are the Oakland A's. These lovable future junkies are giving .500 something to be frightened of. Who'd a thunk that after a 5-20 May that Oakland would be only a handful of games back in the AL Wild Card race. No they won't win it. Probably won't come that close. But in the words of every Royals and Cubs fan on the planet...wait till next year. And I'm serious about it. In two-three years, the A's will be better than they were in their early 2000's Big Three stretch. Rich Harden, Joe Blanton, and Danny Haren are all locked down for a while at bargain basement prices. Chavez and Bobby "Don't Call Me Bing" Crosby will hold down the left infield till 2010. Former Longhorn Omar Quintanilla will be next year's 2nd baseman. Big Dumb Dan Johnson from Coon Rapids, MN and the U of Nebraska has almost twice as many walks as strikeouts in his month in the show. Okay, I'll reluctantly give the Cubs or Yankees Mark Kotsay, but I will survive and so will Oakland. We also have Nick Swisher who, for better (mostly) or worse, is the more athletic second coming of Jason Giambi in the clubhouse. Dude's already got three new tatoos this season. Cool. All of that's great, but do you wanna know who I am really excited about? No? I'll tell you anyway and you'll thank me in a couple of years for introducing you to Daric Barton. Acquired in the Mulder deal from St. L, this kid is 19. He can play C, 1B, Corner OF. Oakland will find a spot for him by September. He spent a month in Single A and put obscene numbers. Was called up to Double A, where since the middle of May he has hit .489. No not .389 like Derrek Lee. One hundred points higher than that. Yes, it is Double-A pitching, but the way the A's are swinging their shitbats, I would really appreciate someone hitting over .300. I tried telling him that over the phone, but he would not return my calls. Neither will Peter Gammons. But Steve Levy did.