Teams in the MLB draft tend to go for the best player available rather than just going for a top need, unlike in other sports drafts. It takes prospects years to make it into the big leagues and they only do some of the time, so BPA is usually the best system to make sure there is more quality in the system all around.

As the Cleveland Indians website points out though, there is a serious lack of top flight pitching talent in the Cleveland system after a few moves in the past year or two depleted them.

At the July 31 Trade Deadline last summer, the Indians packaged Alex White and Drew Pomeranz -- the Tribe's top picks in 2009 and '10, respectively -- in the five-player swap with the Rockies that brought Ubaldo Jimenez to Cleveland. That removed the Indians' top two pitching prospects with one handshake.

Another highly-regarding starting prospect, left-hander Scott Barnes, has been converted to a relief role and is in Cleveland's bullpen. Austin Adams, who was in big league camp this spring, is shelved after right shoulder surgery. Righty Dillon Howard (a second-round pick last June) has yet to throw a professional pitch.

In that regard, the Indians could look for a top starting pitching prospect with their 15th overall selection. There are plenty of pitchers available for selection up in the top 15 for sure with Mississippi State's right handed ace Chris Stratton being a popular pick in early mock drafts for Cleveland.

With so little depth in top pitching prospects, we might even see three or four of the top round's picks going toward ace prospects so the Indians can get back to the state where they have two guys like White and Pomeranz waiting to get back to the big leagues -- or at least become solid trade bait for another solid guy like Jimenez.

For more on the Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. For more MLB news and analysis, be sure to check out Baseball Nation.

Credit given where credit is due: Tyrone Marshall really wasn't all that bad last season after being picked up by the Colorado Rapids in the re-entry draft. I know I was surprised to see the 36 year old do so well, but for the first 3/4 of the season he performed admirably considering his age and speed. Of course, late in the season the fatigue of playing so many games started to get to him, but that was expected.

Unfortunately, the now 37 year old appears to have lost any of that spark he had last season and his appearances in relief of Marvell Wynne this year have been abysmal. Minus a very good second half of the game against Sporting Kansas City, he has been nothing but a detriment for the team as his defending has often been dirty to make up for his lack of speed and slower reactions. Even Scott Palguta has outplayed Marshall, a sure sign that he's not in that good of a place right now.

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Roberto Hernandez Heredia's -- formerly Fausto Carmona's -- strange saga of identity theft in his home country of the Dominican Republic could be coming to something of a close by baseball's All-Star Break if all goes well with a lobbyist that Hernandez has hired to try and get him back on the Cleveland Indians.

Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer reports:

A lobbyist working on behalf of Roberto Hernandez, the Indians pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona, said he could be back in the United States by the All-Star break.

"I think there is a good chance Roberto could be in Cleveland by the All-Star break," said Stephen Payne, a visa expert and lobbyist hired by Hernandez’s agents.

A possible suspension of Hernandez thanks to the incident doesn't appear to be in the cards, with the Indians saying that the fact that he was given a sizable pay cut -- in part due to the fact that he lied about his age and claimed he was three years younger than he actually is -- should be a suitable punishment.

The Indians have petitioned the U.S. State Department that the salary cut should serve as punishment enough. It’s believed MLB and the players association feels the same.

It's not really a necessity for the Indians to get Hernandez back as he was never one of their top players, but as they look to make a run for the AL Central title this year they can use all the help they can get.

For more on the Cleveland Indians, check out Let's Go Tribe. You can also head over to SB Nation's main MLB hub at Baseball Nation.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are hosting some workouts for possible NBA draft prospects and SB Nation's T'Wolves blog Canis Hoopus was there for Thursday's session. The blog's own observations say that Quincey Acy of Baylor impressed during the 3-on-3 workout in front of representatives from every team in the NBA, while some other guys like Casper Ware faltered a bit in the spotlight:

* Quincy Acy threw down some powerful dunks and was probably the most impressive player of the day on the court. Zach Harper of ESPN remarked to me that he was like Reggie Evans, if Reggie Evans had any skills with the ball.

* Casper Ware turned the ball over at least 5 times during his 3-on-3 game, and remember, I could only watch him for the last 5 minutes.

Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations David Kahn also spoke at the end of the day regarding the depth of the draft, the process of deciding who to pick and a few other topics including Ricky Rubio's injury. Canis Hoopus has the interview transcribed:

Is your gut feeling that the roster you had last year will stay basically the same with the addition of a draft pick or two, or do you feel there will be some significant movement?

