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Players can be traded while on the disabled list, but it rarely happens.  Teams rarely want to acquire an injured player, especially if they're just renting a veteran.  Here are some injured players to watch this month and in August:

• Tommy Hanson, Angels: Hanson should be activated tomorrow after a right forearm strain.  He'd a non-tender candidate in the offseason.
• Ryan Madson, Angels: Madson still hasn't pitched in a big league game since 2011, after complications following Tommy John surgery.  Still, if he looks like the Madson of old on a rehab assignment, he could be a stealthy pickup for a contender next month.
• Jason Vargas, Angels: He had surgery to remove a blood clot and may be back in August.  He could certainly be moved then.
• Aramis Ramirez, Brewers: His knee injury is likely to keep him out until August, but his salary should allow him to clear waivers.
• David DeJesus, Cubs: DeJesus should return this week from a shoulder strain.  He could be moved, but the Cubs do have a club option for 2014.
• Ryan Sweeney, Cubs: Recovering from a rib fracture, Sweeney can't come off the 60-day DL until late August.  The Cubs may prefer to try to re-sign him.
• Franklin Gutierrez, Mariners: The oft-injured center fielder is currently on a rehab assignment, trying to shake a hamstring injury.  The team may not intend to exercise his 2014 club option.
• Mike Morse, Mariners: He may begin a minor league rehab assignment this week as he comes back from a quad strain.  He'd probably be claimed on waivers in August, but could still be dealt.
• Frank Francisco, Mets: Remember him?  Francisco's last minor league rehab appearance came a week ago.  If he gets his elbow right, the Mets could move him in August.
• Jason Marquis, Padres: With a recent right elbow strain, Marquis is an August trade candidate if anything.
• Roy Halladay, Phillies: Halladay, recovering from shoulder surgery, threw a bullpen session recently.  He'd clear waivers in August if the Phillies want to move him, but he'd have to show big league readiness first.  
• Josh Willingham, Twins: Willingham should return next month from a knee injury.  His offensive production has been way down this year, but he is cheap enough to be claimed on waivers in August.
• Jesse Crain, White Sox: He could be back this month from a shoulder strain, and the impending free agent will be well-scouted if so.
• Tim Byrdak, Mets: He's made a dozen minor league appearances on a rehab assignment following September shoulder surgery.  

An explanation of the many ways to enjoy MLB Trade Rumors:

• If the main site doesn't load perfectly on your cell phone, try the more mobile-friendly mlbtraderumors.mobi.  It's a simple page that shows you just the headlines and lets you click through to what you want to read.
• Be sure to pick up the MLBTR app for the latest news and rumors on the iPhone or Android.
• If you want only the hard news in the form of transactions, our transactions page is the ticket.  You can also get only the transactions via Twitter or RSS. 
• To return to the main page at any time, just click on the title or the Home button on the navigation bar below the title. 
• The navigation bar will cover many of your needs.  Use the About dropdown to learn about this site or any of its writers. 
• The Contact button takes you to a page where you can write an email message to the MLBTR writers.  If you have a link to a rumor we've missed, please send it in through the Contact page!  Also use the Contact page to inquire about advertising on MLBTR.
• The Archives dropdown shows you 15 months worth.  If you need to go back further, click on Site Map at the very bottom of the page.  Site Map also lists out every MLBTR post category, including players, teams, and features.
• The Tools dropdown takes you to a number of different places. The MLBTR Widget allows website owners to easily add a constantly updated box with all of MLBTR's headlines to their sites.
• Also under the tools tab is our Transaction Tracker, which enables you to search about anything and everything to do with baseball trades, signings and extensions. 
• Under the tools tab, you'll find a link to our Forums, a message board community of MLBTR readers with over 9,100 members.  You can discuss any baseball-related topic on the Forums, and start your own thread too.
• MLBTR's Agency Database lets you know which agencies represent which players. It's searchable by team, agency or player, so be sure to check it out.
• Feeds By Team is a very useful dropdown.  Hover over it to see all 30 teams.  Click on the team name to bring up a page of every post containing information about that team, with the latest on top.  These are the same pages you'll find if you go to the Rumors By Team section on the sidebar and select A's Rumors, Angels Rumors, etc.  
• Also under the Feeds By Team dropdown, you'll find RSS and Twitter buttons.  Those links allow you to follow a single team's rumors via RSS or Twitter.  Did you know we have a separate Twitter account for each of the 30 teams?  For example you can follow @mlbtrtigers, where you would get the latest Tigers updates.
• You can also follow Tim Dierkes on Twitter for more MLBTR content.
• On the far right of the Navigation bar, you'll see buttons for Twitter, Facebook, and RSS.  MLBTR has over 286,000 Twitter followers, over 70,000 Facebook fans, and over 53,000 RSS subscribers.  Sign up for these and you'll be the first to receive all of our posts.
• Be sure to check out your favorite team's MLBTR page on Facebook so you can receive and comment on the latest rumors.
• On to the sidebar.  It begins with a list of our Top Stories, which our writers update any time major hard news occurs.  Go here for a quick update on the most important stories.  Below that is the site's Search Box, where you can type in any player's name and get the latest on him. 
• MLBTR Features has all kinds of goodies, including our free agent lists.  Many of the MLBTR Features are constantly updated by our writers, so be assured that our free agent lists are always fresh. 
• Below Features you've got headlines for all the Recent Posts, in case you'd rather not scroll to see all the headlines.  Then there's a box for our Mailing List, where you can sign up to receive a daily email containing MLBTR's posts.  Use this option if you don't need the news as soon as possible.
• Next we have Featured Posts, where you'll find original work from MLBTR writers we consider noteworthy. 
• There's also a contact form in case you need to reach MLBTR.

