Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon was talking smack Wednesday night and clearly indicated that the Red Sox don’t believe their differences with the Tampa Bay Rays are a thing of the past. I’m really not certain why Papelbon is running his mouth at this point in the season, especially when he’ll likely be facing the Ray’s offense several more times during the year. Perhaps Red Sox manager Terry Francona needs to carry a roll of duct tape for Papelbon and use it to keep him from instigating the Rays.

Tempers flared between the Rays and Red Sox last week after Boston outfielder Coco Crisp made a hard slide into second baseman Akinori Iwamura. The following night, Coco Crisp was hit in the right hip by pitcher James Shields in the second inning. Crisp rushed the mound to confront Shields, ducked a wild right by Shields and mayhem ensued.

Papelbon was quoted as saying, “In my opinion, it is a bunch of bull what they did,” in reference to the incedent between Crisp and Shields that turned into a brawl. All I got to say is what comes around goes around, man.”

Later in the show Papelbon added,, “In my opinion, and the way I feel right now, this thing isn’t all settled and done, we still got to play them a few more times and I know when we go into Tropicana things will be a little different than when went in there last time.”

Major League Baseball issued the Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays eight suspensions totaling 38 games for the incident. The video of Coco Crisp charging the mound and the ensuing melee that followed is shown below for those of you haven’t already seen it.

The Tampa Bay Rays were prepared for the first pick in the 2008 MLB draft held at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. on June 5-6, 2008. For the second year in a row the Tampa Bay Rays were holding the No 1 pick and this year they selected Tim Beckham, the talented high school shortstop from Griffin, Ga., over Florida State University catcher Buster Posey who was expected to be their first choice but instead the Rays went with Beckham because of his well rounded skills as a fielder and his hitting abilities, leaving Buster Posey to be selected by the San Francisco Giants as their first round (fifth overall) draft pick in 2008.

Tim Beckham (pictured at the left) has been recognized by scouts as one of the best pure athletes in this year’s draft and he has been labeled a legitimate five-tool player. He established himself as the top prep prospect in the nation with solid performances at last summer’s high school showcase events and hit .500 with five homers, 31 RBIs and 16 stolen bases this season.

With the second pick in hand, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected the power swinging Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez. Florida high school first baseman Eric Hosmer went to the Kansas City Royals as the third pick overall. The Baltimore Orioles took top college pitching prospect Brian Matusz out of San Diego as the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft. The San Francisco Giants selected catcher Buster Posey as the fifth overall pick.

Here’s the Top Ten overall draft picks for 2008

Catchers must be in high demand because this year there were three of them selected in the top ten overall picks. Two shortstops, both with the last name Beckham were selected in the top ten overall. To see the complete first round results, visit ESPN’s MLB Draft Tracker.

Congratulations to Tim Beckham and all the young, future MLB baseball talent who are making their dreams come true as a result of their hard work and dedication.