Kahn: Well, I think it will largely remain the same, when you think about some of the key players here, as I said at the end of the season. I mean, you know for example, Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love will be back. That's a given. And there's probably, without naming names, I could name 5 or 6 names that I'm pretty certain will be back. And that's not to say that everybody else will be gone, but I do think there will be some turnover. I think the guts of the team will, in some respects, remain the same. But we need to get better. And we will get better.

Friday will bring another set of players to Minnesota for another set of pre-draft workouts.

For more on the Minnesota Timberwolves, head over to Canis Hoopus. More news and analysis on the NBA can be found over at SB Nation's NBA hub, and more on the upcoming draft can be found at the specialized NBA Draft hub.

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The tables have turned on the tales of these teams from a month ago. The Indians, who had a commanding lead on the AL Central for almost two months, are now on the inside looking up at the leading Chicago White Sox. They have dropped five of their last six games while the struggling Twins are actually on a bit of a roll now following a three game sweep of the Oakland A's.

Minnesota's pitching has been bad all season, but the Indians have had some putrid outings themselves recently. Their starter on Friday, Derek Lowe, has lost two games in a row to bump his ERA up to 3.25 and his record to 6-3. He did beat the Twins his last time out against them 5-0, though. His strikeout/walk numbers aren't supreme either, with 18 in both columns.

The Twins will send out Carl Pavano to counter Lowe. Pavano has a 2-4 record and a 5.46 ERA, fitting numbers in the Twins pitching staff that hasn't had any real stand out this season.

The game will be at Progressive Field at 7:05 p.m. ET.

More on the Minnesota Twins can be found over at Twinkie Town. For more on the Cleveland Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. More on the world of baseball can be found at Baseball Nation.

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To me, the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup has always been an idea that's great in theory, but flawed in execution.

I've been a long time detractor of the Cup, but I've always maintained that there are ways that the USSF could make it into a premier cup competition like it was way back in the days when it was the only trophy to be won in the United States. In fact, I'm certain that considering the growth we've seen this year, it will be the 100th anniversary of the cup in 2013 that will see it flourish into a truly great competition, the Cup that we've always wanted it to be but it never was.

But wait, you're saying. With all the excitement we've seen in this year's third round, you mean it hasn't become a truly great competition? Not now, and not yet. This year, however, is sowing the seeds for an exciting future that could see the Cup become a trophy to be fought for, rather than 'the consolation trophy if we can't win any other trophies' like it has been the past decade.

What do I mean? Join me after the jump and I'll tell you.

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No, that's not a typo up there, it's the first ever Drugcast! Why drugcast, you ask? Well, I got an abscess on my arm that needed to be drained on Monday, which means that all week I've been on Vicodin and antibiotics. Mostly the Vicodin.

This was recorded right after the games on Tuesday from the Open Cup finished, and we were itching for some laughs at all the MLS teams that fell out of the tourney. Mostly Salt Lake, of course, but others as well. But mostly Salt Lake. Also, this was recorded before the 4-1 Brazil loss so our preview of that wasn't the most timely thing but whatever.

Check this week's Thugcast out for fun chatting about:

* The madness that was the Open Cup, including the losses by Salt Lake and the Galaxy dominating the headlines (This was recorded before the Timbers managed to lose to Cal FC.)
* Colorado's win over Tampa Bay, and by 'Colorado's win over Tampa Bay' we mean 'making fun of the announcers for the stream of Colorado's win over Tampa Bay'
* MLS Salaries and some butthurt regarding them, lots of discussion about Martin Rivero included!
* Long discussion about the USMNT win over Scotland, and a preview of the Brazil game from yesterday -- neither of us predicted a win, but we hoped they would look decent even in a loss. We did get our wish at least! Ben and I also chat about the upcoming WC qualifiers and who might make the 2014 squad.
* A short recap of the Montreal game, including that controversial goal
* An even shorter preview of the upcoming Kansas City game in the Open Cup

Click our logo below for this week's episode, hosted as usual by RapidsThugLife.com!

Well let's start with what we already knew; this team still has a questionable defense. Yes, the United States had three straight clean sheets before the Scotland friendly and only got scored on via own goal in that one, but the defense still wasn't filled with many new names from the defenses that were featured -- and often scored on -- under Bob Bradley.

