The cool thing about the Fourth of July is that there was a holiday and that was one less workday. If only the Founding Fathers had had the foresight to found America every week, we'd all be a lot happier.
Scouts weigh in on the Diamondbacks' top draft picks
It would be nice if there was an article like this about the Giants, but the appeal is really to see how baseball people evaluate baseball players. There are some guys about whom they say "He may be the best guy I've ever signed" or "You can't teach arm speed" and then there are the one who get comments like "He's got a chance" or "I think he's bilingual." You can probably figure out which ones are the better prospects.
And I'll just save you some time: Ctrl-F "grit" comes up with zero results.
Cubs-A's trade gives Rays GM power with ace Price on market
Jeff Samardzija just got traded to the A's, so the other big prize remaining on the trade market is, of course, David Price. So who are the teams with the best chance to acquire him? Well don't count out the Blue Jays, whose top prospects can stand with any team in baseball. The Mariners might also want to take advantage of the great year they're having, and of course the Dodgers oh crap it's gonna be the Dodgers. They'll sell a bunch of their great prospects and get David Price and Jesus everything is terrible it's the Dodgers it's the Dodgers it's the Dodgers life is full of pain.
Bottom Of The Order: Low Pay, Few Amenities For Minor Leaguers
We've talked here about the lawsuit former Giants farmhand Garrett Broshius is involved with, but in case you've forgotten, it's, uh, still happening. But as the lawsuit gets more press, we, the baseball watching public, get to be reminded of how shabbily minor leaguers are treated by every major league organization. It seems to me that if minor leaguers were fed better, then they would be able to work out more, and they'd grow stronger, and this would help their development, but I'm just some know-it-all on the Internet who doesn't have to pay to increase the team's budget by a fraction of a percent, so what's my opinion even worth?
Ten moments from June that reminded us why baseball is so great
Over at MLB.com, Cut4 takes a look at their ten favorite things about June baseball. And hey, the only time the Giants are mentioned is Tim Lincecum's no-hitter. That's a really positive thing! That probably means that the Giants had a good month. I'm not going to do any research on this, but it seems right.
Matthew Dobbins Home Run For Life
Two nights ago in Richmond, a boy who hasn't had the easiest life got to hit a homer in the bottom of the ninth and run around the bases as the hero of the game and it was great. If you don't think it was great, there are many other links here for you to discuss, and also I'm sure your lunch was/will be the most fascinating thing on the planet. You don't need to Internet all over this.
A cat eats corn on the cob
NOM NOM NOM