General: The gravy train sees chaos and confusion

Chaos is beginning to emerge in Beantown. The Red Sox now find themselves one-and-a-half games behind the streaking Yankees, and things have just begun to get bad.

Challenged all year by injuries, the situation was made more edgy by OF Trot Nixon's comments in the press regarding fellow OF Carl Everett's rehab progress. According to Nixon, Everett could be, and should be, doing a lot more to get himself back on the field.

Apparently Everett wants to play it extra-careful with his bruised knee, and has been limited to hitting off a tee and fielding ground balls hit directly at him. His progress has been impeded by his allergy to aspirin, prohibiting him from taking anti-inflammatory medication and his reluctance to take a cortisone shot. Nixon thinks he needs to bite the bullet and do what's best for the team. Know what? He's right.

Everett finally came into his own last year and is a player the Red Sox need on the field as much as possible. In 2000, he hit .300 with 34 HR and 108 RBI's. With SS Nomar Garciaparra on the shelf recovering from wrist surgery, the Red Sox can't ride Manny Ramirez all the way to the playoffs, no matter how outstanding he plays.

Everett had already left the clubhouse when Nixon made his comments. Watch that development closely.

And what's worse, Pedro Martinez announced yesterday he'll rest his shoulder until the end of July. This will work out for the best in the long run, probably preventing serious damage to the team's golden arm. However, with the way the Yankees are playing, they might be out of the race by then. Their only hope is that fill-in Rolando Arrojo, who was outstanding in his last start (one run in seven IP), can be slightly better than average, and the bottom doesn't fall out of Tim Wakefield's knuckleball.

Let's hope they enjoy the All-Star break, because immediately after the hiatus they have to make a trip to the Bronx. No Pedro + no Everett + no Nomar = no chance.

The word is out that the New York Knicks want to give SG Allan Houston $99 million to stay with them for the remainder of his career. Houston's a nice player, but the Knicks need a big man more than anything. And with the young Marc Jackson available from Golden State, I can't fathom why they're not looking at him more seriously.

Marcus Camby is a capable but lightweight center, but to be happy with him and draftee Eric Chenowith doesn't make any sense. Camby won't help you get out of the East, much less put up a fight against the likes of Shaquille O'Neal. And with the current status of the Lakers, you almost have to consider that when evaluating your team's chances for success.

To me, $99 million can be better invested than a streaky shooting guard who hasn't really shown anything other than a better than average three-point shot.