The Diamondbacks Aren't Happy With Stephen Drew And Other MLBullets

The latest from around MLB, which is still knee deep in Draft daze...

• Baseball owners, aside from the occasional outlier like George Steinbrenner was, are typically a tight-lipped bunch. They'll offer you by-the-numbers quotes if you really want one, but they tend to defer to their baseball management staff. So, when an owner not only offers substantive thoughts on his team, but also shreds one of his own players, it's pretty shocking. But that's what happened when Arizona Diamondbacks General Partner Ken Kendrick was asked about his team's poor start to the 2012 season, and the discussion turned to shortstop Stephen Drew, who hasn't yet played after having ankle surgery last July. "I'm going to be real direct about Stephen," Kendrick said. "I think Stephen should have been out there playing before now, frankly. I, for one, am disappointed. I'm going to be real candid and say Stephen and his representatives are more focused on where Stephen is going to be a year from now than on going out and supporting the team that's paying his salary. All you can do is hope that the player is treating the situation with integrity. Frankly, we have our concerns." Wow. I mean. Wow. I guess, if nothing else, it's safe to say Drew won't be returning to the Diamondbacks next year.

• Yesterday's second day of the MLB Draft had a clear theme in rounds 2 through 10: take high school stars early, and college seniors late. Teams are clearly doing their best to circumvent the new CBA rules regarding spending in the Draft. Baseball America has a complete explanation, but the short version is: teams can spend more on those tough-to-sign high schoolers if they take a bunch of easy-to-sign college seniors in rounds 6 through 10. Indeed, the caliber of talent taken in round 11 was probably much better than round 10.
• Speaking of the Draft, SBN's Rob Neyer has some advice for the coverage: stop hyping every single first rounder as though he's the next Cole Hamels or Clayton Kershaw.
• A's manager Bob Melvin says he was going to pull Jarrod Parker after the 8th inning of his no-hit bid on Monday night regardless of whether the no-hitter was still going. Parker had thrown 107 pitches going into the 8th (where the no-hitter was broken up), and Melvin essentially told Parker that he was going to pull him after that inning. Melvin was saved the indignity of some pretty serious boos and tough questions later when the no-hitter was broken up.
• Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia was blasted in his most recent start (in which his velocity was noticeably down), which came after he skipped his last start thanks to elbow discomfort. He may end up on the disabled list soon, as things continue to go wrong for the Cardinals.
• Tommy Lasorda is recovering well after a mild heart attack. He was in good enough spirits to joke that the doctors confirmed that he does bleed Dodger blue (seriously, that was his joke, not mine).
• Beyond the Boxscore looks at the worst position players in baseball this year. You'll be shocked to learn that no Cubs make the list, and it is instead topped by guys like Ike Davis, Chone Figgins, Ryan Raburn, and Brennan Boesch.

Brett Taylor is the Lead Writer at Bleacher Nation, and a Contributor here at Bleed Cubbie Blue.