Who is David Price? David Price is the front-runner to be the top pick of Major League Baseball's 2007 amateur entry draft. Price is a 6'6" lefty pitcher at Vanderbilt that some scouts have called the left-handed version of Mark Prior. This past season Price went 9-5 with a 4.16 ERA and 155 strikeouts in 110 innings. For Team USA this summer, Price went 5-1 and a 0.20 ERA with 61 strikeouts and 7 walks in 44 innings. He won Baseball America's Summer Player of the Year award for 2006. Obviously a lot can change in the next 9 months. He could suck next year...He could sign Scott Boras as his agent...his arm could fall off...he could get abducted by aliens...he could get Matt Leinart pregnant...the possibilities are endless. In the meantime, the race is on! May the worst team win.

There appear to be four contenders at this point, including K. C., the Rays, the Cubs and Pittsburgh, which is pretty amazing considering everyone thought the Royals would run away with this race in June. This could be an epic collapse on their part, much like the '69 Cubbies, the '87 Blue Jays, or the '04 Yankees...The Darkhorse is the Orioles who are 7.5 games out and look like a long shot. However, their 4-11 record over the past 15 games is a strong indication that they have given up on the season. Of course you would too if you had the worst owner in baseball. Both Cincinnati and Houston could be eliminated as early as tonight.

Last night the Rays picked up another game on the Royals and now stand just 1.5 games behind for the worst record in baseball. While Kansas City completed a 2-game sweep of the Indians, the Rays blew an another early lead and fell to the Yankees 8-4. Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli each ht a first inning solo home run but Jason Hammel immediately gave up the lead with 3 runs in the bottom of the first and 3 more in the bottom of the third. Interestingly, yesterday we pointed out the salaries of the starting lineups of each team and last night it was Robinson Cano that drove in 5 runs. Derek Jeter extended his hitting streak to 22 games, one night after going hitless, and the Yanks moved closer to clinching the division. But hey...In addition to the home run and three hits, Carl Crawford did get his 50th stolen base for the third time.

• Need another piece of evidence that there is a disparity in baseball? Tropicana Field cost $138 million to be built. The Yankees recently broke ground on their new ballpark. Estimated cost? $1.2 billion.
  
• We must admit, we have a soft spot for this headline.
• How is it possible to be a fan of the L. A. Lakers and the New York Yankees? One word Bandwagon. Or is that two words?