Bryce Harper

Whispers It's no coincidence the two managers to resign in midseason, Jim Riggleman and Edwin Rodriguez, were the two lowest-paid in the majors. Riggleman, in his third season with the Nationals and 12th as a manager, was earning $600,000, according to sources. That's more than $200,000 less than Cubs hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo. Riggleman may wish he had handled his situation differently, but you can see why he said he never felt "respected. " … The group of pre-1980 players who were awarded pensions in a deal MLB and the players union announced April 21 still hasn't received any money.

Here at Baltimore Sports Blitz, it’s all Bundy, all the time. Well, at least for the rest of the week. But I’m sure you don’t mind me passing along more information on Orioles first-round draft pick Dylan Bundy, a high school pitcher out of Oklahoma that ESPN’s Buster Olney believes was the best prospect in the 2011 draft. “In the eyes of a lot of the scouting directors and general managers around baseball, the best player in the draft was Dylan Bundy,” Olney said in an appearance on “The Scott Van Pelt Show” on Wednesday . “I had one general manager actually say to me that Dylan Bundy, in his eyes, is the best pitching prospect that he has ever seen,” Olney said.

What some other media outlets are saying about the Orioles: • Reuters Team Report credits the Orioles with a bold move in calling up highly-touted prospect Manny Machado last week: The decision to promote Machado is telling. First, it indicates how poor the club's third basemen have played this season. Second, Machado's promotion is indicative of the trust the organization has in the top prospect, who has been compared to Yankees' slugger Alex Rodriguez since he was drafted third overall in 2010.

Cal Ripken World Series D.R. pitcher throws no-no; Md. team out In one of the all-time best pitching performances seen at the Cal Ripken World Series, the Dominican Republic's Leudy Santana struck out 14 batters en route to a no-hitter in his team's 1-0 victory over Mexico in Friday's International semifinal matchup at Cal Sr.'s Yard. The performance was validation for Santana, who struck out 16 hitters in the Dominican team's earlier pool play contest with Mexico on Monday but lost when the reigning champs scored four runs on three hits in a 4-0 victory.

Ask again next year Dave van Dyck Chicago Tribune History suggests Stephen Strasburg should be just fine — maybe. Most pitchers who return from elbow ligament surgery are as good — in some cases better — than before the operation. And then there are the exceptions. Kerry Wood was never quite the same, although his physical problems moved up his arm to the shoulder. And Chad Fox is not the only pitcher who has had Tommy John surgery performed more than once and never completely recovered.

Don't penalize honesty Bill Shaikin Los Angeles Times Intent can be notoriously difficult to determine — unless, that is, a pitcher admits his intent, as Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels did. "Come see our headhunting pitchers" is not the best advertisement for baseball, so Hamels, like any other pitcher admitting intent, should have been suspended. The league already suspends pitchers deemed to throw at batters with intent, no matter what the pitcher says.

Karl Marx is credited with saying that religion is "the opium of the people. " But here in the nation's capital, baseball is the drug of choice that rescues political junkies from the unpleasant realities around them. Currently providing relief from the congressional stalemate over the deficit that has produced the "sequester" of spending cuts, job furloughs and general fiscal paralysis is the return of last year's Cinderella baseball team, the Washington Nationals. After rising from traditional doormat to champion of the National League's East Division, the Nats heart-breakingly collapsed in the final game of their first playoff series.

Hagerstown Suns 3,000 tickets sold for start by Strasburg; 7,000 expected As Stephen Strasburg prepares to throw his first competitive pitch since last year, perhaps no one has felt the effect of the buzz created by Strasburg's return more than Ben Scheffel . "Ever since it's been confirmed," Scheffel said, "the phone hasn't stopped ringing. " Scheffel is Single-A Hagerstown's sales executive for ticketing. He oversaw Bryce Harper 's sold-out first home game, "but it's never been this big," Scheffel said.

TORONTO - Vladimir Guerrero 's career low in home runs in a season in which he has played 90 games or more is 11, and that came all the way back in 1997, his rookie year with the Montreal Expos. That same season, he drove in 40 runs, which also stands as a career low. Guerrero, who was activated from the disabled list today, has a little more than two months to eclipse those marks in what has been arguably been the most worst season of his likely Hall of Fame career. "I feel good and my hand is much better," said Guerrero, who missed 10 games with a cracked bone in his right hand suffered when he was hit by a pitch from Boston Red Sox rookie Kyle Weiland on July 10. "We still have two months left, and I feel good.

News item: Kentucky Derby winnerAnimal Kingdom and Preakness winnerShackleford will try to break their Triple Crown tie on Saturday in the Belmont Stakes. My take: If it were a match race, I'd go with Kingdom based on the way the first two races played out, but I'm guessing somebody will come out of nowhere to steal the 1 ½-mile Belmont. And since it doesn't cost me a dime to make a wild prediction, I'll go with our old friend Edgar Prado on 15-1 shot Prime Cut. Thank me later.