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In a bleak landscape for pitching, the Tampa Bay Rays are awash in talented young starters with affordable contracts and several years of club control. Survey the available options and Tampa is an oasis of promise in a desert of back-end, complementary types.But, as the Aug. 1 deadline nears and speculation builds that Andrew Cashner and Jeremy Hellickson will soon be on the move, and Jose Quintana might be in play, and Rich Hill will be dealt if he can get past that pesky blister, the snippets of news out of Tampa Bay have been underwhelming.As each day passes without a match, potential trade partners are becoming more convinced that Tampa Bay will sit this deadline out.Several teams that have had conversations with the Rays have concluded theyre perfectly willing -- and leaning toward -- hanging on to their big assets and waiting to act during the winter, when they can engage with 29 MLB teams rather than a handful making playoff pushes. Although the Rays will probably trade Steve Pearce and could find a new home for reliever Erasmo Ramirez over the next few days, theres a growing sense in baseball circles that starters Chris Archer, Matt Moore, Jake Odorizzi and Drew Smyly will end the season where they started it.I think theyll take it to the offseason, said an official with a club in the starting pitcher market. Theyll get a lot of information now. Theyll find out whos really serious, and then theyll take the month of August to really scout that organization and see who they have a good fit with. Theres no urgency for them to do stuff now. They can set a price, and if they dont get it, theyll take it into the offseason and go from there.The Rays are 38-61 and 20 games out of first place in the American League East, and run-prevention issues have been a major culprit. Tampa Bays starters rank 15th in the majors with a 4.25 ERA, and, barring a late turnaround, this season will mark the first time since 2009 the Rays rotation has been above 4.00 as a group.Some factors are beyond the pitchers control. In one ugly stretch from late May to early July, outfielders Kevin Kiermaier, Brandon Guyer, Steven Souza Jr. and Desmond Jennings all landed on the disabled list. After posting an aggregate 44 defensive runs saved in 2015, Tampa Bays outfielders are at 12 this season. In addition, the Rays gave a significant amount of playing time to catcher Hank Conger, who flopped offensively and defensively before Tampa Bay optioned him to Triple-A Durham during the All-Star break.Even so, the numbers are still disappointing, particularly in the case of Archer, a preseason Cy Young candidate whose season has been a portrait in bizarre. Archer leads the American League with 155 strikeouts and is sixth in the AL with a 12 percent swinging strike rate. His fastball has held relatively steady at 94.2 mph, and his slider remains a major weapon. But his WHIP has risen from 1.14 to 1.35 this season, and he has consistently gotten himself in early trouble with an 8.59 ERA in the first inning. Win-loss totals can be deceptive, but Archers 5-14 record is nevertheless unsightly.As Rays president of baseball operations Matt Silverman and his group contemplate their options and decide whether they want to spring into action or wait, heres a pecking order of how things line up this winter -- in terms of how Tampa values the aforementioned four starters and the price potential suitors will be expected to pay:1. Chris ArcherHes 27 and is under team control for a total of $38.5 million from 2017 to 2021, assuming the Rays exercise the two club options at the back end of his deal, so it would take a monster package for Tampa Bay to consider moving him.For sake of comparison, Cole Hamels was 31 and had $82 million left on his contract when Texas acquired him for a package that included Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro, Jake Thompson and Jerad Eickhoff last July. So what kind of return would Archer command? If the Dodgers were to make a run at him, they would almost certainly have to part with Julio Urias. If Texas wants in on the action, the Rangers will have to think about surrendering Nomar Mazara or Jurickson Profar (or both). Archer is a top-10 pitcher when hes right and is one of the budding stars of baseball, so the Rays would be looking to make a killing.2a. Matt MooreMoore underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2014 and is working his way back to the form he showed when he wowed everyone with a 17-4 record and a 3.29 ERA in 2013. Moore has carved his ERA from 5.56 to 4.31 since June 7, and he has worked six innings or more in nine straight starts. He is signed to a five-year, $14 million deal with club options of $7 million in 2017, $9 million in 2018 and $10 million in 2019, so hes one budget-friendly left-hander.2b. Jake OdorizziSome clubs might prefer Odorizzi, an athletic right-hander who has less upside but has shown more consistency than Moore. He has three years of