The National League The Kevin Towers Steve Gilbert of MLB.com: "It seems hard to imagine now, after he's spent 15 years in the big leagues as a catcher, but Henry Blanco was a third baseman in the Dodgers organization in 1995. With Blanco's path to the big leagues blocked by Paul Konerko and Adrian Beltre, Mike Scioscia, who was then the Dodgers' catching coordinator, suggested a shift behind the plate." The Frank Wren Carroll Rogers of Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "After eight years in the Braves organization, including the past four in Triple-A Gwinnett, Todd Redmond finally got his big league chance. The 27-year-old right-hander was called up to take Brandon Beachy's roster spot and give the Braves another arm in the bullpen." The Jed Hoyer Gordon Wittenmyer of Chicago Sun-Times: "With the Boston Red Sox and a good portion of their so-called Nation descending on Wrigley Field, this weekend has turned into an ad-nauseam reminder of the Red Sox Way that Cubs president Theo Epstein is trying to mold for his new team." The Walt Jocketty Joey Nowak of MLB.com: "As much deserved attention as Aroldis Chapman has received in the back end of the Reds' bullpen this summer, his fellow relievers have been equally formidable, providing the club with the top bullpen staff in the National League." The Dan O-Dowd Andrew T. Fisher of Purple Row: "19-year-old southpaw Jayson Aquino posted a 1.02 ERA as a 17-year-old in 2010, then "regressed" to a 1.30 ERA last season. After throwing eight shutout innings with 13 strikeouts yesterday, his ERA sits at a cool 0.43 after three starts." The Michael Hill Cole Harvey of South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "Marlins hitting coach Eduardo Perez has good reason to be disappointed, frustrated and downright angry at his batters who in recent weeks have stumbled into sudden and surprising offensive mediocrity." The Jeff Luhnow Zachary Levine of Houston Chronicle: "Lance McCullers Jr., the Astros' supplemental first-round pick, is on his way to Houston for a physical and is on the verge of signing a professional contract, according to a person with knowledge of the situation." The Ned Colletti Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A.: "The Dodgers were able to pull out a comeback win on Sunday afternoon, a 2-1 extra-inning triumph over the Chicago White Sox at Dodger Stadium. With the win, that lessened the blow of an earlier call that took a run off the scoreboard for the Dodgers." The Doug Melvin Michael Hunt of Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "There was a time when I thought the Brewers had a chance to re-sign Zack Greinke, just the kind of guy to give up a few million after-tax dollars for the sake of his personal comfort. His social-anxiety disorder and the low-pressure, small-town vibe of Milwaukee seemed like an ideal match at something close to market price. Then, three events changed everything." The Sandy Alderson Filip Bondy of New York Daily News: "The Mets will not rise or fall because of Jason Bay's unfortunate injury problems. They will hang in there, or not, behind a starting rotation anchored by R.A. Dickey and Johan Santana." The Ruben Amaro Jr. Ryan Dinger of Phillies Nation: "The loss [Saturday] marks the eighth time this season the Phillies have lost on a walk-off win." The Neal Huntington Charlie Wilmonth of Bucs Dugout: "Pedro Alvarez -- what a frustrating, intriguing, bizarre season he's having. He vanishes for a month, and then he practically wins games by himself. After hitting two homers on Saturday, he added two more today as the Pirates beat the Indians 9-5 to win two out of three." The John Mozeliak Viva El Birdos: "Lance Lynn has surprised everyone this season. He now ranks 9th on the MLB list of qualified starters by K%. I don't think that was on anyone's list of expected outcomes." The Josh Byrnes San Diego Union-Tribune: "[Carlos] Quentin has been hit by pitches five times in 16 games this season, but [Bud] Black doesn't think teams are intentionally throwing at the outfielder." The Brian Sabean Henry Schulman of San Francisco Chronicle: "Why so long? Why have the Giants gone to Seattle three times since 2002 and not set foot in Orange County? Did the Giants plead with the league not to send them to the site of one of the franchise's most harrowing moments?" The Mike Rizzo James Wagner of Washington Post: "Nationals closer Drew Storen is throwing off the mound three times a week, slowly increasing his workload, and still hopes to return to the team in a month or less, and remain around the team rehabbing until then." The American League The Dan Duquette Eduardo E. Encina of Baltimore Sun: "Jake Arrieta said he's going into his next start Monday against the New York Mets at CitiField refreshed and with a much better frame of mind than the cluttered one of frustration he experienced before being demoted to the bullpen." The Ben Cherington Alex Speier of WEEI.com: "Mark Prior worked a perfect ninth for his first save with Pawtucket. He punched out two, and in 6 2/3 innings, he's now recorded 15 of 19 outs by strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .130 against him." The Kenny Williams Mark Gonzales of Chicago Tribune: "Instead of visiting his teammates this weekend, third baseman Brent Morel stayed 110 miles north of Dodger Stadium to embark on a lower-back rehabilitation program with the hope he can rejoin the White Sox at the start of the second half." The Chris Antonetti Paul Hoynes of Cleveland Plain-Dealer: "The streak is over for Michael Brantley. It lasted 22 games, the longest by an Indians player since Casey Blake hit in 26 straight games in 2007, and ended with Saturday's 0-for-3 in a 9-2 loss to Pittsburgh." The Dave Dombrowski Jason Beck of MLB.com: "Jim Leyland isn't going to get committed to starting Quintin Berry every day. Likewise, Berry isn't going to go outside of his skill set to try to prove he should be starting all the time." The Dayton Moore Royals Review: "The goal of Isolated ERA (iERA) is to eliminate the effects of the rest of a pitching staff on an individual pitcher's ERA. When a pitcher leaves runners on base that they are "responsible for", whether or not the next pitcher(s) allows these runners to score no longer influences the original pitcher's ERA." The Jerry DiPoto Lance Pugmire of Los Angeles Times: "For losing his starting job, enduring eight of 23 April games on the bench and playing only his second full season in the big leagues, Mark Trumbo has proved resilient." The Terry Ryan Joe Christensen of Star-Tribune: "Twins catcher Joe Mauer said Rickie Weeks' knee gave him a Charley horse in his right thigh, when Weeks made a hard slide into home in the second inning Sunday. And Mauer didn't sound too pleased." The Brian Cashman Mark Feinsand of New York Daily News: "Andy Pettitte said Friday that he felt no different after celebrating his 40th birthday. Based on the way he pitched Saturday, he meant it." The Billy Beane Athletics Nation: "If Grant Green's career so far were a flip book, on page 6 you might find him peeking out, upside down, from the top right-hand corner of the page. "There he is!" a delighted 4-year boy would squeal. "Next page, daddy!" He seems to be repositioned that frequently." The Jack Zduriencik Geoff Baker of Seattle Times: "The Mariners' relievers are working on a streak of 15 consecutive scoreless innings. Mariner relievers have the best ERA in the majors in the month of June (1.36)." The Andrew Friedman DRB.com: "The story of the day was Alex Cobb who continued the dominance shown by the Rays starting staff this weekend with arguably the best outing of his young career and a very positive sign as he gets further and further away from last years surgery and closer to the pitcher many in the Rays organization think he can be." The Jon Daniels Gerry Fraley of Dallas Morning News: "Nelson Cruz started in left field for the first time this season in the Texas Rangers' game against Houston on Sunday. With the Astros starting left-hander Dallas Keuchel, manager Ron Washington put the right-handed bat of Brandon Snyder in the lineup." The Alex Anthopoulos Adam McCalvy and Jeremy Warnemuende of MLB.com: "Back in 2008, after the Brewers made a prep catcher from British Columbia their first-round Draft pick, Brett Lawrie predicted he'd ride the fast track to Miller Park. "One hundred percent," Lawrie said then, "I see myself there, hopefully, in a year and a half." It took four years and a change of uniforms, but here he comes."

