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. Fake Sabres Jerseys . - Blake Griffin had 30 points and 12 rebounds, J. Buffalo Sabres Pro Shop . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. https://www.cheapsabres.com/ .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. Sabres Jerseys China . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Sabres Jerseys 2021 . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. SEATTLE -- One swing by Mariners pinch-hitter Adam Lind erased a masterful performance by White Sox ace Chris Sale, who could only watch from the dugout.Lind hit a three-run homer off closer David Robertson in the ninth inning to give Seattle an improbable 4-3 comeback victory on Monday night and hand Chicago its fifth consecutive loss.Seattle, which had managed just one hit in eight innings off Sale, rallied against Robertson (0-2), who had recorded 13 straight save opportunities.Franklin Gutierrez singled to open the ninth, but was forced out at second on Robinson Canos fielders choice. Nelson Cruz walked and Dae-Ho Lee struck out.Kyle Seager followed with an RBI single to center to make it 3-1. Lind pinch-hit for Chris Iannetta and hammered an 0-1 pitch over the wall in right-center for his 14th home run.I knew I hit it well and I hit it true, with the backspin, Lind said. But no, to answer your question, I didnt know if I had enough, but it carried out.Sale, bidding to become the first 15-game winner in the majors, allowed just a first-inning single en route to eight scoreless innings.He did what an ace does, Robertson said. He went eight innings, didnt give up any runs, and I went in there and just blew it. I pitched poorly. I gave up hits, I walked guys and I didnt get the job done. Its pathetic on my part. It was supposed to be a cutter away, he said. It just ended up right down the middle and he put it in the seats.Tim Anderson and Todd Frazier homered to account for all of the runs for the White Sox, who were outscored 16-1 in being swept three games over the weekend by the Angels.Sale gave up a one-out single in the first to Gutierrez, who was erased on a double play. Sale walked Leonys Martin in the third and then did not allow another runner until tiring in the seventh.Sale hit Gutierrez and Lee with pitches in the seventh, but escaped by striking out Seager to end the inning.Iannetta walked to open the eighth, but also was doubled up. Sean OMalley then walked, but Sale enticed Daniel Robertson into an inning-ending force out.I think in the last couple of innings, hitting a couple of guys, walking the leadoff guy . he ended up getting out of it, but I thought he had done his job at that point, White Sox manager Robin Ventura said.Sale, tied for the A.L. lead with three complete games, struck out six and walked one before being lifted after 100 pitches.Do I like it? No. Do I understand it? Yeah. I get it, Sale said about being removed. I understand where theyre coming from. Its a long season. Its not a sprint. Its a marathon. So maybee I go out there and my pitch count gets over 120 and then .dddddddddddd you never know, so it is what it is and you move on.David Rollins (1-0) pitched the ninth inning for his first career win, despite allowing two hits.Chris Sale was Chris Sale tonight, Mariners manager Scott Servais said. He was very, very good. Probably as good as weve seen all year. We hit some balls OK, not a lot of luck. But we were able to get something going in the ninth inning. Great job to hang in there. Its really easy to give up and say, `Ah, this isnt our night, and move on. But we dont do that, this club doesnt do that. We had the right guy in the right spot and he got a good pitch, and he didnt miss it.ONE LESS ERROR, STILL A LOSSAn official scoring change reduced Seattles errors from four to three in Sundays 8-1 loss to Houston. The Mariners originally were charged with two errors on a second-inning play when Kyle Seager misplayed Carlos Gomezs hit to third and Gomez continued on to second on a throwing error by left fielder Seth Smith. The change removed the error charged to Smith. No runs were scored in the inning.UP NEXT:White Sox: Left-hander Jose Quintana (7-8, 3.21 ERA) is 2-7 with a 4.38 ERA over his last 11 starts after going 5-1 with a 1.36 in his first seven. Hes making his first start since throwing one scoreless inning in his first All-Star Game appearance.Mariners: Left-hander Wade Miley (6-6, 5.44) has lost all three starts since coming off the disabled list with a left shoulder impingement, as well as the one prior to going on the DL. Over that stretch, he is 0-4 with a 6.00 ERA.TRAINING ROOM:White Sox: LHP Carlos Rodon, on the 15-day DL retroactive to July 6 with a sprained left wrist, continues to improve and played catch over the weekend. Hes coming along OK, I dont think hes coming along as fast wed hoped, but it was his first time going out and throwing and getting going, manager Robin Ventura said. Hopefully, today well find a little bit more about him.Mariners: SS Ketel Marte was not in the starting lineup, but not because of the ankle he injured on Friday. Marte sat out Saturday, but played Sunday. Ketels under the weather today, more of like a viral thing, Servais said.RHP Taijuan Walker, on the 15-day DL with right foot tendinitis, played catch Sunday without wearing a protective boot and showed no after effects. Well probably start ramping that up a little bit, but reports were fine yesterday, Servais said. ' ' '