arbitration eligibility remaining, during which hes likely to earn a total payout slightly north of $20 million. Thats a reasonable sum for a pitcher who can slot right into the middle of a contending rotation. Performance-wise, youre going Odorizzi, said a National League executive. Moores got better stuff, but hes never put it together. Scouts will take Moore, but I think front offices will take Odorizzi.4. Drew SmylySmyly dealt with shoulder problems in 2015, and his 2-11 record, 5.42 ERA and 21 homers allowed have made this a summer to forget. Hes under club control for two more years, compared with three for Moore and Odorizzi and five for Archer. If teams are looking for a glimmer of hope, Smyly has 112 strikeouts in 111 1/3 innings but the 12th-highest batting average on balls in play in the majors this season (.308). If the Rays move him, theyll be selling low on a 27-year-old, left-handed, potential bounce-back candidate.If the Rays decide to stand pat, theyll enter the winter with a starter contingent of Archer, Odorizzi, Moore, Smyly, highly regarded rookie Blake Snell and Alex Cobb, who is expected to return from Tommy John surgery next month barring a significant setback. Factor in Matt Andriese and Triple-A pitchers Jaime Schultz and Jacob Faria, and thats nine starters who could be in the mix in spring training. By moving one or two, the Rays can ease the congestion and deal from an area of strength to fill several needs.So why wait? For one thing, the timing is good. Although Tampa Bays starters look attractive now, theyre going to have even more appeal this winter against the backdrop of a colossally weak free-agent crop. Now that Stephen Strasburg is off the market, the top options include Clay Buchholz, Cashner, Ivan Nova, Hellickson, Hill, Jered Weaver and R.A. Dickey.As Rays beat writer Marc Topkin points out, recent history suggests the Rays are going to move someone soon enough. Since 2008, theyve traded away Edwin Jackson, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, James Shields, David Price and Hellickson. With the notable exception of Evan Longoria, every Tampa Bay player has to stay light on his feet and be ready for anything at the trade deadline.Could a sense of desperation prompt a potential suitor to panic and overpay in the next few days? Theres always a chance. But in the absence of that scenario, all is quiet on the Tampa Bay front. The Rays are poised to make a lot more noise this winter. Discount Adidas Hockey Jerseys . - Oakland Raiders running back Rashad Jennings was speaking to a group of local high school students earlier this week when the conversation turned to the importance of being prepared when opportunities in life arise. Wholesale Hockey Jerseys Online . Breaking three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe. http://www.cheapjerseysnhladidas.com/ .J. -- Seven games into a disappointing season, New York Giants defensive catalyst Jason Pierre-Paul is getting the feeling hes back. Adidas NHL Jerseys China . Colin Wilson had two goals and an assist, and Mike Fisher scored a goal and helped set up two others in the Predators 6-4 victory over the Red Wings on Monday night. Cheap Adias NHL Jerseys Free Shipping . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left. Last Sunday, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was ejected for throwing a towel at a referee.A week before that, Dolphins receiver Jarvis Landry took a running start at a defender who couldnt see him, slammed his shoulder into the players neck and sent him to the hospital. Landry played on after a 15-yard penalty and later received a $24,000 fine.These two snapshots -- polar opposites in both the players actions and the NFLs response -- underscore one of the leagues most difficult issues. Faced with an ever-growing concussion crisis, it talks tough about curbing illegal hits, especially those above the shoulders. Yet it uses its most-stringent penalty for those sorts of infractions -- the suspension -- very infrequently compared to the number of relatively inconsequential fines it hands out.What do you do when you want to punish somebody? You take something away, Jaguars tight end Marcedes Lewis said. The money, yeah, cool, but depending on who you are, youre good as far as the money goes anyway because you know its going to keep coming. When you take somebody out of the game, I think thats harsher.Its not to say the league is shy about ejecting and suspending players. Since the start of 2016 through Week 7, 47 have been suspended a total of 219 games and docked more than $18 million, according to the website spotrac.com.But of those suspensions, the majority were for drug use or legal- and violence-related issues off the field. A four-game ban went to Tom Brady for Deflategate. And spotrac.com lists only one illegal-hit suspension -- for three games -- which went to Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict after his vicious hit to Steelers receiver Antonio Browns head in last