Opinion

1: The key to building any successful baseball team is the foundation. That means building a solid base in the minor leagues that continually supplies the major league team with a stream of quality players, both position players and pitchers.

It also means not only drafting and scouting players, but getting the most out of their ability, and utilizing them to their strengths to become the best possible player they can be.

The Boston Red Sox have the best offense in baseball and it's not close. 

They hold the top spot in runs scored, average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. 

With the best offense in baseball, you'd expect the Red Sox to have a player in the MVP conversation, but not three.

Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News points out something I honestly can’t believe I missed:

Major League Baseball has split up crew chief Joe West and his overzealous partner-in-crime Angel Hernandez to start the second half.

Halle-freakin’-lujah!

The Twins looked like they were going to escape Friday's game with a 1-0 win.

Nick Blackburn pitched seven solid innings.

"I think today everything was just down," said Blackburn, who had struggled earlier this month, "and that hasn’t been the case for probably the last four or five starts."

Joe Nathan took care of business in the eighth.

"He threw the ball very well," said manager Ron Gardenhire after the game. "He’s throwing the ball good."

What was once a position of great stability has turned into a position of dire need for the Twins over the last 16 months and has been further magnified over the last several weeks.

With the Pittsburgh Pirates riding a hot streak and sitting near the top of the National League Central standings, much mention has been made of the 1992 Pirates team.

Everyone knows how that season came to an end for the Pirates, and the Bucs haven't hit the .500 mark since.

In an interview following the seventh game of the 1958 World Series, victorious New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel told a television audience the secret to his success:

"I couldn't have done it without the players."

General manager George Weiss, one of the least loved but one of the most successful evaluators of talent, put together a Yankees team whose eight starting players and pitching ace were all home grown.

The good news first: What's actually growing in the Phillies farm system is rich and healthy and improving. According to Keith Law's midseason Minor League Top 50, RHP Jarred Cosart and Jonathan Singleton have developed since May.

Chicago Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez is having a good season after an awful start, no question. But it's fool's gold, with the gold going to Ramirez and Cubs GM Jim Hendry the fool.

For if Ramirez's season leads Hendry to either pick up his club option at $16 million for 2012, or motivates him to sign an extension, then this otherwise solid season by Ramirez will actually be a negative for the Cubs in the long run.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports created a maelstrom of buzz last weekend when he reported that the Rockies were willing to listen to offers for Ubaldo Jimenez.