As we head to the weekend, there are some interesting items on the baseball front.

Today the Oakland A's dismissed Manager Bob Geren. The decision had to be difficult for General Manager Billy Beane because he and Geren have been friends for a long time. The clubhouse was turning on Geren and players had become more vocal in their lack of support. Injuries have claimed their quality pitchers as well as position players. That aside, the team suffers from a lack of offense to compliment an outstanding pitching staff when healthy. The hiring of Bob Melvin should be well received by everyone in and around Oakland. The Diamondbacks were never the same after his departure. He is a solid baseball man and a very good man to have in the dugout.

Speaking of Oakland-it doesn't help that they play in what has to be among the worst facilities in baseball. I hope they are successful in getting a new stadium. A change of venue could do wonders for the entire community.

I had the pleasure of being "On The Scene" at the Diamondbacks draft headquarters. The club is thrilled with their three pitcher haul of Trevor Bauer, Archie Bradley and Andrew Chafin. I found it interesting how most of the draft "gurus" missed the mark on their 1st round predictions. Each team approaches the draft differently and lips are sealed until the pick is made. It's very tough to guess who will go where in the baseball draft. A little different than football in that regard.

Anthony Rizzo gets his chance to play in the big leagues. He'll probably be a fixture at 1B as the team tries to inject some life and spark to their offense. This is the time of year when players get the call.

I really love watching Andrew McCutchen play baseball. He has 5 tools and at least one or two are on display every game. It's a pleasure to watch the Pirates turn things around and become a team to be reckoned with. I give most of the credit to the players of course, but having Clint Hurdle at the helm has sure done wonders for the club. Managers do make a difference. The biggest difference is the tone set in the clubhouse. For example, the Diamondbacks are now playing with the passion of Manager Kirk Gibson. It's nice to see players providing effort and allowing their talents to shine.

The Diamondbacks have indicated that they have had a relationship with 1st round draft selection Trevor Bauer since he was 12 years old.

Have you watched the Cubs Tony Campana run? It'll be very tough to throw him out. Speed kills.

I know Jose Bautista is a really, really fine power hitter. And I know we went through a couple of weeks of "who would you draft today, Bautista or Pujols?" But I'm sorry. I said it then and I'll say it now. I'd take Pujols. He's starting to heat up. When he heats up, watch out for the Cardinals. Their offense is really solid. Great race between the Brewers, the Cardinals and the Reds. I don't know who wins that race. Great players on every team. Injuries or the lack of same may be the deciding factor. Along with pitching, of course.

Pujols, Berkman, Bruce, Votto, Prince, Braun all those hitters in the same division. Not to mention McCutchen and Pence and others. Great hitting division.

Speaking of Homer Pence, he's going to start getting expensive for Houston. He's always flown under the radar but the Astros know just how great a player he really is. The strange part about Pence is his unorthodox way of hitting and throwing. Weird to watch but the results are all very, very good. He could ultimately break the bank.

Bud Norris is a pitcher I have liked for a long time. His fastball is electric. It's always been his command that has been an issue. He's figuring some things out now and he's getting results. Great future. By the way, I look for Brett Myers to be highly desired on the trade front in the next few months. The Astros can get some good prospects for Myers if they choose to deal him.

It's also time for the Cubs to start peddling some of their more attractive players. Kerry Wood? Ryan Dempster? Zambrano?
They have some pieces to deal if they get creative and eat some of the money owed.

Cord Phelps is going to play 2B for Cleveland against RH hitters and Orlando Cabrera will play against lefties. Phelps is a good prospect. It comes down to this---if Choo, Sizemore and Santana continue their lack of hitting the Indians will find themselves in 3rd place behind Detroit and Chicago very soon.

Adam Dunn has found himself on Ozzie's bench lately. I still think he'll hit. And hit some more. I'm not as sure now about Alex Rios.

It looks like the A's Brett Anderson is headed for Tommy John surgery. The team just can't get a break.

Did you see that Chris Davis is with the Rangers while Ian Kinsler is having his baby? Got a couple of hits, too. Well, Kinsler isn't exactly having the baby. Davis is making big strides with the bat. And now he'll have another hitting coach to get used to.

Firing hitting coaches in the middle of the season baffles me. Do the coaches hit for the players? I always thought it was the players who stunk, not the coach. Must be communication problems in Texas and Florida.

Hanley Ramirez should have gone on the DL much sooner. His team played with a light, light bench while his club was deciding what to do with him. He was out of the lineup for 7 or 8 days before going on the DL. All those games meant the team was a player short.

The Indians get the benefit of having a player from Latin America adjust to the United States as opposed to coming here and then learning the culture. SS prospect Francisco Lindor has been playing high school baseball in Florida as opposed to his home country of Puerto Rico. He's supposed to have a quality glove with a developing bat.

I'm not as concerned about Bryce Harper blowing a kiss to the pitcher after hitting a home run as some folks. Harper is a great talent. I think the incident, like many others, has been blown out of proportion. I also didn't see anything wrong with David Ortiz little bat fling incident after hitting a homer. Just my opinion. Sometimes I think pitchers get a bit too sensitive about being "shown up." But then again, I've never been a pitcher.

I don't like that relief pitchers can blow a save and get a win.

Hope you'll visit RotoWire today and read my article on DBacks prospect Collin Cowgill.

Also hope you'll follow me on Twitter @BerniePleskoff. Thanks for doing that.