The Arizona Diamondbacks will pick first overall when the First-Year Player Draft is held on June 8.
of MLB.com are split on who Arizona will take -- UC Santa Barbara right-hander Dillon Tate or Lake Mary High School (FL) shortstop Brendan Rodgers.
The Houston Astros (second and fifth), Colorado Rockies, Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins will pick after the Diamondbacks.
The New York Mets have changed their stance on whether or not to trade Bartolo Colon, according to sources.
After winning 15 games in 2014, Colon is 4-1 this season with a 3.31 ERA.
New York signed Colon to a two-year, $20 million contract in December 2013. At the time, the thought was that he would merely be a place-holder for the club's younger pitchers.
The Chicago Cubs have continued to touch base with the Philadelphia Phillies regarding Cole Hamels, according to Major League sources.
In addition to the Cubs, the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers are also believed to be in the market for a starter.
Chicago is winning, which may make them more aggressive on the trade market as the midseason approaches.
"You're always thinking about that stuff," said Jed Hoyer, pointing out it's still too early to think too specifically. "You're at a stage where a two- or three-game winning streak or losing streak really changes your outlook in a hurry.
"But certainly we're hopeful that we're in that position. And we're obviously going to prepare as if that's the case."
The Cubs entered play on Thursday at 12-8 and two games back of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central.
David Price hasn't heard anything from his representation or the Detroit Tigers regarding a possible contract extension.
"Haven't heard anything," the left-hander said.
Price will become a free agent after the season if he doesn't agree to a new deal with the Tigers.
The 29-year-old has a 3.48 ERA, 1.258 WHIP and 29 strikeouts against 10 walks in 31 innings (five starts) this season.
Jose Fernandez threw to live batters Thursday for the first time in almost a year as he works his way back to the Miami Marlins after Tommy John surgery.
"It felt great," Fernandez said after throwing 15 pitches. "Finally facing hitters, I'm excited. It felt really fantastic. It felt where I belong."
The 22-year-old, who had the surgery last May, is expected back to the rotation in mid-July, but he and the Marlins aren't rushing anything.
"It's a big step in the process, facing hitters, and hopefully that's what I'll be doing soon," he said.
Through Wednesday, the average time of a nine-inning game was down to 2 hours, 53 minutes and 40 seconds, according to Major League Baseball.
The reduction in time means that a series of tardiness fines that were supposed to go into effect Friday may not, according to executives from both MLB and the players' union.
The two sides are having "dialogue" about relaxing or eliminating most of the fines, said Tony Clark, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, because the results so far have been so good without them.
The average nine-inning game is taking approximately eight fewer minutes than it did last season.
The Boston Red Sox pitching staff, both starters and relievers, held a meeting before taking on the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.
A few hours later, Rick Porcello allowed just one run over seven innings.
"We all talked, the pitching staff, me, (manager) John (Farrell)," catcher Ryan Hanigan said. "Kind of trying to command the fastball to both sides of the plate, up and down, in the zone. That was game plan. We talked about working toward pitching in more, pitching out more, getting in better counts and all those things worked tonight.
"I think guys have been a little frustrated with how things have gone obviously but I still have a lot of confidence in all of these guys. These guys are quality guys we just have to make a little adjustment and tonight was the first step in that."
Boston's starters haven't lasted deep into games, tiring out the bullpen.
"We've had some struggles, looking behind us now," Porcello said. "We need to get better. We need to get better fast. Every day is a step in the right direction and we can build some momentum off that."
The Los Angeles Dodgers were involved in trade talks before Josh Hamilton was dealt to the Texas Rangers, according to sources.
The Dodgers are believed to have discussed both a straight up trade and three-way scenarios that would have sent the outfielder to Texas, but they couldn't satisfy the Los Angeles Angels.
Los Angeles wanted to use some of their financial resources to gather prospects, not necessarily add Hamilton to their roster.
Mitch Moreland underwent a minor surgical procedure on Wednesday to remove some bone chips from his left elbow.
The Texas Rangers will be without one of their best hitters for at least two weeks.
This is the second time in the last two weeks that the elbow issue has flared up for Moreland. He missed most of a week after it first "locked up" in Seattle.
After medication and treatment, the chips settled in a less sensitive part of the joint and he was able to play for several days. He dove hard for a ground ball to make a strong defensive play Monday and it's possible that jarred the chips loose again.
"I didn't know if it was going to come back or not," Moreland said. "When I got up [Tuesday] morning it wouldn't straighten out. It was kind of obvious after that. We did what we could do to get it loose. I didn't want to miss two-three days at a time while we kept trying to get it loose."
The 29-year-old is hitting .304/.393/.457 in 56 plate appearances this season.
Max Scherzer has recovered from a sprained right thumb and will make his next start on Friday against the New York Mets.
Scherzer, who signed a seven-year, $210 million contract as a free agent in January, missed his scheduled start Tuesday for the Washington Nationals after injuring his thumb while batting last week.
"He threw again [Wednesday], just some flat-ground catch, and he feels good," Matt Williams said. "He's ready to go."
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