The booming business of baseball has led to some agents becoming household names on a par with the players that they represent.  While the larger agencies unquestionably have their advantages and operate on a large scale for a reason, many players opt to sign with agents that have a smaller stable of clients.  Burton Rocks, an accomplished author turned agent, knows what it's like to be represented by a big agency and aims to give his clients many of the same benefits with a more personal feel.

"I had the big agency experience in a different field and I convey to my players that the most important part of it all is understanding a client's real desires.  In the end, the players who are stable and want a long career, they really want stability in temperament, in the way you behave, and the way that you interact with people," Rocks explained.  "I've built a Rolodex of contacts with Major League executives and it has worked to my advantage in benefit of the doubt situations."

Understanding a player's goals comes in part from a personal relationship between the player and the agent.  In conversations with multiple agents with smaller offices, the case often was made that it is easier to build that type of rapport with a client when there's more time and attention that can be spent on each individual.  Jim Munsey of Munsey Sports Management, who represents Sean Burnett, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and others, understands that concept may be cliche, but he says that he finds it to be very true from his own personal experience.  

In the case of Alex Esteban, who represents Yuniesky Betancourt and others at Miami Sports Management, he believes the cozier nature of his firm allows for him to be highly detail-oriented in a way the bigger fish might not be.  Betancourt is one of his primary clients and he joined up with MSM after several stops around the big leagues, including his most recent tour of Kansas City where there was a public rift between him and manager Ned Yost.  Esteban says his client was portrayed as a clubhouse disruption, an image that couldn't be further from the truth for a guy he believes is a tremendously positive influence in the locker room.  To avoid a repeat when the infielder signed with Milwaukee, Esteban hatched a plan to help endear him to fans that he says most agencies out there wouldn't consider.

"We wanted to find the perfect walk-up music for Yuni.  Basically we did a market study of Milwaukee and their fan demographic and from there, we looked at what types of music that demographic would respond to.  We basically had a list of songs together and according to that we wanted to focus on a song that would kind of create a positive fan response.  We wound up with "Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark [and the Funky Bunch]…Soon after there was an article when Yuni was playing well and the whole thing was about the 'good vibrations' he was bringing to the team."

"I think the misconception about larger agencies is that they're a one-stop shop and I think a lot of smaller agencies, people say, don't have that capability.  But I would argue differently. because we can focus on something as small as a player's walk-up music," Esteban said.

Signing with a power agency often means there are people in-house to handle taxes, make investments, book vacations, and hunt down lucrative endorsement deals.  That level of convenience is a massive draw, but smaller agencies can often find ways to make those connections happen.  Rocks draws off of a deep Rolodex of people with whom he has networked over the years from his time in baseball and in the literary world.  Munsey has a similar list of trusted people who specialize in those areas and argues that a player is better off working with someone whose specific expertise lies in, say, accounting or the stock market, while he and his colleagues zero in exclusively on baseball matters.

Munsey has built a strong list of clients over the years with that pitch, along with his vast knowledge of the business of baseball and friendly demeanor.  He signed Saltalamacchia and Burnett as 17-year-olds getting prepared for the MLB Draft and both players eventually blossomed into MLB notables.  The pitch of a small agency will work in some situations but fall flat in others.  Munsey recounted his attempt years ago to represent fellow New Hampshirite Jeff Locke, only to see him sign with ACES.  While Munsey made a strong impression on the the left-hander and his family, ACES was able to boast a lengthy client list full of All-Stars, and that ultimately made the difference in a close call.

