Central Notes: Humber, Cubs, Rasmus, Draft

The Central divisions are home to not just the four worst records in baseball (the Twins, Astros, Cubs and Royals) but also to the Cardinals and their MLB-best 37-25 record.  Here's some news from the middle of the baseball map…

• Phil Humber's improbable journey from being a third overall pick to injury-riddled obscurity to a star in the White Sox rotation is chronicled by ESPNChicago's Jon Greenberg.
• The Cubs have no plans to rush Brett Jackson to the Major Leagues, reports MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.  Jackson just recently returned to action after a finger injury.  Muskat's piece also contains updates on several other Cubs prospects.
• The Cardinals would be "crazy" to think about dealing Colby Rasmus, writes Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• The Tigers took position players with 10 of their first 11 draft picks, and 24 of their first 29 picks were college players.  Baseball America's John Wagner looks at how both trends were a departure from Detroit's recent draft strategies.
• Bill Hall has cleared waivers and is now a free agent, tweets Steve Campbell of the Houston Chronicle.  Hall was put on release waivers by the Astros on Monday.
• The Astros can also claim the first signing of the 2011 Amateur Draft, as 44th-round pick Blake Ford told Stephen Goff of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link) that he will sign tonight.  Ford, a right-hander from Lamar University, happened to have tickets to tonight's Astros-Cardinals game so he figured he would take care of his contract while at the ballpark.  Also from Goff, the Astros have already signed two other draft picks.