The Red Sox kept it going last night thanks to a phenomenal outing from Josh Beckett (8 innings, 8 K’s) and two towering home runs off the bat of Manny Ramirez. For good measure, just to add to his bizarre legacy around these parts, Gabe Kapler blasted a three-run home run of his own after replacing Ramirez late in the game. Don’t ask me about Kapler. He’s been a bad baseball player for a few years running now but somehow keeps getting a gig with these Red Sox. Now this year is a bit different because with Wily Mo Pena hurt, the Sox don’t have much else but still, I will never understand the Gabe Kapler phenomenon - not the annual job on a platter and not the fan fascination with such a shitty player. Remember, this is the same group of fans that booed poor Mark Bellhorn in the ALCS the year Bellhorn was probably the very best 2nd Baseman in the American League and just before he would go on a legendary tear in Games 6 and 7, and then 1 and 2 of the World Series. But I digress - good for Kapler. His home run last night was definitely one of the more fun moments of the season. Coming back from an achilles injury is nothing to sneeze at.

Like a number of their previous six wins, the Red Sox’s seventh consecutive victory came pretty easily and they have now outscored their opponents 55-22 over the last seven games. To their credit, the Red Sox have seemed more hellbent than I can ever remember on getting the best players onto the field as often as possible. There are no Roberto Petagine or Kevin Youkilis situations from years past where clearly superior talent got a good ticket to the game and little more. No, the best are playing this year. Wily Mo got his shot early and often, the kids are getting honest looks in the bullpen and most importantly, Jon Lester has a job taking a rotation turn with the Red Sox. Playing your best guys, intuitively, seems like a bare-minimum requirement for any baseball team management staff but surprisingly, teams have trouble doing this - to the point that it clearly costs them wins.

There have been numerous examples of this phenomenon in 2006. After a dismal start, the Minnesota Twins are 13-7 on the month and really appear to be hitting their groove. I predicted them to win the AL Central this season, but with Detroit and Chicago playing so well, it may be too tall an order to catch those guys. It would have been an impossible order with Lew Ford, Tony Batista, Juan Castro, Rondell White and Kyle Lohse playing prominent roles. With Michael Cuddyer, Nick Punto/Terry Tiffee, Jason Bartlett, Jason Kubel and Francisco Liriano now in the fold, I am not ready to abandon my pre-season pick. Add the AL’s best pitcher and one of its very best players to this enticing group of young talent and all of a sudden you are looking at a Twins team that will be making noise the rest of the way. Joe Sheehan summarized the Twins nicely yesterday (registration required).

The most egregious hose-job of a young talent this season did not take place in Minneapolis however, but rather in Orange County. Bill Stoneman, Mike Scioscia and whoever else was involved in the decision to demote Jered Weaver can lay claim to the most idiotic transaction of the season. For four starts with the big club Weaver posted a 0.76 WHIP, a 1.37 ERA and struck out about 7.5 batters per nine innings. In short, he was as good as a starting pitcher could possibly be.

Well last night he made his second start back in AAA. Want to know how he did? Well here’s the box. Pitching for Salt Lake, Weaver went the distance, struck out 14 and yielded just two singles and a walk. Meanwhile, the Halos reside comfortably in the cellar of the American League West. Just incomprehensible. Go check out Rich Lederer’s stuff on Jered Weaver to get a sense of how good the kid has been. Rich kept close tabs on him when he was a Dirtbag at Long Beach State (Rich resides in Long Beach) and has advocated that, despite some quibbles the scouting crowd has with the kid, he’s pretty freaking good. Put it this way - who would you want right now, Mark Prior or Jered Weaver?

The lesson is simple for GM’s and their staffs out there. Play your best players. Don’t mess around with veterans because they are leaders/likeable/cordial/kind/jokesters/cuddly or any other bullshit reason you see get floated about. Identify the 25 best guys in your organization, get them on the big club and figure out their roles. It will save you both early-season losses while your better players dominate the Minor Leagues and the embarassment of even casual fans demonstrating a clearer vision for your franchise’s success than you have.

It’s wet out, but my Dad and I are headed to the luxury box for the Phills game today - so we’ll comfortably wait it out as long as we have to. Curt Schilling takes on that piece of shit.