While there is a shared loyalty between Munsey and his players, he says it hasn't stopped larger agencies from going after his clients in the past.  To help tackle the problem head on, he's now a part of an oversight committee that features fellow agents Alan Nero and Casey Close.  In Munsey's estimation, the problem of player poaching has improved in recent years and that's something he attributes to the new MLBPA regime led by Michael Weiner.

"The old administration didn't seem to care.  [Weiner], who I can't give enough credit to, he is one of the smartest guys I ever met, he got it," Munsey said.  "If a guy has been in the big leagues for a year, another agent can come along and tell him that he can get a guaranteed $20MM when you and I know that if he goes year-to-year, he'll be getting $25-40MM…The problem is, that hurts the market tremendously and hurts the greater good and Weiner was the only guy to understand that."

One could make the case that a player's choice between small agencies and large ones comes down to a matter of comfort and not dollars and cents.  Jim McDowell, who represents big leaguers such as Casey Janssen and Travis Ishikawa, believes the playing field is more or less level in 2013.  

"From a contract negotiation standpoint, a couple factors serving as 'equalizers' these days are the incredible amount of readily accessible information available for all agents (for which MLBTradeRumors should be among those taking a bow), as well as the Players Association's involvement in most significant contract scenarios," McDowell wrote in an email. "Any agent that denies the significance of the Players Association's contribution to this business is full of it."

Just like there are small and big market teams in the game of baseball itself, there will always be agencies with more money and resources at their disposal than others.  And those smaller agencies will always have a market, as some players will prefer what they feel is a more personalized experience.

TUESDAY: While speaking with reporters (including Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times) earlier today, Weiner said that the MLBPA is actively pursuing contingency plans for when he is no longer able to work. While Weiner declined to list specific candidates to be his successor, he did say that he doesn't expect Fehr to return.

FRIDAY: With executive director Michael Weiner's health in question, the MLB Players Association is contemplating the return of Weiner's predecessor, Donald Fehr, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. Weiner, 51, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in August 2012.

Since stepping down as the MLBPA's executive director in 2009, Fehr has been voted the director of the National Hockey League Players Association. Passan reports that it's not clear if Fehr would return to the MLBPA in a senior management or adviser role.

Passan adds that Fehr has shown no inclination to leave the NHLPA and that the MLBPA is considering a number of names as it prepares contingency plans. Weiner is also heavily involved in the current Biogenesis scandal, as the MLBPA works to ensure that each player in the scandal is given a fair appeal. Weiner has issued a pair of statements on the Biogenesis situation, condemning the early leaks of names in the clinic's logs as well as voicing a desire to defend the players and uphold the integrity of the Joint Drug Agreement. Weiner is on his fourth round of cancer treatments, according to Passan's report.

Beverly Hills Sports Council is seeking $40MM in damages from former partner Dan Lozano, according to Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal (subscription required).  Lozano left BHSC in 2010 to form MVP Sports Group, taking many prominent players with him including Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Jimmy Rollins, Michael Young, and Brian Wilson.  Mullen notes that MLBPA rules say agents must resolve disputes under a confidential arbitration process, and this case will be heard starting October 28th.  Lozano filed counterclaims against BHSC partners Jeff Borris, Dan Horwits, and Rick Thurman.

Mullen's sources say BHSC claims Lozano violated a partnership agreement upon leaving.  As Mullen notes, Lozano has done huge contracts for Pujols and Votto since his departure.

July is typically known for the flurry of trades that will happen in the final days of the month and, to a lesser extent, the barrage of international signings that will take place after the July 2 international signing period begins. However, some teams do make sure to focus on retaining their existing talent this time of year. With an assist from MLBTR's Extension Tracker, here's a look at the July extensions from the past few years…

