The National League
The Kevin Towers
AZ Snake Pit: "Top prospect Archie Bradley took the hill for South Bend [Sunday] and his wildness and own error did not get him the desired result. He didn't get through the 5th as he allowed 3 hits, 4 runs (2 earned) and walked 5 while only striking out 1. His wildness has been alarmingly high of late while his K rate has declined."
The Frank Wren
Talking Chop: "Prior to Sunday afternoon's game, the Atlanta Braves had won six in a row. So complaining about the manager who oversaw those victories would come as a shock, right? Not when it's Fredi Gonzalez, maligned by many fans for his decisions on the field."
The Jed Hoyer
Paul Sullivan of Chicago Tribune: "The 2012 Cubs are currently on pace to go down as the worst team in franchise history, with 40 losses in 59 games heading into today's finale of the 10-game road trip. That translates to 110 losses over a 162-game season."
The Walt Jocketty
Mark Sheldon of MLB.com: "Driving home runners in scoring position has been a Reds weakness much of the season. They entered Sunday 11th out of 16 National League teams with a .228 average with runners in scoring position. Teaching hitters how to handle those situations has been an ongoing process, especially for a Reds team with many younger hitters."
The Dan O-Dowd
Andrew Martin of Purple Row: "In what appears to be a season that will rank among the crappiest in franchise history, the Rockies have taken an awful lot of heat. We know the team's current problems; we also know that help is on the way in the forms of other prospects and MLB growth for a lot of the younger players. But all of the evidence, conjecture, analysis, and complaining points to the front office, namely GM Dan O'Dowd."
The Michael Hill
Juan C. Rodriguez of South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "The idea was to meet in Kansas City: Emilio Bonifacio as a member of the National League All-Star team and younger brother, Jorge, a World Team member in the Futures Game. Emilio is hurt, but Jorge has a good chance of holding up his end of the deal."
The Jeff Luhnow
Zachary Levine of Houston Chronicle: "The Astros acquired outfielder D'Andre Toney from the Royals to complete the trade that in March sent Humberto Quintero and Jason Bourgeois to Kansas City."
The Ned Colletti
Andrew Owens of Los Angeles Times: "The Dodgers and Angels renew their interleague rivalry, opening a three-game series at Dodger Stadium on Monday with both clubs contending in their divisions -- but having arrived there by very different paths."
The Doug Melvin
Todd Rosiak of Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "Marco Estrada had another workout to test his strained right quadriceps Sunday and has shown enough progress that he may head out on a minor-league rehabilitation assignment by the weekend if everything goes according to plan."
The Sandy Alderson
Matthew Cerrone of Mets Blog: "Jon Rauch let up a game-winning, walk-off home run to Yankees catcher Russell Martin yesterday, which he insisted after the game had nothing to do with his recent elbow issues."
The Ruben Amaro Jr.
The Good Phight: "The question I am asking myself is whether this is 1979 for the Phillies or 1984? Is this just "one of those years" (and do we even know that yet?) or is this the end that has been long-predicted by people who have anxiously waited for the Phillies to come crashing back down to earth? Beyond the question of whether the 2012 season can be salvaged, should the Phillies blow it up and go back to the drawing board? Trade 'em all, and let Amaro sort 'em out!"
The Neal Huntington
Bucs Dugout: "Indianapolis put six on the board early and breezed to an 8-1 win over Rochester. #FreeRudyOwens went six, allowing one run on six hits and a walk. He fanned three."
The John Mozeliak
Viva El Birdos: "Jake Westbrook entered this season in the Best Shape Of His Life. Last year, the reason why Westbrook was bad was because he got fat and wasn't confident in himself. Now that he's lost 20 pounds, he can't be anything other than confident and thus pitching like an ace. It might be time to reconsider that notion and Westbrook's slot in the rotation."
The Josh Byrnes
Gaslamp Ball: "It always helps to have extra picks, and with three supplemental first-rounders the Padres had a chance to make a big splash. They chose one intriguing college outfielder, speedy Stony Brook product Travis Jankowski, but the biggest impact could come from three highly-promising high school arms."
The Brian Sabean
Scott Ostler of San Francisco Chronicle: "Tim Lincecum's next scheduled start is Saturday, in his hometown of Seattle, which is famous for coffee, grunge music and Tim Lincecum, not necessarily in that order."
The Mike Rizzo
Adam Kilgore of Washington Post: "The Nationals played three taut, close games at Fenway Park, and they needed [Tyler] Clippard in all three games during their sweep of the Red Sox. And so for the first time this year, Clippard pitched three consecutive days, earning the save in all three victories."
