There are rumblings around the game that the Ilitch family may sell the team. But you can be sure that GM Randy Smith won't quit, and hasn't appreciated calls asking if he's ready to dump Todd Jones, Damion Easley or other veterans. That will eventually change if the team keeps losing, but for now, they are in quicksand.

	Jason Giambi could get traded before the end of the season if the A's don't get back into the race.

Muser's line that "chewing on cookies and drinking milk and praying isn't going to get it done" didn't help, especially since the worldwide headquarters of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is across the highway from Kauffman Stadium. Some veteran players, many of whom are still in Boston because of huge, immovable contracts, are shooting at Williams' Picassoesque lineups -- i.e., hard to figure from a number of angles. His use of Craig Grebeck at shortstop as raised the ire of fans, although Grebeck's agents were calling around Friday saying he's about to get released.

If the A's are not within hollering distance of the Mariners by the All-Star break, Beane may have to move Giambi, Jason Isringhausen, Johnny Damon and Gil Heredia rather than take draft choices in return. For now, Beane bristles at the notion that the Oakland problems are either the strike zone -- they went into the weekend second in the AL in walks -- or "veteran presence." Frank Menechino has far outplayed Randy Velarde and is leading all AL second basemen in OPS. Yes, they miss John Jaha hitting behind Giambi (see more on this in this week's Apolitical Blues) and going into Friday's game had .217 averages in both the four and five holes, with .317 and .321 slugging percentages.

"Our problem isn't veteran presence," says Beane, "it's that Damon, Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez haven't hit to their normal expectations."

It is typical of the White Sox's luck that they had a 6-0 lead Friday night and got rained out in Texas. But with the worst record in the league and without a lot of hope for their pitching right now, it will be interesting to see if and when GM Ken Williams puts Wells and James Baldwin on the market.

"If you look at potential free-agent pitchers who could be on the market, the list isn't overwhelming," says a GM. "(Albie) Lopez is probably No. 1, or Wells, then Baldwin, Heredia, Ron Villone and Brian Bohanon, maybe Jason Schmidt and Francisco Cordova if they come back, maybe Pete Harnisch, although the Reds should be in the race. It will be a lot easier to get a quality reliever -- Todd Jones, (Ugueth) Urbina, maybe Isringhausen, Roberto Hernandez, perhaps even Antonio Alfonseca."

"I saw Tommy John in Charlotte this spring and he said it still takes 18 months, no matter what," says Expos GM Jim Beattie. "We went through it with Guillermo Mota. People were frustrated last year when he came back from the operation and was throwing 90. Now he's throwing 95-96. It takes time."

The Braves have learned the hard way with John Smoltz, Kerry Ligtenberg and Odalis Perez as all have rushed back trying to beat history. Ditto Kerry Wood, who is approaching the kind of consistent stuff and delivery that could put him back on track to top-starter status.

But one can't help but ask: can someone who has one walk (17 all last season in the Eastern League) continue to hit? "Unless he makes adjustments, eventually that lack of patience will catch up to him, as much as he centers the ball now," says one GM. "Major-league pitchers will wear him down the second and third times around the league. Maybe he'll adjust. Maybe not. But, remember, that .340 without any walks isn't as great as it looks. Sammy Sosa learned, so can Hillenbrand?"

But they have made it clear to a couple of teams that Jay Payton could be available for a lefty, with Alex Escobar the replacement in center field.

It worked in Boston when Derek Lowe went haywire, and Rolando Arrojo isn't far from the Rivera/Troy Percival class with his 94-mph two seamer and slider, presuming his attention span holds for six months.

The Cardinals have been concerned about Dave Veres' circulation problem as he is a pitcher who relies on his splitter. But where for years manager Tony La Russa liked the Dennis Eckersley kind of relief setup, he now may close with Gene Stechschulte, Mike Timlin, Steve Kline and Jason Christiansen as well as Veres. GM Walt Jocketty also points out that Mike Matthews, whom he acquired from Boston for Kent Mercker, has done a good job in the long-relief role against lefties and righties.

Looking to the draft

"Put Prior with that staff they already have, then add Matt Kinney, Adam Johnson and Brad Thomas and the Twins could have one of the best rotations and deepest staffs for years," says one GM.

It's doubtful the Twins would take Georgia Tech third baseman Mark Teixeira because of the cost uncertainty, and other scouting directors think St. Paul High School catcher Joe Maurer, who signed with Florida State to play quarterback (if this sounds familiar, Chris Wienke also went to Cretin High School in St. Paul), and Middle Tennesee State righty Dewon Brazleton are also in the Minnesota mix.

A lot of teams have issues with selecting high school right-handed pitchers because of the blowout factors. But there isn't much left-handed pitching for the first round; the top-rated lefty is Chris Smith of Cumberland College, a Florida State transfer who is compared to Mike Hampton because he's 5-foot-9. There are two very interesting college senior right-handers in Rice's Kenny Baugh and Notre Dame's Aaron Heilman, who are both good and attractive because they are seniors.

Around the majors

There are other clubs whose reports on Double-A Round Rock right-handers Tim Redding and Brad Lidge are so good that they suggest that they could go to Houston with Redding starting and Lidge relieving -- right now.

The Astros have a lot of room to maneuver. Shortstop Adam Everett can be a gold-glover immediately, third baseman Morgan Ensberg at New Orleans and outfielder Jason Lane at Round Rock are the top two home-run hitters in all of the minor leagues.

"The inside pitch has been called consistently, and that's effected what we hoped," says Nelson. "The bottom line is that in the first month of the season, we didn't have one brawl." The closest came on Wednesday when Jay Payton was enraged after being plunked by Lima. Both benches and bullpens emptied, but Payton never got to the mound.

"There's so much to try to put together for timing when you're big that it's much more difficult than it is for the classic catcher's body like a Pudge Rodriguez or Jason Kendall," says Bill Haselman, who himself is 6-3.

"It makes no sense that Todd Helton is hitting .179 on the road (as of Friday)," says O'Dowd. "Jeff Cirillo was a lifetime .275 road hitter before he got here, but with the Rockies he's hit .245 on the road. Todd Walker hit .290 on the road with the Twins, .210 here. It's crazy. And you really need two different rosters, seven quality relievers in Coors (where the Rockies' bullpen has thrown 57 innings), but the full 14 or 15 positional players on the road (where the relievers had worked 20 2/3 innings through Friday and the staff leads the majors with a 2.30 ERA) because we score so much less."

Beginning in 1993, the Rockies' OPS on the road has been .695. Now, that's Bournigalesque. The Rockies have been hit with injuries; the 13 games missed by Neifi Perez was more than the total he missed his first three years, and ironman Cirillo is now on the DL. But John Thomson's outing last Monday, in which he sat 91-to-96 and needed only 69 pitches for seven innings, gives the Rocks hope that they will have another viable arm in the near future.