2012

• Cole Hamels — The Phillies silenced months of speculation regarding the size of a potential free agent deal for Hamels and weeks of trade speculation by locking him up to a six-year deal worth a guaranteed $144MM. It was the second-largest deal ever for a pitcher at the time. Hamels has seen a surprising decline in 2013, but his velocity remains the same, and FIP, xFIP and SIERA indicate that he's been better than his 4.58 ERA.
• Edwin Encarnacion — The Blue Jays locked up Encarnacion to a three-year, $29MM contract in the midst of his breakout season, and a year later it looks like a bargain. Over the past 365 days, Encarnacion has hit .269/.371/.537 with 43 home runs in 156 games.
• Carlos Quentin — The Padres faced a decision with Quentin, whom they acquired in the 2011-12 offseason. Quentin was hitting .273/.389/.525 with nine homers in 40 games after returning from the disabled list, leading to trade speculation. The Friars elected to lock up the San Diego native, however, inking him for three years and $27MM.
• Huston Street — The Padres could have used Quentin and Street as prime trade chips, but they locked Street up for another two years and $14MM. Street had allowed just three runs in 29 2/3 innings to that point, but the Pads might prefer a mulligan on his deal. He's been injured again in 2013 and has just a 4.61 ERA with a career-worst 4.9 K/9 rate.

2011

• Jaime Garcia — The Cardinals locked up some more of their young pitching by giving Garcia a four-year, $27.5MM contract. He's been effective while on the field since that time, but the left-hander has battled significant injury problems and will miss the remainder of 2013 following shoulder surgery.
• J.J. Hardy — After pilfering Hardy from the Twins, the Orioles received a career-year from the 28-year-old. He was hitting .278/.335/.490 with 13 homers in 65 games when news of his three-year, $22.5MM extension broke and finished with 30 bombs. Hardy had a rough year at the plate in 2012, but his defense remained strong. He averaged 3.5 fWAR from 2011-12 with the O's.

2010

• Kurt Suzuki — Suzuki signed a four-year, $16.25MM contract with the Athletics and eventually found himself traded to the Nationals in 2012. He was never able to rediscover the three-fWAR form he showed from 2008-09 with the A's, though he was solid in 2010 and 2011, and the modest price tag made it a worthwhile risk.
• David Ross — Ross signed a small two-year, $3.25MM extension with the Braves to continue backing up Brian McCann, and he was terrific from 2011-12. Ross hit .259/.327/.439 with 15 homers in 367 plate appearances in those two seasons before signing with Boston this past winter.

July extensions certainly aren't plentiful, but there have been at least a couple in each of the past three years, so history suggests that a few trade candidates or impending free agents may find themselves signing long-term rather than seeking out a new uniform.

FanGraphs is loaded with fantastic MLB statistics and related tools, and one of my favorites is the ability to create custom leaderboards.  With trade season around the corner, I created three leaderboards to allow you to sort the stats for all the MLB players I currently consider viable trade candidates.  You can see which available first baseman has the best walk rate, which available starting pitcher gets the most groundballs, which available reliever has the biggest strikeout rate – the possibilities are endless.  Please note that the player selections are subjective, and some are much more available or movable than others, and use the leaderboards as a framework or starting point.  They consist of reasonably-available veterans from the Astros, Brewers, Cubs, Mariners, Marlins, Mets, White Sox, Angels, Dodgers, Phillies, and Twins, with a few players on contending teams sprinkled in.

Position Player Trade Candidate Leaderboard

Starting Pitcher Trade Candidate Leaderboard

Reliever Trade Candidate Leaderboard 

The Major League Baseball Players Association has officially certified Jay-Z as an agent, according to ESPN's Darren Rovell (on Twitter). Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal adds that two other executives from Roc Nation Sports — Jay-Z's startup agency — have been certified to negotiate player contracts. She adds that Jay-Z is now certified to negotiate both MLB and NBA contracts (Twitter links).

Jay-Z's desire to work his way into the world of sports representation was first reported back in April. The rapper/entrepreneur merged with CAA Sports to create Roc Nation Sports, with an eye on negotiating a contract extension between Robinson Cano and the Yankees. Cano left the Boras Corporation in early April in order to hire Jay-Z and CAA agent Brodie Van Wagenen as his representatives.

MLBPA director Michael Weiner said back in April that the MLBPA would consider Roc Nation's applications for certification, but they first needed to determine if there were conflicts based on his interest in the Brooklyn Nets.