The American League
The Dan Duquette
Peter Schmuck of Baltimore Sun: "Orioles center fielder Adam Jones was mired in an 0-for-18 slump less than 24 hours ago, but you'd never know it now. When he singled off Phillies starter Cliff Lee to start the Orioles' brief two-out rally in the first inning Sunday, it was his third consecutive hit -- including, of course, his dramatic walk-off homer in the 12th inning Saturday."
The Ben Cherington
D.J. Bean of WEEI.com: "Mark Melancon is back with the Red Sox after a disastrous start to his Boston tenure. The veteran reliever gave up 11 runs over two innings in four appearances in April for the Sox, but he dominated Triple-A in allowing only two runs in 21 2/3 innings."
The Kenny Williams
Dave van Dyck of Chicago Tribune: "The White Sox are looking at ways to preserve Chris Sale's valuable left arm, including giving him extended rest during the All-Star break. So even if Sale throws one or two innings in the big game July 10, it will be timed so it would coincide with a side session day. In other words, Sale's likely All-Star appearance would be almost like him skipping a start to throw one or two innings of relief."
The Chris Antonetti
Paul Hoynes of Cleveland Plain-Dealer: "Catcher Carlos Santana could use a stronger neck and a quicker bat. Santana says the heavier catcher's mask he's been using since he came off the disabled list has worked out fine."
The Dave Dombrowski
Tom Gage of Detroit News: "Their search for a springboard finally may have found one. Either that or it'll be turnaround teaser No. 10 of the season for the Tigers, give or take a few. Needing something to get them back on track, a come-from-behind 7-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in a national ESPN game on Sunday night -- before an upcoming three-game series in Chicago against the lowly Chicago Cubs -- could have been just what the Tigers ordered."
The Dayton Moore
Royals Review: "This season hasn't gone as planned for Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas. Hosmer has been way way down, while Moose has been better than just about anyone expected. Now, many want that next long-term extension to go to Moose, who has also been better defensively than some foresaw."
The Jerry DiPoto
Halos Heaven: "Batting second in the lineup as an Angel for the first time, Torii Hunter went 9 for 15 over the weekend as the Angels swept the Rockies in Coors Field."
The Terry Ryan
Twinke Town: "According to Ben Goessling of the Pioneer Press, the Twins could recall Liam Hendriks for a start next weekend. If that's the case I have to wonder why the team continues to hold eight relief pitchers. Jeff Manship could certainly start, particularly with enough notice. Nick Blackburn, P.J. Walters, Scott Diamond, and even Francisco Liriano could start again before the Twins would need a fifth starter on Saturday."
The Brian Cashman
Mike Axisa of River Avenue Blues: "Sidelined with an oblique strain for the last month, David Robertson made his first minor league rehab appearance for Triple-A Empire State this afternoon. He retired all three batters he faced -- grounder to second, strikeout, fly ball to right -- and threw eight of eleven pitches for strikes."
The Billy Beane
Susan Slusser of San Francisco Chronicle: "Grant Balfour's tenure as closer didn't work out. Brian Fuentes also had his struggles. So now, the A's will use three closers, manager Bob Melvin said Saturday. Balfour and Fuentes will be in the mix, and so will hotshot rookie right-hander Ryan Cook."
The Jack Zduriencik
Geoff Baker of Seattle Times: "It was just an all-around lackluster day at the ballpark in front of a crowd of 34,807, second-biggest of the season after Opening Day. And the night before, when 30,287 showed up for an 8-3 loss to Clayton Kershaw, was the third-biggest crowd of the season."
The Andrew Friedman
DRB.com: "After their sweep of the Miami Marlins this weekend, the Tampa Bay Rays are entering the week on a high note. I'm still somewhat amazed by this, but the Rays currently have the best record in the American League."
The Jon Daniels
Lone Star Ball: "The Texas Rangers selected lefty-hitting third baseman Joey Gallo with the first of their two supplemental first round picks, although he was considered to potentially be a tough sign, with Kevin Goldstein saying he heard Gallo's asking price was $2.5 million. Well, whatever his asking price is, it sounds like the Rangers are meeting it."
The Alex Anthopoulos
Teddy Cahill of MLB.com: "With the Blue Jays' offence averaging 2.7 runs during their three-game losing streak entering Sunday, manager John Farrell wanted to do all he could to put together the best lineup for their series finale against the Braves. That desire led to Edwin Encarnacion making his first appearance as an outfielder in the Major or Minor Leagues."
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