NEW YORK — In the seats behind home plate, scouts from rival teams ogle the relief pitchers the New York Yankees haven't yet decided to sell. Just the other day, the Chicago Cubs had three scouts at Yankee Stadium, enough so each could have focused in on just one of the late-inning relievers who could change the trade market and perhaps Cubs history.

Boston Red Sox left-hander David Price was not an especially good pitcher Wednesday in a 4-0 loss to his old employer, the Tampa Bay Rays. Just ask him.

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig left Wednesday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers after he collided with the right field fence.

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As voting for the All-Star Game reached the home stretch, it's clear that fans have given the Chicago Cubs quite a bit of respect.

The Cubs are hoping that the 2016 season will see them gain their first spot in the World Series since 1945 and their first championship since 1908, and the team's tremendous first half of the season is reflected in the All-Star voting.

Fact: Cole Hamels now has eight games this season with six or more innings pitched allowing one run or fewer, the most in the American League.

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We've reached roughly the midway point of the 2016 MLB season, and that means it's time to hand out report card grades to all 30 teams.

So what exactly goes into grading a team's performance thus far?

The lazy way to do things would be to simply grade teams based on their win-loss record, but that's not a fair assessment considering each team enters the year with different goals and expectations.

It's happening a year later than they would have liked, but Wil Myers has become a star for the San Diego Padres in 2016.

Given the state of things in San Diego, though, all this does is raise the question of when Myers will be starring on a different team.

Trade speculation is tricky business, especially with more than a month before the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline.

Who's selling? Who's buying? And which impact players are available?

With the second wild-card slot keeping fringe contenders afloat—and parity leveling the field, particularly in the American League—those are hard questions to answer. To quote the Dude, there's "a lotta ins, a lotta outs, a lotta what-have-yous." 

While baseball's rumor mill is heating up, the San Diego Padres stand as the only non-contenders that have accepted their fate and are officially open for business. That should—and will—change in the not-so-distant future, as it makes no sense for teams on the outside of the playoff picture to drag their feet much longer.

Fact: On Monday, Kris Bryant became the youngest Chicago Cubs player since at least 1913* to hit three or more home runs in a game.

*Available data only goes back to 1913.

Bleacher Report will be bringing sports fans the most interesting and engaging Cold Hard Fact of the day, presented by Coors Light.

Source: B/R Insights

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