Terrible defense and one or two too many turnovers in the midfield led to the loss by the USA against the Brazilians, allowing in four goals while scoring only one. Something that we can say is that the scoreline did flatter Brazil a bit thanks to some brilliant goalkeeping by Rafael in the last 20 minutes to stop several sure goals from the US.

Herculez Gomez was probably the most impressive team member on the night, scoring the lone goal and looking a threat to score a few more as the game went along.

Most importantly, they didn't give up, a trademark for the team under Bradley if they went down by more than a single goal. Even when down 2-0, they kept playing their game and didn't simply turtle and hope for a counter. A loss to learn from rather than a loss to be embarrassed from, which is what we've been hoping for.

Player ratings after the break:

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With the draft lottery not yet finished, we still don't know where every team will be picking in the 2012 NBA draft. But before the lotto takes place on Wednesday night, there's still time for a mock draft or two!

The Cleveland Cavaliers could very well get the first overall pick with the third most combos in the draft lottery, but in DraftExpress' latest 2012 NBA mock draft they're picking third along with holding the 24th overall pick that they got from the Lakers in the Ramon Sessions trade.

At third overall, the mock draft gives the Cavaliers Bradley Beal out of Florida, a popular pick for them in mock drafts recently. DraftExpress isn't incredibly high on him in their scouting report, mostly due to a somewhat disappointing freshman year at Florida before coming out to the draft. Still, he has elite talent which is why he's projected so high:

Nevertheless, Beal's draft stock has remained steady all season, as he occasionally shows flashes of being able to make plays that only elite level talents can, but just not consistently yet.

Standing somewhere between 6-4 and 6-5, Beal has decent size for a NBA shooting guard, to go along with a solid frame and average length. While not possessing rim-rocking explosiveness, he's an extremely smooth and fluid athlete with excellent mobility.

At 24th overall, the mock draft has Cleveland taking Mississippi State's Arnett Moultrie. The 6'11'' C/PF gets a lot of good press from DX's scouting report, which has pushed him into first round draft pick territory:

On the offensive end, Moultrie is clearly at his best when he can utilize his excellent tools off the ball, attacking the basket on cuts and offensive rebounds. His length and leaping ability make him an alley-oop machine in the halfcourt, frequently getting open around the rim and throwing down any pass that comes his way. On more contested opportunities, Moultrie is a strong finisher around the rim, usually relying on finesse a little more than he probably should, but showing good touch and ability to use his length to get shots off.

Moultrie is equally dangerous finishing on put-back opportunities, where he shows good pursuit and much more of a mean streak than in other areas of his game. He pulls in an excellent 5.2 offensive rebounds per 40 minutes and is a great finisher in these situations when he goes right back up.

Of course, it will all be a moot point if the Cavaliers can get that No. 1 pick and snag Anthony Davis out of Kentucky. Either way, there are going to be plenty of talented names that the Cavs can add to their roster with their two first rounders.

For more on the Cleveland Cavaliers, head over to Fear The Sword. More news and analysis on the NBA as the draft approaches can be found at SB Nation's NBA hub.

The NBA Lottery will take place on Wednesday evening when all of the teams in the bottom 14 of the league will find out where exactly they will be picking in the Anthony Davis sweepstakes. It hasn't happened yet, so there's still time for a mock draft or two with the teams picking in the order of how likely they are to get the first overall pick rather than the pick they'll actually end up with.

The Detroit Pistons have the ninth most combos in the lottery and so probably won't be sniffing the top where they can get Anthony Davis, but there's still plenty of talent at ninth overall where DraftExpress has the Pistons picking up John Henson out of North Carolina.

DraftExpress' scouting profile of Henson shows the power forward as having a unique and still growing game, as he improved his skills every single year he was at UNC:

John Henson has steadily improved his game in each of his three seasons in Chapel Hill, but the former top-5 high school recruit is still nowhere near his potential, which is scary given how key a role he already plays on one of the best teams in college basketball.

...

On the offensive end, Henson has greatly improved his post-game in his three years at UNC, and has developed a solid go-to move in his unorthodox left-handed hook shot, which he uses far more often than his natural right hand. Henson's post game is unconventional in style, something that stems largely from his very unique physical characteristics, namely his very long legs and superb coordination and balance for his size.

The site ranks Henson as the 11th best prospect in the draft overall. If Detroit gets lucky, they may find themselves with a far better group of prospects in the top couple of picks after the lottery on Wednesday night is over.

