A.J. Burnett is probably not going to be traded because the Jays aren't likely to ship him to the Yankees.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Or the worst?

Just like clockwork, we’ve reached the trade deadline once again. It’s kind of like when your birthday approaches and you can’t believe you’ve gotten another year older; it’s hard to believe we’re over halfway done. By the time this column goes “to print” next Friday, no doubt I foresee the landscape of a few teams shaken up even more, and of course that applies to fantasy owners as well.

For the obvious situations, it’s easy to say I told you so. Owners in AL-Only leagues knew not to expect a full year of Rich Harden, and if he stayed healthy that he might be moved; fair enough. Take a team like the Braves, though. This is a club, which experts and myself as well suspected might be headed for another playoff run. If you’re an NL-only owner and you lose players to the opposing league, there was no foreseeing Mark Texeira on the trade block. If he heads to Boston, it’s a tough loss.

Jon Rauch is an interesting case. He goes from setup man to closer and back to the setup role again, albeit with a chance to save games perhaps before the year is over. Mono-league owners who could lose players when they change leagues will want to pay particular attention to this, but let’s take a look at some of the situations out there, and what the buying and selling could be as deadline day looms.

One domino may have kept another from falling in Toronto. A.J. Burnett has been a name on the trading block over the past month, estimated to be one of the major arms on the move around the league. While Burnett owners would have liked to see a move to a friendlier park, sans mentioning a more potent offense, it doesn’t seem too likely now. Scratch the Phillies, after they landed Joe Blanton, and though the Yankees are in need of starting pitching, a trade within the division would be taboo. With a lower asking price, the probability leans toward the Yankees acquiring Jarrod Washburn, who would likely waive his no-trade clause for a winning situation.

Keeping with the East, just how much the selling teams expect back is going to be the X-factor in some cases. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the Pirates are looking for two prospects in exchange for Damaso Marte. Because the Pirates believe they can get a first-round pick along with a sandwich selection in the 2009 Draft as compensation for Marte walking, the Pirates are asking for something a little more. If you can still sell on Marte, you might want to use this as a bargaining piece for him remaining a closer, because it still seems as if he’ll be the Pirate most-likely moved. As for those looking to replace Marte, I would latch onto John Grabow right now. He struggled with arm fatigue in June with an era over 8.00, but has settled down in July and allowed no runs over his last six innings.

Also asking for the moon are the Colorado Rockies, with some teams claiming they need to lower the compensation wanted for closer Brian Fuentes. This is a guy even more sure to be packing his bags, and it’s likely Manny Corpas owners will be the only ones to benefit from this situation.

With the aforementioned guys, this is starting to turn into a closer report. On that note, you might as well pair George Sherrill and Huston Street together on the trade block. Here are two guys who might be moved, but will likely retain their closer role to whichever respective teams they land with. Jonathon Broxton owners can’t be happy, but the Dodgers have been scouting both of these guys over the past week as potential replacements for Takashi Saito. While a Baltimore replacement might get the opportunities, no one seems capable of being able to put up solid peripherals to go along with the saves. Oakland, on the other hand, offers several options. Santiago Casilla would probably be the favorite, but don’t overlook Brad Ziegler, who has posted nearly 25 scoreless innings in what is his rookie season.

Onto a few grumblings from Thursday’s short stack of games:

This was beginning to look like a tough look week for my Extra Innings column, but Matt Cain made me look like a genius for recommending him in yesterday’s afternoon game against Washington. No secret that the Nationals sport a minor league offense, but Cain hasn’t looked quite that dominating this year. Scratch that after today. Cain went nine innings for the first time all season, posting a complete-game shutout with only four hits allowed and no walks to boot. He’s not going to get many wins, but he seems on track for a good second half. Maybe he’s still unnerved after that 7-16 record last year despite a sub-4.00 ERA.

Milwaukee’s save situation has been a tough one for fantasy owners all year. There were several candidates to take over for Eric Gagne when he hit the shelves, and you hit the jackpot if you jumped on Salomon Torres, who now has racked up 19 saves on the year. But yours truly is a Gagne owner, and I’m not giving up yet. Throw out a four-run disaster that the Brewers weren’t in position to win anyhow and you have five scoreless outings from Gagne since his return July 3, including a second win in St. Louis yesterday. I only own Joakim Soria and Masa Kobayashi on the team with Gagne, and I think some teams who are short on relief help could do worse than carry him as a third or fourth reliever.

Speaking of the Brewers, they took Ryan Braun with the fifth overall pick in the 1st round of the MLB Draft in 2005. That might not be a bad place for Braun to go in 2009 fantasy baseball drafts. I’ll admit that I wouldn’t have gambled a first round pick this season on Braun; but perhaps taking Prince Fielder over Braun was the real mistake, albeit a mistake many owners made. Braun leads Fielder in all five major categories to date this season, and a home run Thursday gives him 26 on the season. A .290/40/120/15 line seems to be reasonable over the next several years, along with all apologies and assumptions that his rookie campaign wasn’t for real.

On a closing note, as a Kansas City fan I’d like to take the time to note how abysmal Tony Pena Jr. truly is at the plate. Maybe he’d be easier on the eyes as a pitcher, though. In the 19-4 beating the Royals took on Monday, the usual shortstop was a bright spot in pitching relief, gunning down the Tigers for a scoreless ninth inning. Pena clocked 91 mph on the radar gun, and even flashed a curveball to strike out Pudge Rodriguez. Here’s hoping in Detroit that Pudge fairs better against real pitchers in the second half.