Mark Buerhle is a main reason why the White Sox have been able to thrive while in first place. Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
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Five quick-hitters for your digestive pleasure before we hit the E-Bag ...

• The Padres are a complete embarrassment for a first-place team. At this point, they should be leading the pathetic National League West by 10 games. I find myself almost rooting against them just because they don't deserve first place. Of course, no one else in the division deserves it, either. But the Padres are 17-27 since the end of May. That's just sad.

• Derrek Lee could end up being the NL MVP -- it'd be hard to deny a Triple Crown winner the award -- but it shouldn't be by much over the Cardinals' Albert Pujols. Thursday, I watched as Pujols hustled to tag up from first on a fly ball to right field, his team down four runs, on a simmering St. Louis summer day. The heat index was 107 degrees. Not many players -- certainly not many superstars -- would have bothered taking that base in those circumstances. Oh, and Pujols can hit and play defense, too.

• I wonder if that dropped ball Thursday night will eventually be Joe Crede's ticket out of Chicago? The White Sox third baseman muffed Manny Ramirez's pop foul, and Manny paid him back by clubbing a game-winning homer on the next pitch. Crede, who hadn't made an error in 49 straight games, has been fighting off trade rumors for weeks. If he'd have caught that, he might have quelled them a bit -- especially after hitting the go-ahead double in the bottom of the eighth. Like that matters now.

• Jason Giambi has back-to-back two-homer games. He's hitting .400 with 10 homers and 16 RBIs in July. How hot is he? Hotter than D. Lee, or Pujols, or Ken Griffey Jr., or Manny ... Giambi has the best OPS in baseball this month. That'll grip some people and delight others. Me? I'm glad to see a guy fight through all the junk that Giambi has fought through, even if it was of his own making.

• Shawn Chacon and Mark Redman, two pitchers whom rumors are swirling around, hook up Sunday in Pittsburgh. With the trade deadline next Sunday, this week could be one of the more interesting ones, as far as trades go, in years. Unless, of course, everybody's just too overloaded with possibilities to move. I see the Reds finally cracking on trading one of their outfielders (hey, they need the arms), I see the Orioles finding another starter, I see the Marlins moving someone, I see the Phillies doing something, I think the Astros will surprise people by getting another bat and, truthfully, I see me being wrong on at least one of those predictions. And that would be a good week.

All right, on to the E-Bag, with stuff on the White Sox, Junior, satellite TV and a guy from Massachusetts who lets loose with a completely unwarranted attack on the city of Pittsburgh ...

It's nice to read someone actually giving credit to the White Sox, especially the guy who wrote they were in "big trouble" on Memorial Day. That said, I think they need to make a deal, and I'd love to see Omar Vizquel take over at short, and Juan Uribe go to the utility role. Vizquel would fit right into the speed and defense approach with his 14 stolen bases and .300 average. Is there any chance that would happen? And is the four-man rotation of Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Freddy Garcia and a healthy El Duque good enough to win the whole shebang?
-- Steven Delmagori, Chicago

The former Indians shortstop going over to an AL Central enemy? That'd be a story. Don't think it will happen, but I like Vizquel's game and he would help the Sox. Here's what I think Chicago should do. If GM Kenny Williams can get another starter -- El Duque and Jose Contreras both worry me -- without giving up too much off of his big-league roster, great. If Williams can improve shortstop or third without disturbing the roster, then do it. But this is a well-oiled machine right now. I don't blame Williams for not wanting to mess with it.