While Mark Buehrle is a perfect guy to be shopping right now, there's still no denying how well he has pitched this season. Despite playing in a park that ranked as the second easiest venue to homer in last season, the soft-tossing lefty has a 2.71 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. While his strand rate is a bit high, his .282 BABIP isn't all that below his .293 career mark. Over his last four starts, Buehrle has an 18:1 K:BB ratio, and his 1.63 BB/9 mark is the sixth best in baseball. Is a career-year in store at age 30?

I understand I'm beating a dead horse, and it makes sense for a team in last place to play Dexter Fowler, but Seth Smith's .890 OPS is the second-best on the Rockies, yet he's received just one start over the past week. He has more walks (23) than strikeouts (17) and is coming off a season in Triple-A where he posted a .950 OPS. Smith is just 26, so it's not like he can't be in the team's future either, especially if Brad Hawpe is traded. Carlos Gonzalez, who currently has a .341/.425/.631 line, should be a fixture in the outfield soon as well, but I just can't understand why Ryan Spilborghs is getting so much playing time.

I'm as surprised as anyone, but Carl Pavano must be owned in all but the shallowest of leagues. He currently has a 5.29 ERA and 1.37 WHIP, but that's about as misleading as it gets. If you remove his first start of the season, the ERA drops to 4.21 and the WHIP down to 1.24. His 3.85:1 K:BB ratio is simply fantastic, among the elite hurlers in the league.  With a .341 BABIP, .62 strand rate and an impressive 1.31 G/F ratio, you can expect a big decrease in ERA from here on out. In fact, his xFIP is 4.03 – better than Carlos Zambrano, Edwin Jackson, Derek Lowe and Cliff Lee to name a few. Of course, Pavano remains an extreme injury risk, but he's looking more like he did in Florida than when in a Yankee uniform this season.

I really don't get this LeBron James controversy. Sure, I agree he should be criticized for ducking the media after the Game 6 loss, but who cares if he left the court right after the game? You want to talk about etiquette and class? How about Dwight Howard shooting a three-pointer at the buzzer up 13 points? I could link to dozens of articles by writers sitting atop their soapbox proclaiming James some sort of criminal, but call me crazy, I like it better when athletes get mad and care about losing, opposed to Asante Samuel laughing with the opposing team after falling to the Cardinals in the NFC Championship game. This isn't hockey – players run straight to the locker room all the time after NBA games, and while I guess the end of a series is a different circumstance, I could do without the feigned congratulations. 

After hitting 13 homers over 423 at-bats last season, Jason Varitek already has 10 long balls in 138 ABs this year. His batting average remains a liability, but his slugging percentage (.522) is currently a career-high. It's also 235 points higher than David Ortiz's, which is flat-out shocking one third of the season through.

The MTV Movie awards are so last decade, I know, but Bruno's prank on Eminem was priceless.

He's likely gone in competitive leagues, but Kelvim Escobar isn't a bad speculative grab right now. He's been dominant during his rehab outings, even hitting 95 mph on the gun. He may still take some time to get back to form after labrum surgery, but there's also a decent amount of upside, and Escobar should be back up in Anaheim soon.

Between Dontrelle Willis, Joey Votto and Khalil Greene, what's up with baseball players and personal issues this season? Clearly, Votto's problem is in a different class coming off the diamond, as he's been one of baseball's best players in 2009.

Chris Liss has been arguing to anyone willing to listen that Joe Mauer has essentially become a top-five fantasy player in two-catcher leagues with his recent power surge. His argument, in summation, is that with his elite prospect status and body type, this outburst suggests a permanent skill growth as opposed to a general hot streak like Ian Kinsler's outstanding April. It's an interesting standpoint, and I'm fully on board with Mauer possibly being one of baseball's five best players. However, I will disagree with Liss on a few things about Mauer's fantasy value: while a .330 BA is fantastic, especially when you compare it to other catchers, Mauer has averaged 488 at-bats over the past four seasons, which comes with the territory of being a backstop (and someone who takes a bunch of walks), so that's about on par with hitting .300 over 650 at-bats, give or take. It's also true, as Liss states, that Mauer was a much better prospect than Kinsler, but the latter counters the real life affects by playing in Arlington and stealing bases. I love Mauer and would have voted him for MVP in 2006 (when Justin Morneau won), but I'd be shocked if he hit 20 homers from here on out.

Grammar Police: Kind of like the Karma Police, only not as catchy, I'm going to start a new weekly feature, where I highlight one common grammar mistake. It may not interest you, but it allows me to vent, which is therapeutic, so bear with me. With the first installment, I'd like to go over the most misused word in the English language, "irony." For the love of God, this word is NOT synonymous with coincidence, no matter how often it's used that way. You want to know what's truly ironic? How none of the scenarios in Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" have any irony whatsoever.