Quick Hits: Rockies, Pelfrey, Verlander, Brewers

Links for Thursday…

• The Rockies have signed second round pick Carl Thomore, reports Nick Groke of The Denver Post. Thomore, a high school outfielder from New Jersey, was the 77th overall pick of the draft, and that carries a slot recommendation of approximately $472K.
• Multiple sources have told Jeff Passon of Yahoo! that labor talks between the owners and players' union are going well, unlike labor talks in the other major sports (Twitter link).
• Mike Pelfrey faced the Tigers this afternoon, and Jason Beck of MLB.com notes that Detroit had interest in the righty during the 2005 draft (Twitter link). The Mets took him one pick before the Tigers could grab him though.
• Interestingly enough, Justin Verlander (who pitched against the Mets this afternoon) was close to pitching for them at one point as Brian Costa of The Wall Street Journal explains. The Mets were prepared to draft Verlander with the third overall pick in 2004, but the Tigers grabbed him with the second pick.
• Brewers manager Ron Roenicke expects a position player to be demoted once Takashi Saito is ready to be activated off the disabled list this weekend, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel. 
• ESPN's Jerry Crasnick wrote about nine players that have stepped up to help their teams following injury. Hot stove afterthoughts Ryan Vogelsong and Phil Humber top his list.
• Matt Eddy of Baseball America rounded up this week's collection of minor league transactions, which includes a ton of draft and undrafted free agent signings.