An explanation of the many ways to enjoy MLB Trade Rumors:

• If the main site doesn't load perfectly on your cell phone, try the more mobile-friendly mlbtraderumors.mobi.  It's a simple page that shows you just the headlines and lets you click through to what you want to read.
• Be sure to pick up the MLBTR app for the latest news and rumors on the iPhone or Android.
• If you want only the hard news in the form of transactions, our transactions page is the ticket.  You can also get only the transactions via Twitter or RSS. 
• To return to the main page at any time, just click on the title or the Home button on the navigation bar below the title. 
• The navigation bar will cover many of your needs.  Use the About dropdown to learn about this site or any of its writers. 
• The Contact button takes you to a page where you can write an email message to the MLBTR writers.  If you have a link to a rumor we've missed, please send it in through the Contact page!  Also use the Contact page to inquire about advertising on MLBTR.
• The Archives dropdown shows you 15 months worth.  If you need to go back further, click on Site Map at the very bottom of the page.  Site Map also lists out every MLBTR post category, including players, teams, and features.
• The Tools dropdown takes you to a number of different places. The MLBTR Widget allows website owners to easily add a constantly updated box with all of MLBTR's headlines to their sites.
• Also under the tools tab is our Transaction Tracker, which enables you to search about anything and everything to do with baseball trades, signings and extensions. 
• Under the tools tab, you'll find a link to our Forums, a message board community of MLBTR readers with over 9,100 members.  You can discuss any baseball-related topic on the Forums, and start your own thread too.
• MLBTR's Agency Database lets you know which agencies represent which players. It's searchable by team, agency or player, so be sure to check it out.
• Feeds By Team is a very useful dropdown.  Hover over it to see all 30 teams.  Click on the team name to bring up a page of every post containing information about that team, with the latest on top.  These are the same pages you'll find if you go to the Rumors By Team section on the sidebar and select A's Rumors, Angels Rumors, etc.  
• Also under the Feeds By Team dropdown, you'll find RSS and Twitter buttons.  Those links allow you to follow a single team's rumors via RSS or Twitter.  Did you know we have a separate Twitter account for each of the 30 teams?  For example you can follow @mlbtrtigers, where you would get the latest Tigers updates.
• You can also follow Tim Dierkes on Twitter for more MLBTR content.
• On the far right of the Navigation bar, you'll see buttons for Twitter, Facebook, and RSS.  MLBTR has over 263,000 Twitter followers, over 70,000 Facebook fans, and over 53,000 RSS subscribers.  Sign up for these and you'll be the first to receive all of our posts.
• Be sure to check out your favorite team's MLBTR page on Facebook so you can receive and comment on the latest rumors.
• On to the sidebar.  It begins with a list of our Top Stories, which our writers update any time major hard news occurs.  Go here for a quick update on the most important stories.  Below that is the site's Search Box, where you can type in any player's name and get the latest on him. 
• MLBTR Features has all kinds of goodies, including our free agent lists.  Many of the MLBTR Features are constantly updated by our writers, so be assured that our free agent lists are always fresh. 
• Below Features you've got headlines for all the Recent Posts, in case you'd rather not scroll to see all the headlines.  Then there's a box for our Mailing List, where you can sign up to receive a daily email containing MLBTR's posts.  Use this option if you don't need the news as soon as possible.
• Next we have Featured Posts, where you'll find original work from MLBTR writers we consider noteworthy. 
• There's also a contact form in case you need to reach MLBTR.

I'm putting my fantasy baseball reputation on the line.  DraftStreet is offering $2000 in cash prizes for an exclusive "beat the expert" MLBTR/DraftStreet league using Friday night's MLB games.  The entry fee is $11, but DraftStreet is raising the pressure on me (Tim Dierkes) by offering $5 back to anyone who beats my team, separate from the regular prize pool.

The beat the expert contest is for Friday night's games (the afternoon Cubs-Pirates game is not included), so you have until 6:00pm central time to create your team.  However, there are only 200 slots in this league, so sign up early.  

You're given a $100K salary cap, and each player is assigned a price by DraftStreet.  For Friday, Cliff Lee is considered the most valuable player since he starts against the Brewers, but he'll cost you over $19K.  Your roster will cover these positions: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, 2 utility, 2 SP, 1 RP, 1 P and 2 Reserves (14 starters).  You get points based on how your team performs Friday.  For example, you'll get 0.75 points for each strikeout Lee racks up and 1.5 points if he gets the win.  The teams with the most points get the prize money.  You can apply all kinds of strategy in building your roster, but since we're in direct competition this time I won't divulge all my secrets.  I do like Jose Fernandez, who has great numbers and stuff without the name value of a Matt Harvey.  And I always try to grab five-category contributors like CarGo.  You'll have to check the scoreboards to see the rest of the team.  Here's my roster in the beginning stages:

Be sure to sign up as soon as possible, before the 200 slots are all taken.  DraftStreet has raised the stakes by challenging you to beat me; are you up to it?

This is a sponsored post from DraftStreet.