The A's have announced the signing of first-round pick Addison Russell of Pace High in Florida. Russell, a shortstop, signed with the A's instead of accepting a scholarship to Auburn. He hit .358 with eight home runs and 33 RBI for Pace this season. Baseball America reported that Russell signed for $2.65M.

The Giants have signed right-handed pitcher, Chris Stratton, their first round selection (20th overall) in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft, the club announced today. The, 6-3, 198-pound right-hander from Tupelo, Mississippi is one of 30 semi-finalists for this year's Golden Spikes award as well as a semifinalist for the NCBWA's Dick Howser Trophy. The right-hander lead the Southeastern Conference with 11 wins and a 2.21 ERA.

The Astros are hoping to finalize a contract with first overall pick Carlos Correa very soon. Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow said that Correa and his family will meet with the club and perhaps don a Houston jersey and take batting practice at Minute Maid Park if a deal can be reached. Major League Baseball's prescribed bonus for the No. 1 overall pick is $7.2 million. "The expectation is we can make some progress and move pretty quickly and get him signed," Luhnow said. He has signed to play at the University of Miami, but it certainly appears he's on the verge of starting his pro career.

The Cubs drafted Albert Almora with the sixth overall pick on Monday night. Under Major League Baseball's new draft rules, the No. 6 pick is slotted to make $3.25 million. However, Almora is looking for more. "My main priority now is college," Almora said. "I just graduated high school and I have a full scholarship to the University of Miami, and that's all I'm looking forward to right now." Almora is being advised by super-agent Scott Boras, who is trying to get his client the most money possible, using college as leverage.

