite showing promising signs as juniors - and have taken up soccer, playing for South Melbourne.His eldest daughter is a highly accomplished tennis player.Yet Hird, an Essendon favourite son who was ranked as the clubs third-greatest player, remains in a strange state of limbo, shunned by the game that helped make his name - but, conversely, showing no signs of ever wanting anything to do with the code, as long as it is administered by the same people who forced his ignominious exit.Young gun doesnt regret swift exitFormer West Coast midfielder Tom Swift, who sacked football long before it had a chance to sack him, doesnt regret retiring prematurely to fully immerse himself in his tertiary studies.The 26-year-old sensationally quit the game four years ago, at the end of 2012, so he could study medicine.Four years after dropping that bombshell, Swift - who played 34 games in four years and was on the verge of establishing himself in the Eagles midfield - spoke about that momentous decision.I didnt want to be 30 years old being spat out the end of an AFL system without really having direction as to where I wanted to go, Swift, who is now living in Melbourne, told ESPN.I got to that fork in the road at the age of 22.His body hadnt failed him, nor had he lost his passion for the game.?He just felt the time was right to pursue his studies in the hope of becoming a doctor.From a personal development perspective I felt as though I sucked everything out of football, he said. Football gave me a platform to catapult the rest of my professional career.I was quite realistic that I was never going to be a 300-game Brownlow medallist, which sat fine with me.Swifts decision to turn his back on the fame and fortune of the AFL has led him to new ventures he never envisaged for himself. And they have nothing to do with medicine.The 26-year-old recently made the pilgrimage from Perth to Melbourne where he is an investment bank analyst with Citi Group, a position he has held since the start of the year.I had a few false starts in different areas. I never made too many steadfast plans. I was just floating along, taking opportunities as they came, he said.I was tracking along with a commerce/finance degree while I was playing football and that just progressed into this current opportunity.Its a challenging job and intellectually very stimulating, which was something I was looking for post-football.Swift, who went at pick No.20 in the 2008 draft, says the day he confronted then-Eagles coach John Worsfold about pursuing his academic dream was the most difficult conversation hes had.Telling people who had dedicated so much time and resources into my development was undoubtedly the hardest thing Ive had to do, he said.It was never a loss of passion or a loss of love for the game, it was more just pursuing other opportunities.As last years grand finalists embark on another finals campaign, the two-time Claremont premiership player doesnt regret his decision to leave footy prematurely.I definitely dont have any regrets. I miss it (football) every day. It was four or five of the best years of my life.Players socially aware of gong First-time members of the All-Australian squad learnt of their career-defining accolade via social media, rather than a formal announcement by their respective clubs or the AFL.ESPN has been told some debutants to the preliminary 40-man squad, which was unveiled on Monday, were made aware of their achievement via Twitter, which some felt downplayed the significance of the award.As many as 24 players could earn national honours for the first time, including ESPN columnist Josh Jenkins, Richmond ball magnet Dustin Martin and much-loved Melbourne ruckman, Max Gawn.Adelaide is crowing about its talent depth after it had a league-high six players nominated, further enhancing its depth after it had the most representatives in the AFLPAs under-22 squad with seven. Essendon and Brisbane were the only clubs to not have a player nominated. 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