By Rich Shook, The Sports XchangeDETROIT -- Its one of the more anxious days of the season for players -- the last game day prior to Mondays nonwaiver trade deadline.Houston closes out its three-game series in Detroit on Sunday with lefty Dallas Keuchel of the Astros opposing Tigers right-hander Mike Pelfrey. Houston dropped the first two games of the series.There will be a certain amount of anxiety -- probably more in Houstons clubhouse than avowedly stand-pat Detroits -- of players on the bubble or those who have heard their names tossed around in trade rumors.Its difficult, Houston manager A.J. Hinch said, because youre uncertain of what can happen. Theres a general excitement around it because of the possibilities that are out there.Especially when youre doing well or your team has a winning record or theres talks of buying. The lines drawn in the fact that if we do acquire somebody, then somebody in the clubhouse is going away, either to the minor leagues or in a trade.Its a little unsettling until the deadline. But youd always rather be in it and be a buyer and be talking about making additions that you think are going to help your team get to the playoffs or into the World Series.The Astros are said to be shopping for pitching (isnt everybody?) while the Tigers are more focused on getting three key injured players back -- right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, right fielder J.D. Martinez and lefty Daniel Norris.It can add to the excitement, manager Brad Ausmus of the Tigers said. Even if it doesnt involve your team, just watching the moves around the country involving other teams. Well just wait and see. You cant let that distract you.Detroit will not be in action on trade deadline day; Houston goes home to host Toronto.Theres a lot of unknowns, Hinch said. Theres a lot of rumors and I think every one of our guys follow them. Theyll float by my office and ask a lot of questions. Well all know soon enough when the deadline gets here.You say buy, Detroit right-hander Justin Verlander said, I kind of meant the not-sell aspect. I see what Mr. Avilas (GM Al Avila) been saying and I completely agree with him. Weve got one of the best hitters in the game (J.D. Martinez) coming off the DL soon. Thats a big acquisition in and of itself. Weve missed him for six to seven weeks now.Then youve got a couple guys, (Jordan) Zimmermann and (Daniel) Norris, that are big for this team as well. So hopefully get those puzzle pieces back where they need to be and we just roll. Keep playing good baseball.I have to commend Mr. Ilitch (owner Mike) and Al for putting together what we all thought at the beginning of the year was a great ball club. So you look at the big picture, we have a great nucleus of guys here. I dont think you have to add anything.The Astros hope Keuchel can bring a little calm to the last day of games prior to the deadline and hes got a nice track record against the Tigers.Keuchel (6-10, 4.57 ERA) is not having a Cy Young season but he did pitch well in a loss to the Yankees in his last start, allowing two runs in 7 2/3 innings.He pitched eight innings of shutout ball at Detroit in their first meeting this season, going mostly soft, and over his career is 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA in five games against the Tigers.Pelfrey has faced the Astros nine times during his career and is 3-5 with a 4.56 ERA. Houston beat him the first time they met this year. He tied for the league lead with 29 double plays thrown last year and is at 24 this year.Ausmus said Saturday he will pitch Anibal Sanchez against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday with rookie Michael Fulmer getting extra rest and going Wednesday. Thursdays starter is not known but the manager said it wont be Verlander, who will get an extra day off.Houston, like Detroit, has an eight-man bullpen and this means it has only three bench players. Thats hurting the Astros now because two of those are regulars who are injured and the third is a catcher, who is always the last man in. Swell Water Bottle Clearance . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. Cheap Swell Bottles Australia . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). http://www.swellbottleaustralia.com/ . Rob Manfred, baseballs chief operating officer, testified last week during the grievance filed by the players union to overturn Rodriguezs 211-game suspension. A person familiar with the hearing, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Manfred testified the sport wasnt concerned whether Bosch distributed performance-enhancing drugs to minors because MLBs interest was his relationship with players under investigation. Swell Bottle Free Shipping . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. Swell Water Bottle Sale .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. This story appears in ESPN The Magazines Dec. 12 issue. Subscribe today!The elation of the World Series is now behind us, and thus begins the season when every player joins the same team against an opponent that happens to pay them. Major League Baseball is on a tenuous 21-year streak of labor peace since the beginning of the last work stoppage, when the 1994 strike devastated the sport, destroyed the Montreal Expos and paved the way for the steroid era. Uncomfortable truths, all, but truths nevertheless.The truths of the negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement (the current one expires Dec. 1) arent necessarily heroic from the selfish eye of the fan, who couldnt care less about labor unless a lockout or a strike looms. Its players vs. owners, millions vs. billions. There dont appear to be any apocalyptic issues that would stop the game, but that doesnt mean a work stoppage wont occur.The issues that would radically shape baseball for the better-determining once and for all whether the game continues down its path of everyday interleague play and, if so, whether it adds the DH to the National League or abolishes it in the American-are likely not on the table. Nor is the nonstarter of shortening the season to accommodate the increase of playoff teams (which has reduced the necessity of a 162-game season) and to avoid bad postseason weather. What is on the table is, in a sense, climate change. Baseball has slowly been trying to turn its culture closer to footballs-look at how the commissioners office has pushed for more power (see: Alex Rodriguez being suspended for a full season in 2014 during the Biogenesis scandal without failing a drug test), and witness the primacy of baseballs odious qualifying offer, which, although it might survive the negotiations, shouldnt.On its face, the qualifying offer -- which can be extended to eligible free agents who have been with a team for the entire previous season -- seems to work for everyone. It mimics the NFLs franchise tag with one major exception: Unlike NFL players, MLB players can reject it -- and they have, roundly, over its four-year existence. In football, not one of the 27 quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame was ever a healthy, in-prime unrestricted free agent. In baseball, a player who has accepted the qualifying offer would earn $17.2?million for the 2017 season and wouldd get to become an unrestricted free agent after.dddddddddddd The player makes a lot of money and puts off free agency for a year. The team, meanwhile, doesnt have to compete for its own player but isnt tied to a long-term contract. A win-win, right?Wrong. Since the inception of the new system in 2012, 64 qualifying offers have been made by teams, with only five accepted. This year Neil Walker of the Mets and Jeremy Hellickson of the Phillies accepted. The other eight players offered this year did not, aware of their worth on the open market. Yoenis Cespedes, for example, rejected the Mets qualifying offer, knowing full well some team will likely commit to him for more than one year; in turn, the Mets will receive a draft pick from whatever team signs him.The qualifying offer isnt destroying baseball, but its not helping either because it continues to expose old wounds. The sport is a $10?billion industry and yet, 41 years and untold profits later, ownership still hasnt been willing to accept the concept of player movement without some form of compensation in return. The philosophy behind free agent compensation has always been specious: that if a team loses a player to free agency, it deserves compensation for having developed the talent. The counter is more sensible: Baseball controls a drafted player until he hits six years of service time. Then that player should be free to join the marketplace to shop his services, the debt to his club paid.The gap between MLB philosophy and reality is wide. The qualifying offer is really designed to dampen free agency and depress salaries, to give teams pause before signing free agents because they dont want to lose the draft picks attached to signing one. On the other side, it discourages teams from retaining their own players with long-term deals and encourages them to acquire draft picks. A team, for example, that needs Cespedes might not sign him because it doesnt want to give up compensation, which means not doing what it takes to win. Winning, in fact, often falls a distant second to making and saving money. The pursuit of the World Series is the summer game. That game is over, giving way to the winter game: owners vs. players battling over money and control. ' ' '