The Orioles selected Kevin Gausman with the fourth overall pick on Monday night. A right-handed pitcher out of LSU, Gausman is confident that he'll reach an agreement with Baltimore.

According to a Major League source, Stanford pitcher Mark Appel turned down $6 million from the Astros, who owned the first overall pick on Monday night. Believed to be a potential first overall pick, Appel dropped to the Pirates with the eighth selection. Appel is being advised by player agent Scott Boras.

Major League Baseball's First-Year Player Draft took another step forward as a live prime-time event on Monday night. The first overall pick, Carlos Correa of Puerto Rico, was present when the Houston Astros selected him. "This is nice," Selig said. "When you think how this has evolved, we've come a long way in a very short period of time. I'm enjoying tonight as you can probably already tell." Including Correa, five prospects selected in the first-round attended Monday night's event. "Their excitement was just terrific -- all of these kids," Selig said. "By the time I got to them and they came over, boy, I could still hear their hearts pumping, I'll tell you that. They were nervous. It's great. The kids I met today are really great young men and I'm glad they came. That adds a dimension." While five players was significant, Selig made it clear that he would prefer a crowd of them. "I hope we can work on that," he said. "The more people we can have here, the better I like it. Five is a good start, but we need to do better than that."

Major League Baseball held the 2012 First-Year Player Draft on Monday night in New Jersey. The Houston Astros held the first overall pick in the three-day event, running through Wednesday. First Round
1. Houston Astros - Carlos Correa, SS, Puerto Rico
2. Minnesota Twins - Byron Buxton, OF, Appling County HS (GA)
3. Seattle Mariners - Mike Zunino, C, Florida
4. Baltimore Orioles - Kevin Gausman, RHP, LSU
5. Kansas City Royals - Kyle Zimmer, RHP, San Francisco
6. Chicago Cubs - Albert Almora, OF, Mater Academy (FL)
7. San Diego Padres - Max Fried, LHP, Harvard-Westlake HS (CA)
8. Pittsburgh Pirates - Mark Appel, RHP, Stanford
9. Miami Marlins - Andrew Heaney, LHP, Oklahoma State
10. Colorado Rockies - David Dahl, OF, Oak Mountain HS (AL)
11. Oakland Athletics - Addison Russell, SS, Pace HS (FL)
12. New York Mets - Gavin Cecchini, SS, Barbe HS (LA)
13. Chicago White Sox - Courtney Hawkins, OF, Carroll HS (TX)
14. Cincinnati Reds - Nick Travieso, RHP, Archbishop McCarthy HS (FL)
15. Cleveland Indians - Tyler Naquin, OF, Texas A&M
16. Washington Nationals - Lucas Giolito, RHP, Harvard-Westlake HS (CA)
17. Toronto Blue Jays - D.J. Davis, OF, Stone Mountain HS (MS)
18. Los Angeles Dodgers - Corey Seager, SS, Northwest Cabarrus HS (NC)
19. St. Louis Cardinals (Pujols, Angels) - Michael Wacha, RHP, Texas A&M
20. San Francisco Giants - Chris Stratton, RHP, Mississippi State
21. Atlanta Braves - Lucas Sims, RHP, Brookwood HS (GA)
22. Toronto Blue Jays (Beede, Unsigned) - Marcus Stroman, RHP, Duke
23. St. Louis Cardinals - James Ramsey, OF, Florida State
24. Boston Red Sox - Deven Marrero, SS, Arizona State
25. Tampa Bay Rays - Richie Shaffer, 3B, Clemson
26. Arizona Diamondbacks - Stryker Trahan, C, Acadiana HS (LA)
27. Milwaukee Brewers (Fielder, Tigers) - Clint Coulter, C, Union HS (WA)
28. Milwaukee Brewers - Victor Roache, OF, Georgia Southern
29. Texas Rangers - Lewis Brinson, OF, Coral Springs HS (FL)
30. New York Yankees - Ty Hensley, RHP, Edmond Santa Fe HS (OK)
31. Boston Red Sox (Papelbon, Phillies) - Brian Johnson, LHP, Florida

The Astros have considered as many as five players with the first overall pick, but they are expected to take Stanford University right-hander Mark Appel, according to sources. Georgia high school outfielder Byron Buxton has also been in the running for quite some time. "There is no unanimous or consensus guy," one scouting director said. "Buxton is probably the best position player prospect, but he is a high school guy, which makes for risk. Last year was unclear because there were six or seven guys who were worthy. This year is unclear because there are no true 1-1 caliber talents."