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By Brett Avery
PGATOUR.com Contributor

Dear St. Pete Crumbsnatchers,

We haven't chatted much this season in match-play Public League 3359 and the fact that we're playing our last head-to-head of the regular season seemed like as good a time as any to drop a note.

Zach Johnson is still in the top fivein FedExCup points despite a three-week layoff. (WireImage)

Now that we're inside the last two months of the regular season it's time to think of weeks 33 and 34, the playoffs that will determine the league champion.

It's been an uneven season for those of us in the West Division and the fact that you've gamely hung in contention is worth at least a silver star. Starting the season 3-6-1 wasn't exactly what you had in mind, but now you're the No. 5 seed and back to .500 after a two-week winning streak, so kudos for what Europeans would call "the fightback."

At 10-10-4, it's going to be rough to make the playoffs so TFI approaches with an idea that could provide benefits in this last quarter of the regular season.

A trade, really: TFI's Zach Johnson for your David Toms.

Understand that TFI is offering this trade for two reasons.

First, he wanted to write a column about late-season trades because the deadline is fast approaching (11:59 p.m. Eastern time next Wednesday, July 18) and he wanted to underscore that fact.

As usual, if the offer tendered at the tail end of TFI's Monday night research and selection session meets with your approval then it'll spend 36 hours in limbo waiting for potential objections from other owners in the league. If it gets through that, the swap occurs.

Second, it seemed prudent to TFI to note to the rest of the League Championship universe that teams on the periphery of the playoffs might be more amenable to a trade now than any other time of the season.

Had TFI floated a Johnson-for-Toms deal a month ago you might have jumped at the chance. But the fact that you're staring at pounding out four or five wins in these closing weeks to make the playoffs, it might look better.

Then again, it might not. Your call.

But with a week to the trade deadline, TFI thought he'd at least start the dialogue. You know where to reach him, the email address is at the bottom of the column. And good luck this week in the John Deere Classic.

P.S: TFI didn't think you'd want them, but if you'd rather have Vijay Singh or Ernie Els in favor of Zach Johnson just say the word. In fact, if you want to propose an entirely new deal, be TFI's guest. He's in a dealing mood this week.

Three players TFI might pick up/trade for to get onto his roster this week:

Zach Johnson. The guy's about to go on an incredible winning streak of, like, at least six tournaments. Beginning this week at the John Deere Classic, where he serves on the tournament's board of directors. And lasting through the FedExCup Playoffs. Really.

Bernhard Langer. TFI's finding it much more difficult to gauge the field in the lesser events this year so he's retreating to pick one of the more experienced players and a guy who also has come close two of his last three starts. He's competed only three times in the last two months, tying for second in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and the European Tour's BMW International Open.

Lucas Glover. Followed missing the U.S. Open cut with a tie for 10th in the Buick Open and tie for 12th in last week's AT&T National. Be forewarned that anyone taking this guy should stock up on antacid tablets Saturday night: His final-round scoring average (72.00, 113th) means that if you're prone to throwing things at the television when your guys go sideways, it's best to keep anything harder than a Nerf ball out of your reach, as TFI did when this guy shot 74 last week at Congressional.

Three players TFI might waive/drop/trade away to get off his roster this week:

Woody Austin's putter has been red-hot, but Brett Avery advises benching him this week. (WireImage)

Woody Austin. OK, so in the last month he's won the Stanford St. JudeChampionship and finished second in the Buick Open. Wonderful streak despite missing the cut last week in the AT&T National. And then he announces he won't play in the Open Championship because he "would probably go and shoot two high numbers and make a fool of myself." Dude, it's Carnoustie. You're supposed to shoot two high numbers.

Rotisserie lineup for Expert League at John Deere Classic: Mathew Goggin, Heath Slocum, Bubba Watson, Jay Williamson. Not in field: Mark Calcavecchia, Paul Casey, K.J. Choi, Ken Duke, Padraig Harrington, Geoff Ogilvy, Steve Stricker, David Toms. Roster changed: Dropped Tom Lehman, added Jay Williamson.

Match-play lineup for Public League 3359 at John Deere Classic: ] TFI (14-8-2) vs. St. Pete Crumbsnatchers (10-10-4). Jesper Parnevik, Pat Perez, Bernhard Langer, Zach Johnson, Jose Coceres, Joe Ogilvie. Not in field: Mark Calcavecchia, Ernie Els, Stephen Marino, Nick O'Hern, Vijay Singh, Nick Watney. Roster changes: Dropped Eric Axley, added Pat Perez; dropped Daniel Chopra, added Jesper Parnevik.

[[bold]] Salary Cap Cup results for AT&T National: [[end bold]] The main lineup of Tiger Woods (869 FedExCup points, tied sixth), Vijay Singh (461 points, tied 12th), Lucas Glover (461 points, tied 12th), Stephen Marino (0 points, missed cut) and Justin Leonard (195 points, tied 25th) earned 2,086 points and placed 9,746th. Through Week 27 it totaled 7,400 points and ranked 11,643rd. For the season it totaled 65,305 points and ranked 4,178th overall. What infuriates TFI about this format is picking three players who finish in the top dozen and ties and barely cracking the top 10,000 for the week. Just shows how quickly the points decline in the rewards column (and, although it never quite seemed it, the money, too).

The "Hey, buddy" backup lineup of Jim Furyk (1,300 points, tied third), Geoff Ogilvy (461 points, tied 12th), Tom Pernice Jr. (0 points, missed cut), Fredrik Jacobson (98 points, tied 40th) and Jesper Parnevik (293 points, tied 19th) earned 2,252 points and placed 8,565th. Through Week 27 it totaled 8,249 points and ranked 8,879th. For the season it totaled 60,597 points and ranked 6,173rd overall. Three guys in the top 20 and this team sputters to a fumbling finish. Drat!

Week 27 winner: da Pars 9,943 points.

Segment 3 leader: TanManTx 21,581 points.

Overall: The Big Stick 104,869 points.

Salary Cap Cup lineup for John Deere Classic: Main lineup, Lucas Glover $290,250, Bernhard Langer $277,250, Craig Kanasa $186,250, Kevin Stadler $153,750, Marco Dawson $75,000. Total: $982,500. "Hey, buddy" backup lineup, Pat Perez $264,250, Brandt Snedeker $254,500, Stephen Leaney $196,000, Jesper Parnevik $176,500, Chris Riley $98,500. Total: $989,750. Tiebreakers: 268, 1.

Have a question or comment for TFI? Send it to him at brettavery@aol.com. Please be sure to include your name, where you're from, the name of your team and, if it relates to League Championship, the name of your league and whether you're competing in the rotisserie or match-play format.