For more on the Detroit Pistons, head over to Detroit Bad Boys. More news and information on the NBA in general as the draft approaches can be found over at SB Nation's dedicated NBA hub.

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The Minnesota Twins, after not buying any players from the St. Paul Saints in the Saints' 20 years of existence, have now picked up two since last August.

Their most recent pick up is pitcher Dan Sattler, whose fastball got some Major League attention after the speed guns showed him to have a 98 MPH fastball. The 28 year old will start out in single A Fort Myers, the Twins are hoping they can move him up the ranks quickly and see if he has the stuff to make it in the majors.

The Twins had previously purchased the contract of left handed relief pitcher Caleb Thielbar in August of 2011 from St. Paul. In AA he has a 2-0 record and a 2.25 ERA after he had dominated his stint in Fort Myers.

For more on the Minnesota Twins, head over to Twinkie Town. More news and analysis on the world of baseball can be found at Baseball Nation, SB Nation's home for America's past time.

The Cleveland Indians announced in a tweet on Wednesday morning that they made two moves after Tuesday night's loss to the Kansas City Royals. DH/1B Travis Hafner has been placed on the 15 day disabled list with right knee inflammation and in his place, LHP Scott Barnes has been called up from AAA Columbus.

The Barnes move was likely because the team is very short on bullpen arms at the moment -- Barnes is a hot prospect and has been 0-2 with a 3.81 ERA this season for Cleveland's AAA squad.

Hafner has been mediocre but not bad at the plate in his 39 games so far this season, hitting only .242/.380/.439 in a solid season overall for the Indians.

Stick with this StoryStream throughout the week for more news and updates on the Indians series against the Royals. For all your Indians analysis, news, and discussion, head over to Let's Go Tribe. And for the opponent's perspective, check out Royals Review.

Three days ago, the Minnesota Twins had zero comeback wins all season. Monday and Tuesday earned them two straight comeback, one run victories over the Oakland Athletics and now can get a surprising sweep over the A's on Wednesday. Those two losses helped drop the A's to seven straight.

Francisco Liriano will be hoping that the Twins can put together some offense for him as he seeks his first win of the season. He hasn't pitched a game since May 7 after a horrible start to the season that saw him pick up an 0-5 record and an 8.47 ERA. His most recent relief pitching stint against the Detroit Tigers didn't exactly show improvement as he gave up four runs.

Liriano will face the just as unlucky Tyson Ross from the A's, he of a 2-5 record and 5.79 ERA. The question will be, will the Twins or Athletics take advantage of the pitching most? And more importantly, will the two straight comeback wins help the Twins boost confidence to the tune of a sweep and perhaps a better season going forward?

The game will be at Target Field at 1:10 p.m. ET.

For more on the Twins be sure to check out Twinkie Town. For more on the A's, head to Athletics Nation. For the best MLB coverage on the web, be sure to visit Baseball Nation.

The mercy of the ping pong balls will decide where the Cleveland Cavaliers and 13 other NBA teams pick in the upcoming 2012 NBA Draft on Wednesday evening. Most likely, the race is to see who will get lucky enough to pick Anthony Davis out of Kentucky with the first overall pick.

Cleveland has the third best chance of winning the first overall selection, with 138 combos and a 13.8% chance to win the lotto. Charlotte, after a dismal season, has the highest chance with 250 combos (25%), while the Houston Rockets have only five (5%).

The 2012 NBA Draft itself will be coming a month from now, when teams select their stars of the future on June 28.

EVENT: 2012 NBA Draft Lottery

LOCATION: Times Square, New York City

TIME: Wednesday, May 30, 8 p.m. ET

TELEVISION: ESPN

LIVE STREAM: ESPN3.com

For more on the Cleveland Cavaliers, head over to Fear The Sword. More on the upcoming NBA Draft Lottery, the Draft itself and the NBA in general can be found over at SB Nation's dedicated NBA hub.

What do the LA Galaxy, FC Dallas, Columbus Crew, Houston Dynamo, Chicago Fire, New England Revolution and Real Salt Lake all have in common? They got knocked out by lower tier teams in the third round of the Open Cup last night. It was an MLS bloodbath of sorts. Going in, we didn't know how many teams would be taking the Open Cup seriously and for the ones that didn't, we saw how seriously the NASL was planning on taking it after sitting out a year in 2011.

