My Votes for the MLB All-Star Game
With the MLB All Star game just a few short weeks away I decided to put my votes for who I think should be in the All Star game. Here is how I voted
American League
1st Base- C. Peña, TB
2nd Base- D. Pedroia, BOS
3rd Base- B. Inge, DET
Shortstop- D. Jeter, NYY
Catcher- J. Mauer, MIN
Outfielders- C. Granderson, DET
J. Bay, BOS
J. Dye, CWS
National League
1st Base- P. Fielder, MIL
2nd Base- C. Utley, PHI
3rd Base- C. Blake, LAD
Shortstop- Y. Escobar, ATL
Catcher- R. Martin, LAD
Outfielders- A. Soriano, CHC
R. Braun, MIL
R. Ibañez, PHI
Fan Vote for Home Run Derby
American League
M. Cabrera, DET
A. Rodriguez, NYY
J. Morneau, MIN
National League
P. Fielder, MIL
R. Howard, PHI
A. Pujols, STL
I am not about voting for the most popular or for name sake. I vote for who I think is doing the best. You noticed my ballot is not all Yankees or Red Sox like it always is. I would love to hear who you think should be in the All Star Game. Go vote now at MLB.COM
What kind of production are you looking for? Are there any specific stats that you cite when making your picks? There are a bunch of *huge* oversights here:
I'm not trying to be a jerk here, it's just that if you're not going by names (which is a good strategy for voting), you've got to know what you're looking for an be consistent with it.
AL:
1B Kevin Youkilis- Youkilis is head and shoulders above all the competition in the AL 1st base race right now. Pena has more HRs, but that's all. Despite having a nice edge in bombs, Pena trails Youk by almost one hundred points of OPS (that's a lot).
2B Ian Kinsler- Dustin Pedroia is very much a name pick. He was MVP last year, but this year he's trailing Kinsler by over 100 points of OPS (that's what happens when you slug under .400).
3B Evan Longoria- When you factor in defense, Inge makes it kinda close (and I really do think Inge should get in as a reserve this year, he's been excellent). But Longoria is a superstar, and is an excellent all around player. He's got an OPS nearing 1, while Inge is in the low 900s (which is great, but it's not Longoria by a long shot)
OF Adam Lind and Torii Hunter- Hunter has been a beast this season, and has been much better than Dye both offensively and defensively. Lind has been severely underrated this season, and has been much better with the bat than Curtis Granderson so far this year (though Curtis has been an excellent defender, so that may close the gap)
NL:
1B: ALBERT PUJOLS!!! – Albert Pujols not only leads the majors in HRs, he gets on base almost HALF of his ABs. He's killing the ball, and is blowing Fielder away in every meaningful statistic. Oh, and he plays the best defense of any non-Mark Teixeira player in baseball at 1st base.
3B David Wright- The guy is hitting .346, and plays damn good defense at 3rd. He also has about 60 points of OPS on Blake. And if you think Wright is too popular, then Mark Reynolds (TONS of power) of Arizona is more deserving than Blake.
SS Hanley Ramirez- It honestly can't be any other SS in the NL. Hanley not only tears the cover off of the ball, and is the best player on the Marlins. But he's also much better on defense than Escobar, and has improved by leaps this season.
C Brian McCann- If you hadn't left Pujols off, this would've been the worst one, hands down. McCann hits like Ryan Braun, but he plays catcher. He's got about THREE HUNDRED points of OPS on Martin. Martin has been *awful* so far this year. And that is most certainly a name pick.
OF Justin Upton or Carlos Beltran- Alfonso Soriano is the definition of a name pick. He has been just as awful as Martin so far this year (except Soriano's OBP is below .300, which is worse than most AAA players). Justin Upton is the next Ken Griffey Jr, and Carlos Beltran is one of the most consistent upper tier outfielders in all of baseball.
But that's just what I think, and you're welcome to your own opinions (just don't pass them off as right 🙂 )