AMERICAN LEAGUE: INSIDE THE A.L.: YOUNG SHINES IN DEVIL RAYS' BALLPARK.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

The best show at Tropicana Field lately has been before the game, when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays work out top prospects in anticipation of Tuesday's draft. The Devil Rays own the first pick and are considering three players for their selection.

But it's believed the Rays are leaning toward Camarillo High star Delmon Young, the brother of Dmitri Young of the Detroit Tigers. Young pulverized Southern Section pitching for four seasons and in recent weeks has put on a coast-to-coast power display for major-league teams.

He left Milwaukee Brewers executives abuzz with his workout at Miller Park, and Young also made an impression on Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella, whose club will have first crack at the power-hitting outfielder.

``He put on a show here from right-center field to the left-field line,'' Piniella said. ``I would think Young would be 1 or 2 in the country. He's an impressive young player, and his brother's already in the big leagues, so that's a good sign.''

The Devil Rays also are considering Southern University second baseman Rickie Weeks or Florida prep outfielder Ryan Harvey, who hit a ball off the roof of Tropicana Field on Thursday.

``Haven't seen that before,'' Piniella said.

--Versatile Kim: Boston's acquisition of right-hander Byung-Hyun Kim for infielder Shea Hillenbrand gives the Red Sox some much-needed versatility on its pitching staff. For now, Kim will go in the rotation until Pedro Martinez comes off the disabled list.

Derek Lowe's status also is uncertain after he left the team for a biopsy of a growth on his nose. The growth emerged less than six months after Lowe had surgery to remove a cancerous lesion from his nose.

With such uncertainties, Kim will bounce between the bullpen and rotation as determined by Boston's needs.

``We feel like he'll be a starter in the future,'' manager Grady Little said. ``But for us to be the best club we can be when Pedro comes back, he'll surely be working in the back of our bullpen.''

When everyone's healthy, the Sox will have a diverse array of pitching repertoires, which won't be easy for opposing hitters to adjust game-to-game, or even inning-to-inning. Kim throws a beguiling submarine slider. Wakefield is a knuckleball pitcher. Lowe has one of the best sinkers in the game. And Martinez is Martinez.

--Hitting woes in Oakland: This week the trend of coach-as-scapegoat hit Oakland, where hitting coach Thad Bosley was expecting to be dismissed after the A's hit just .257, 11th in the American League, contributing to their five-game deficit in the West.

When word leaked Bosley was soon to go, he challenged the A's to fire him if they weren't happy; a day later, he reiterated that the comments weren't an attempt to get a pink slip.

``I'm a major-league hitting coach,'' Bosley said. ``My commitment is totally to the ballclub. Why would I be here if I wanted to be somewhere else?''

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com