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What a rough year for second basemen! As if fantasy owners didn't have enough trouble working around Chase Utley, Dustin Pedroia and Ian Kinsler injuries–now Martin Prado, one of the years best runs producers, goes down with a broken knuckle on his pinkie. So assuming you were playing Prado at second and not third, who are the waiver wire options to replace all those wonderful runs and sweet batting average? Let's take a look…

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That Braves offense that led the charge to the top of the standings during a 20-win month of May has seemingly been relieved of command.

Going back to the All-Star break, the Braves are 7-9 since Brian McCann roped a bases-clearing double in the NL's 3-1 win in the Mid-summer Classic.

News flash—the Braves only have won one series since then.

These are not the Braves that many Atlanta fans came to recognize during a two-month span that took them from last place to a 7.0 game lead in the NL East.

It's well known in the baseball world that Ozzie Guillén has the biggest mouth in the majors.

Never one to shy away from publicity, Guillén recently made comments pertaining to the treatment of Latin baseball players comparing it to the treatment that Asian players receive.

It has been a pretty ugly couple of weeks if you are a Mets fan. Since the All-Star break, the Flushing Faithful have had to sit back as their team dropped nine out of 11 on the road. They've been shut-out four times, lose to the last-place Diamondbacks five out of six times, including a 14-1 loss, and not get a big-name player at the trade deadline. 

The Mariners are just coming off one of the worst months in team history. In July they had a 6-22 record and couldn't do anything right. When they had good pitching games, they couldn't score. When they had good hitting games (which were rare), their pitching struggled. 

When you are a baseball fan and want to watch or listen to the game, sometimes you find yourself at the mercy of the broadcasters.

They have the ability to irritate and frustrate listeners. They can irk viewers with their biased commentary and antagonize with their over-excited delivery.

At least for televised games, you can opt to turn the volume down. Radio broadcasts, on the other hand, are a major problem.

These guys are known for making many people angry just with the sound of their voice or even their opinions.

Although the non-waiver trade deadline has passed, don't think for a second that teams aren't still looking at ways to make themselves better before the month of August comes to a close.

What's next for a lot of general managers is the waiver wire.

NOTE: Team and player statistics are updated through Monday morning, August 2 11:00 AM CT

1. New York Yankees (66-38)
After a not-so-great first three months to the season, Mark Teixeira has hit .344, with 8 homeruns and 26 RBIs in July, which moves him up to number seven in my AL MVP rankings. The Yankees also own the AL’s best home record at 34-16.

2. Tampa Bay Rays (65-39)

There were a lot of young players traded over the past few weeks, but one of the most interesting names was James McDonald, who was traded as part of the deal that sent Octavio Dotel to the Dodgers (click here for more on the trade).  McDonald was not only considered one of the Dodgers best prospects heading into 2009, but Baseball America ranked him as

It always seems that on July 31st, one baseball team makes at least one move that has a significant impact on the outcome of both the regular season and the playoffs. This year, with so many teams within reach of a playoff spot, the trade deadline came and went with a lot of familiar faces jumping into the final playoff push.

The regular crowd was involved, as the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies made important moves to their rosters.