Links: August trades, A.J. Burnett, Aramis Ramirez

-P- There could be plenty of trades in August again this year, Ben Nicholson-Smith writes. As much fun as anticipating the July 31 deadline can be, it's worth keeping in mind that Marlon Byrd, a very good player making barely more than the league minimum, went to a contender in an August trade last year. If a player like that can make it through the waiver process until a contender gets a shot at him, then many, many other players can as well.

-P- A.J. Burnett's no-trade clause permits him to be traded back to the Pirates.

-P- Jonah Keri writes about the four-horse race in the NL Central.

-P- Aramis Ramirez now has 2,000 career games. Only 559 of those were with the Pirates, unfortunately. (And actually, I was surprised it was that many.)

-P- Mike Petriello's recap of last night's game made me laugh.