Fortunately, the Colorado Rapids took their game about as seriously as they could considering the injuries that were limiting their lineup and were able to escape Tampa Bay with a 3-1 win -- and one of the more convincing wins of the night by an MLS squad considering the upsets everywhere -- over the NASL's Tampa Bay Rowdies.

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The roster for the upcoming Open Cup match between the Colorado Rapids and Tampa Bay Rowdies was released yesterday, and it's not looking all that bad. Under Gary Smith, the Rapids suffered from immense lack of depth and so when he played his backups against the Chicago Fire in the first knockout qualifying round the roster was loaded with guys like Davy Armstrong and Steven Emory, guys who never came close to sniffing the first team again.

This time around under Oscar Pareja, the depth has been completely rebuilt, to the point where Emory has been cut and Armstrong didn't make the 18 despite a highly injured Rapids side going into this match. In fact, 12 of the players on that roster played on Saturday are going with the team to Tampa.

One name that is surprisingly not on there is Jamie Smith's, Smith has been working to health lately and got over 60 minutes in a reserve match, earning an assist. He was expected to get his first real first team minutes this season with the Open Cup squad.

Goalkeepers: Stew Ceus, Ian Joyce

Defenders: Drew Moor, Tyrone Marshall, Hunter Freeman, Kosuke Kimura, Luis Zapata, Eddie Ababio, Scott Palguta

Midfielders: Jaime Castrillon, Martin Rivero, Wells Thompson, Kamani Hill, Harrison Henao, Joseph Nane

Forwards: Edu, Andre Akpan, Tony Cascio

Not bad at all, I can't complain about a forward pairing containing those three -- assuming of course they don't go for the 4-3-3 again -- and there's plenty of midfielders and defenders there that are top MLS quality. After the past few years going into the Open Cup assuming an immediate loss, excepting that miracle win in 2010 that featured a Wells Thompson brace, we might just be in for a treat in the Rapids first Open Cup match in the tournament proper since 2007.

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It looks to be a potentially busy off season for the Detroit Red Wings. There are a handful of players including Nicklas Lidstrom who could be retired or gone from the team by the time next season begins and the Wings need to potentially find ways to keep their team among the best in the NHL.

Starting over the weekend, the Wings will begin to hold meetings between the brains of the organization in order to plan out the future and build the team into a better squad than it is today.

General manager Ken Holland, assistant general manager Jim Nill, senior vice president Jimmy Devellano, salary cap-ologist Ryan Martin, head coach Mike Babcock, scouts, including Mark Howe and former players-turned-advisers like Chris Chelios and Kris Draper all will gather to "have a conversation about our team," as Holland put it.

The Wings have already been rumored to be looking at huge names like Ryan Suter and Zach Parise even before free agency opens in July. They have a few free agents of their own to deal with as well, including Kyle Quincey and Justin Abdelkader.

For more on the Detroit Red Wings, head over to Winging It In Motown. More NHL rumors, news and analysis can be found over at SB Nation's Dedicated NHL Hub.

How do you take a guy who is the all time leader in hits for Major League Baseball and shake him? Introduce him to Justin Verlander, apparently.

Pete Rose was at the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, and had some very nice words to say about the Tigers ace and best pitcher.

"I’m glad he’s in Detroit and I’m in Cincinnati and I don’t have to face him," answered Rose, who paid a visit to the media center at Indy. "If everybody was like him the batting champion would be hitting .260. He’s got good stuff, boy. It’s the same thing as facing (Juan) Marichal and (Sandy) Koufax and (Don) Drysdale and (Bob) Gibson and (Tom) Seaver … you’re just in the midst of the best pitcher in baseball."

Fortunately for those of us who enjoy home runs and high scoring games, not every pitcher is Verlander quality in the major league right now.

Ricky Rubio of the Minnesota Timberwolves obviously didn't get to participate in this season's NBA playoffs, but that's not going to stop him from wanting to witness the excitement that has been this season's playoff action with the Conference Finals about to hit full swing now.

But if you're busy running errands, how do you find the time to fit in some Heat/Celtics or Spurs/Thunder action? Rubio may be a busy man with plenty of things to do, but he has it all figured out when it comes to finding his NBA.

Even when he's forced to go pick up some people from the airport, Rubio knows how to keep himself up to date on the games, and took to twitter to show the world his secret strategy on Sunday.

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