First A-Rod is linked with Madonna, now his wife is seen in Paris with Lenny Kravitz who worked with Madonna on "Justify My Love"

What a strange world we live in...

Prompted by a few questions on the subject, I decided to do my own version of the AL East player debates. Solely focusing on the three best teams--record-wise at the midway point--in the American League East, here are my picks for the top players at each position among the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays.

Nice to see a small-market team win one, but it sounds like the Yankees got screwed. From article...

"The agent for Michel Inoa, the top Dominican Republic pitching prospect of the last decade, has told other clubs not to bother when the July 2 international signing period opens Wednesday.

That ship has sailed.

According to industry sources, Inoa, represented by Adam Katz of WMG, has agreed to terms with the A's for a $4.25 million signing bonus. Other clubs pursuing Inoa, including the Rangers, Reds and Yankees, were told this weekend that the deal was done, and that A's general manager Billy Beane would announce the signing this week.

Baseball America previously reported the A's as the favorites in the Inoa sweepstakes. It is the richest deal ever for an international amateur who is not from Cuba, eclipsing both the $2.44 million paid to Willy Mo Pena as part of his major league contract back in 1999, and the straight $2.25 million bonus paid by the Dodgers to Joel Guzman in 2001. In fact, the only pitcher who previously ranked among the top 10 bonuses in Latin American history was righthander Ricardo Aramboles, who got $1.52 million back in 1998 from the Yankees.

The Yankees initially were the leader for Inoa, reportedly agreeing to terms with Inoa's Dominican buscon on a deal with a $2.7 million bonus. However, multiple sources have indicated that Katz was then brought into the deal and raised the signing bar to a minimum of $3.5 million. The Yankees reportedly dropped out at that point, in principle over having had a deal struck and then taken away.

More when you click on the link...

Derrick Rose remains on top of NBADraft.net's final mock, but trades may wreak havoc on the rest of an unpredictable draft.

Another New York Giants retires and immediately gets a job in the media. Maybe this can be a selling point when they try to attract free agents...join the Giants, get tons of media coverage and as long as you're friendly and don't go Billy Martin on reporters, you will get a gig as an analyst after you retire.

Carolina is picked first in this preview, but I think the Saints are much better than people think. I probably won't draft Reggie Bush in my fantasy draft though.

The Yankees' $20 million bust from Japan toils in AAA. Good story and he's trying his best but it's hard to see what the Yankees saw in him in the first place.

Simulation Says: if Babe Ruth played in the 90's he would have had TWO seasons of 100 or more home runs AND 200+ RBI. And then hit .400 another year. And Barry Bonds wouldn't have done too badly in the 20's either.

Ken Rosenthal says: I do not say this lightly: The Mets' firings of Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson and first base coach Tom Nieto will go down as one of the most disgraceful episodes in sports history. Wow...

The photoshop alone is worth the click over: Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth go time traveling. What would happen if Bonds had started his career with the Red Sox in 1914 instead of Ruth; and if Ruth had started his as a Pirate in place of Bonds? Full season stats simulations run through WhatIfSports.com.

Even on a night when the Mets won, manager Willie Randolph lost. Randolph made two more decisions Wednesday night that drew scrutiny from Mets management, according to major-league sources.

A supercomputer simulates the Finals 10,000 times and finds the most likely scenario is that the Celtics win in 6 games.

They will own half of the 62 titles in the history of the NBA between them once this series has been decided. As a child of the 1960s, if you didn't have an NBA team in your city, it was easy to become a fan of either franchise, and it happened again two decades later in an expanded version of the league as well.

Kobe says he doesn't want to be compared to Jordan. But I think that's inevitable. The similarities are there in terms of competitiveness, scoring and defensive ability, but Kobe needs to prove he can win without Shaq. He was the #2 option in those championship years and I'm sure that is what drives him to win now.

Another article jumping on the Rays bandwagon, from a NY Post writer no less. If you had to pick 15 players from the Rays and Yankees roster, what would the breakdown be?