NL Central

Bronson Arroyo was again the victim of bullpen mismanagement.

Arroyo has a knack for being the best pitcher in the Central Division one night and the worst pitcher who ever pitched an inning the next night.

He pitched a very good game Sunday, giving up six hits and two runs in eight strong innings. His day was done, and he left the game trailing 2-1.

Monday is the first day of Major League Baseball's three-day First-Year Player Draft.

There are 50 rounds stretched out over those three days and, from the somewhat limited research that I was able to do, it seems that five or six players, on average, from any given team's draft class will eventually reach the big leagues.

Of course, that doesn't take into account that teams typically only sign a little less than 30 of their picks every year. Most teams will probably draft one future major leaguer (maybe even two) that they won't sign.

With the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft just around the corner—as coverage and picks begin Monday, June 7—it’s time to take a look back at Houston’s history of draft choices and where the future Astros are today.

Today’s slideshow will focus on the team’s top picks over the past decade, leaving us with 10 names and 10 futures—beginning with the Astros first round pick in the 2000 amateur draft.

As the Chicago Cubs—though still premature—close in on their first losing season season since 2006, one thing may be able to relinquish an utterly disappointing season.

Currently, numerous mock-draft web sites have the Cubs taking yet another pitching prospect, ranging from Alex Wimmers and Asher Wojciechowski, to Stetson Allie and Drew Pomeranz.

As seen with Chicago pitcher-prospects Jeff Samardizija and Jay Jackson, developement of young pitchers can be time consuming, and possibly result in career minor league pitchers. 

Oh man, it's been so many months since I've done an MLB Rumor Mill at BleacherReport.com. It's been ages, literally!

So here I am, back with the MLB Rumors. And that brings me to another thing: I haven't written an MLB article for a long time, too. Jeez.

The Cincinnati Reds have a longer, and arguably richer, history than any other Major League Baseball team.

In 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stockings were one of the inaugural teams in the National League. The seven other teams? They've all been defunct for over 100 years.

Think about the year 1869 for a second.

That is only four years after the end of the Civil War ended. Amazing!

The Reds are currently sitting on top of the NL Central...

Ross Ohlendorf finished very strong in 2009, leading the rotation in both ERA (3.92) and WHIP (1.23) while picking up 11 wins.

Nonetheless, the 2010 season began with some concerns. In spring training, he was inconsistent with his fastball and his pitches were flat. However, his first start of the regular season was encouraging; His fastball showed life and he maintained consistent velocity.

We have all been so impressed with the Reds starting pitchers and depressed about the ass-end of the bullpen, that we have not given notice to the rebirth of Jonny Gomes.

If you haven't looked at the National League stats lately, he is currently the fifth best hitter in the league, sporting a .316 average, which makes him currently the best hitter on the team. He is also fifth in slugging percentage and 10th in the league in OPS.

Matt Cain threw a one-hitter tonight and was absolutely masterful.  He had great command, particularly of the fastball, and there wasn’t much the Diamondbacks could do.

The Giants are apparently on the verge of signing Pat Burrell to a minor league deal.  One report (from Fox’s Ken Rosenthal) has it that Burrell will get an option to opt out of the contract after two weeks, presumably if he hasn’t been called up to the major league club by then.

17 years of futility and losing, and it will likely become 18—possibly 19.

Yet I am still faithful, and I am not embarrassed whatsoever about rooting for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Some people in Pittsburgh have moved on to larger-market teams such as the Red Sox and Yankees (I have been rooting for the Pirates and Red Sox since birth; I am not a bandwagon-jumper).