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In general, clubhouse chemistry is overrated. Certainly, the negative influence of individuals (see Zambrano, Carlos) is consistently and grossly overstated.

But sometimes, it's good to know that your teammates will run through walls and drive through red lights for you. An that is the special bond the Cleveland Indians are building.

The latest and best example is in this mlb.com story. The gist: Jack Hannahan's wife went into labor three months early, while the team was in Boston and in the middle of the night. Hannahan would not have been able to get home for his child's birth but for the generosity of his teammates: Four, then five, then nearly all of them pitched in money to charter Hannahan a private jet home. He made it by 15 minutes, and his son was born and is improving by the day.

I'll become a father in November, and we already know that our son will require three open-heart surgeries in the first four years of his life. if someone helped me get home to see my son's birth, I would work double-shifts as that person's volunteer plumber/chauffeur/grape-peeler. I would get in huge fights for that person. I would love them for life. Jack Hannahan will be the most motivated Indian in history for the next six weeks, and that's as great for the team as the team has been great for him. Great story all the way around.

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Jim Callis of Baseball America listed the top 50 draft bonuses handed out this year, and it validated what careful observers already knew: The Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox are as dichotomous a pair of organizations as any who have ever shared a city.

While the White Sox spent less than any other team on the draft (and paid no bonus rich enough to qualify for the top-50 list), the Cubs joined the Red Sox and Nationals in shelling out four top-50 figures. First-round pick Javier Baez led the way with a bonus north of $2.6 million; 14th-rounder Dillon Maples nipped at his heels with a $2.5-million haul.

The Cubs' commitment to player development is impressive, and under new owner Tom Ricketts, it seems likely to continue. The White Sox are much better in 2011, but looking five years down the road, the Cubs are in a much better position for long-term success.

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The Boston Red Sox have called up slugging catching prospect Ryan Lavarnway to replace Kevin Youkilis, who hit the DL Thursday, according to NESN. Youkilis has a sore back, so the team shelved him rather than take him out on the road and long airplane rides.

Lavarnway is a catcher only in name, a guy who will mostly DH during Youkilis's absence and David Ortiz's bout with bursitis. But as a DH, he is a good asset to have. He has very real power and doesn't trade an inordinate amount of contact for it. His minor-league numbers are just goofy this season: 30 home runs and a .559 slugging average in Double- and Triple-A.

Lavarnway will likely join the team Friday in Kansas City.

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Wow. This turned out to be a more Royalsian move than anyone could have imagined.

The Kansas City Royals finally released the terms of Jeff Francoeur's two-year contract extension, and he will earn $13.5 million over the life of the deal. Francoeur's mutual option for 2012 had been for $4 million, so this is a substantial raise. It's also lunacy, and twitter could pop any minute now from the sheer surface tension of the growing rage bubble. 

Francoeur can hit for some pop, has a plus-plus arm in right field and has stolen a career-high 19 bases in 2011. This deal still does not make sense, but keep in mind that the player is still only 27 years old, and that he has enough tools to maintain his current effectiveness.

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The trademark aggressiveness of White Sox GM Ken Williams and owner Jerry Reinsdorf brought a World Series title to the South Side in 2005, but this time, a big gamble seems to be ending on a sour note.

The Sox signed Adam Dunn and retained Paul Konerko last offseason, effectively gambling on making the playoffs and drawing very well to turn a profit. Neither looks likely, and with Dunn flailing and Konerko aging, not much offers hope for the next year or two at U.S. Cellular Field.

On top of that catastrophe, made even worse this week by the loss of catcher A.J. Pierzynski, the Sox spent less than any other team on their top 10 picks in June's amateur draft. That was inevitable, given their strained finances and lousy attendance, but it sets the team back by leaving their miserable farm system in poor position to get better. Even Konerko must get old soon, and the vacuum that exists where talent should be in the mid- to high minors bodes ill for the long-term health of the franchise. 

The Sox play the Rangers at home this weekend, in what may be their last chance to salvage the season and get into the thick of the AL Central race.

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For those who enjoy both intelligent baseball debate and the heavily-restrained venom of an old-fashioned twitter brawl, this is a lot of fun: Jeff Francoeur's deal with the Royals has led Jonah Keri (@jonahkeri) and Colin Wyers (@cwyers) into a battle over the rationale and economics of the move.

Delightfully, the two old friends and coworkers at Baseball Prospectus have engaged even without having full information. We don't yet know how much the Royals will pay Francoeur over the life of his two-year deal, but Wyers contends that it does not matter, whereas Keri thinks a small commitment would be a good move if Francoeur is willing to come off the bench. Two smart baseball men, two divergent opinions. I leave the rest of the reading to you.

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Drew Pomeranz was finally named as the player to be named later in the Rockies-Indians Ubaldo Jimenez deal earlier this week, and Wednesday, he made his debut at Double-A Tulsa. In seven innings, Pomeranz fanned four, walked none and surrendered just two hits. He looks like enough to make the deal a fair one for Colorado, and GM Dan O'Dowd told the Denver Post of a possible September call-up for Pomeranz: "It could happen."

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As part of the NFL's new Collective Bargaining Agreement, players will be tested for HGH on a regular basis. Baseball instituted that policy last season for minor leaguers, but thus far, it does not extend to those already on MLB rosters.

Jacobs' test shines a spotlight on the issue, though, and with the current CBA being due for renewal and revision this winter, it would be no surprise to see the league add HGH testing at the highest level.

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This was not hard to see coming.

Within hours of hearing that Mike Jacobs tested positive for HGH use, the Colorado Rockies released him Thursday. This was no surprise, both because Jacobs (who's been in Triple-A all year) had little value to the team, and because Colorado has a reputation as a very moralistic organization. Faith and principles guide the Rockies' thought processes as much as wins and losses, so when Jacobs stepped out of line with the team's code of acceptable conduct, he was a goner.

This likely marks the end for Jacobs, who once cranked 32 home runs in a season but never defended any position well enough to play every day in the big leagues. He's a .253/.313/.475 career hitter with exactly 100 big-league home runs to his name.

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Jeff Francoeur's rebound season has earned him a two-year commitment with the Royals, who secure an extra year of development for young Wil Myers by keeping Francoeur around through 2013.

He's actually been much better than most people think this season. A .325 OBP in this year of the pitcher is not the appalling mark it once was for a full-time regular, and his power is back in full. Francoeur's presence also ensures another year or three of the outfield one might dub "The Royal Cannon-bombs," so proficient are they at shutting down opponents' running games with their rocket arms. A unit full or guys with that tool is more valuable than having just one. It will surely help Kansas City survive the next few years if they can prevent runs even as their elite pitching prospects find their footing.

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For the first time in MLB history, a player has tested positive for human growth hormone. Mike Jacobs, clinging to the fringes and at the end of his rope anyway, will now face a 50-game ban.

It's easy to empathize with Jacobs, and indeed, twitter has been aflame with folks insisting the story is "sad" and characterizing Jacobs as "desperate." And that's true. But this episode illustrates a major problem with the general public perception of performance-enhancing drug use: Superstars get vilified to the point of personal attacks, while those who use the drugs just to stay on 25- and 40-man rosters are treated as victims of circumstance. It seems to me that those who, like Jacobs, use PEDs just to stick around are the worst offenders. It is they, after all, who are stealing roster spots from players who elect the clean route and cannot cut the big-league mustard.