seasons melee of a playoff game.Meanwhile, spotrac.com lists 55 fines handed out in 2016 for violations including impermissible use of the helmet, roughing the passer, and blindside blocks the likes of which Landry delivered to unsuspecting Aaron Williams of the Bills. Williams crumpled to the ground and had to be transported to the hospital. Those infractions resulted in the single suspension (Burfict) and an average fine of $16,500 in a league with an average annual salary of $1.9 million. Thats an average of 0.8 percent of a players salary.Maybe we need to look at our rules a little better, Bills coach Rex Ryan said after the hit on Williams. Maybe, having a guy who targets and deliberately does something like that, the right thing to do is to eject the player from the game and maybe part of another game.That is the rule in college football, which also can use replay to pass final judgment on the legality of a hit.After the hit on Williams, for which Landry expressed remorse, NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino told NFL Total Access it wouldve been a difficult call to eject Landry because its still a football play, and its tough to read intent there. He conceded we have few automatic ejections in the game today.The NFL did not make Blandino available to The Associated Press for this story. Instead it referenced a portion of the league rulebook that has been rewritten over the past few years to reflect its emphasis on curbing helmet-first, above-the-shoulders and other illegal hits that used to be celebrated but are now viewed in a different light.Ten years ago, when I came into the league ... the sky was the limit when it came to hits, said two-time Pro Bowl defensive back Michaeel Griffin of the Panthers.dddddddddddd You lived for hits like that.Griffin served a one-game suspension as a repeat offender of hits to the head while with the Titans in 2013, the first season of the newly toughened hitting rules. When asked this week to reflect on the suspension, the first words out of Griffins mouth were: That cost me too much money. That cost me $205,000.But he said the suspension helped change his outlook, in part because if you cant play within the (rules), theyll find somebody else to do it.The increased emphasis on technique and safety has undoubtedly played into the decline in fines for hits on defenseless players, which is one subset of the hits the AP reviewed as part of the spotrac.com numbers. The NFL says there were 40 such fines in 2012, and only 10 in 2015. Yet, the leagues ability to police the violence this season came under scrutiny as early as Game 1, when MVP Cam Newton received four hits to the head in the season opener against the Broncos, none of which resulted in penalty yardage.Darian Stewart delivered one of those hits, then one the next week to Andrew Luck. Hes been fined a total of $27,000 for the hits -- a tad more than 1 percent of his 2016 base salary.No suspensions.Newton has complained to the NFL, going all the way to Commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss. This week, Newtons coach, Ron Rivera, echoed Ryan, saying it might be time to crack down harder.Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward, the teams union representative, says the players would appreciate more clarity.Theres so many gray lines. Everybody is always waiting for someone, or what Goodell is going to say, Heyward said. If you have a set rule and a set amount and how its going to be addressed, I think youll see more clarity and youre not going to have to deal with those (questionable hits).The NFL has resorted to a more-direct approach before.In 2010, after a rash of helmet-to-helmet hits, the league made a midseason adjustment and put the possibility of suspension front and center in an emergency effort to halt the violence. Predictably, defensive players complained -- then, after a week that included $175,000 in fines, nobody was suspended.Since then, a total of 10 players have been suspended for illegal hits and other over-the-top physical play on the field, according to spotrac.com. Four of those suspensions, including Griffins, came in 2013. Another four have come over the past three seasons.One observer believes player safety is only one of a multitude of issues the NFL has to consider when it decides which penalties to levy.As much as the league wants and needs to get rid of dirty plays and players, they dont want to take actions that compromise, or even appear to compromise, the actual contests themselves, said Doug Hartmann , a sociology professor at University of Minnesota, who teaches a course on sports in society. Fines and such, in other words, have much less impact on actual games and outcomes than suspensions or expulsions.---This story has been corrected to fix the name of the website, spotrac.com.---AP Sports Writers Steve Reed in Charlotte, Will Graves in Pittsburgh and Mark Long in Jacksonville contributed to this report.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '