Posted on 06/30/2011 1:06:08 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
Tonight at midnight is the deadline for voting for baseball All-Stars. (Pitchers and reserves named later.) Each roster gets 34 players, and every team must be represented. What are your picks? Here are mine, with starter mentioned first, then the reserves (HM = Honorable Mention). I look at this year's performance, of course, but also factor in last year and career:
NATIONAL LEAGUE
C: McCann, Molina
1B: Fielder, Votto, Morse
2B: Weeks, Phillips
SS: Reyes, Tulowitzki, Castro
3B: Ramirez, Jones
OF: Braun, Holliday
OF: Kemp, Victorino, McCutcheon
OF: Berkman, Upton, Pence
SP: Halladay, Hamels, Lee, Jurrjens, Hanson, Lohse, Kershaw, Kennedy, Sanchez, Lincecum
RP: Hanrahan, Wilson, Bell, Venters
(HM: Montero, Polanco, Ethier, Bruce, Clippard)
AMERICAN LEAGUE
C: Avila, Martinez
1B: Gonzalez, Cabrera, Konerko
2B: Cano, Kendrick
SS: Cabrera, Peralta
3B: Rodriguez, Youkilis
OF: Granderson, Quentin, Gordon
OF: Ellsbury, Hamilton, Jones
OF: Bautista, Joyce
DH: Ortiz, Young
SP: Verlander, Weaver, Beckett, Shields, Haren, Ogando, Wilson, Gonzalez, Baker, Sabathia, Lester
RP: Rivera, Valverde
(HM: Teixeira, Lind, Hernandez, Romero, Robertson)
Go Cards - they finally get rid of Frankenstein!
But will La Russa ever quit meddling with the line-up?
Posey is one of a number of guys who normally would be an All-Star but I leave off due to injury: Posey, Mauer, Morneau, Pujols, Zimmerman, Wainwright. . . .
When does Ryan Zimmerman get back? He's good.
Matt Kemp is a monster this year.
He and Kershaw and Ethier are about all we have going for us this year on the hapless Dodgers.
C---Alex Avila (AL); Brian McCann (NL)
1B---Adrian Gonzalez (AL); Prince Fielder (NL)
2B---Ben Zobrist (AL); Rickie Weeks (NL)
3B---Alex Rodriguez (AL); Placido Polanco (NL)
SS---Asdrubal Cabrera (AL); Jose Reyes (NL)
OF---Jose Bautista, Curtis Granderson, Jacoby Ellsbury (AL); Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, Lance Berkman (NL)
If I could pick the pitchers, the starters: Roy Halladay, Jair Jurrjens, Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Dillon Gee (NL); Jered Weaver, Josh Beckett, Justin Verlander, James Shields, Gio Gonzalez (AL). The relievers: The Mariano (AL), probably Joel Hanrahan (NL).
Unless it's an extreme circumstance, or there's a real lack at a particular position (some positions this year only looked a little weaker than in recent years, but seek and ye can find), I won't include career performance in an All-Star selection. I'm most interested in whose performance this year (and that means all-around performance, for position players) earns him an All-Star berth.
I’m a giant Mets fan and I hate Reyes for what he’s doing this year.
NL
Atlanta (5): McCann, Jones, Jurrjens, Hanson, Venters
Philadelphia (4): Victorino, Halladay, Hamels, Lee
St. Louis (4): Molina, Holliday, Berkman, Lohse
Milwaukee (3): Fielder, Weeks, Braun
San Francisco (2): Lincecum, Wilson
Arizona (2): Upton, Kennedy
Chicago (2): Ramirez, Castro
Cincinnati (2): Votto, Phillips
Los Angeles (2): Kemp, Kershaw
Pittsburgh (2): McCutcheon, Hanrahan
Colorado (1): Tulowitzki
Florida (1): Sanchez Houston (1): Pence
New York (1): Reyes
San Diego (1): Bell
Washington (1): Morse
AL
Detroit (6): Avila, Martinez, Cabrera, Peralta, Verlander, Valverde
Boston (6): Gonzalez, Youkilis, Ellsbury, Ortiz, Beckett, Lester
New York (5): Cano, Rodriguez, Granderson, Sabathia, Rivera
Texas (4): Hamilton, Young, Wilson, Ogando
Los Angeles (3): Kendrick, Haren, Weaver
Chicago (2): Konerko, Quentin
Tampa Bay (2): Joyce, Shields
Baltimore (1): Jones
Cleveland (1): Cabrera
Kansas City (1): Gordon
Minnesota (1): Baker
Oakland (1): Gonzalez
Toronto (1): Bautista
American League:
1B - Gonzalez, Adrian
2B - Cano, Robinson
SS - Cabrera, Asdrubal
3B - Rodriguez, Alex
C - Avila, Alex
DH - Ortiz, David
OF - Bautista, Jose
OF - Ellsbury, Jacoby
OF - Granderson, Curtis
National League:
1B - Fielder, Prince
2B - Weeks, Rickie
SS - Reyes, Jose
3B - Ramirez, Aramis
C - McCann, Brian
OF - Berkman, Lance
OF - Braun, Ryan
OF - Kemp, Matt
We agreed on all our picks, except at AL 2B I’ve got Cano and you’ve go Zobrist, plus at NL 3B I’ve got Ramirez and you’ve got Polanco. But I have no problem with Polanco.
I think Cano and Ramirez deserve to be on the team but not as starters. Sleeper pick: Andrew McCutcheon. I can’t see him making it as a starter but he should be on the team, too.
I’m a giant Mets fan and I hate Reyes for what he’s doing this year.Yeah, the absolute nerve of him---managing not to suffer yet another injury, playing top-of-the-line baseball, we can't have that happening in a Met uniform, now, can we . . .
He dogs it the last couple years and now, all of a sudden, during his walk year he’s pete rose and willy mays and ozzie smith in one.
Werth has done NOTHING offensively except strike out looking. Dunn’s really suffering in Chicago, it was painful watching the Sox fans boo him when the Nats palyed there last week but he said all last year that he didn’t want to play in the AL. He didn’tg want to DH...felt that he wouldn’t be successful unless he really PLAYED. Turns out he was right....I think he’d have been fine if he stayed in DC. Zimmerman is back but not yet up to speed. He won’t win a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger this year but he’ll be back.
After today's win he's 11 - 3
You missed Correa, SP, Burgh, 10 wins.
He dogs it the last couple years and now, all of a sudden, during his walk year he’s pete rose and willy mays and ozzie smith in one.Let's see---a hamstring injury and then a calf injury killing much if not most of his 2009; thyroid trouble to open 2010, then an oblique injury around the All-Star break that aggravated yet again come September.
He dogs it the last couple years . . .If you'll pardon the expression, that dog don't hunt.
I didn't *miss* him. I didn't *pick* him. Correia is 10-6, yeah, but with a 3.79 ERA, which is .75 higher than any of the other pitchers I picked. And opponents are hitting .260 against him. The better pitchers are all under .250.
Verlander and Halladay would be my starting pitchers in the All-Star Game. Verlander would be a close choice over Weaver.
Since I follow both the Cubs and the Cards, I see a lot of the other NL Central teams. I tell you, if McCutcheon were on a better team in a bigger market, he would be a star not a sleeper. The guy is very talented, great speed, the whole package. Sad for Pittsburgh fans, he'll get to the point where the Pirates won't pay him and then they'll ship him off elsewhere. And so it goes. . . .
However, if the Pirates don't begin to learn how to think in terms of franchise player, I can think of a few teams who'd love to snap him up and wouldn't hesitate to do it.
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