My All Star Ballot arrived today. Sure it’s early in the season and there is plenty of time left to see what players may do in the next few months, but it is one of the annual rites of baseball that I, like most fans, really enjoy. It’s our chance to express our feelings as to which players are the best, or most deserving of an All-Star appearance come July. Of course the balloting doesn’t always reflect who the best players are this season, or even the last several seasons but rather often reflect the popularity of certain players. Although I try hard to be objective occasionally my heart overrules my head or sentimentality is the deciding factor.
Without any further ado, here are my All-Star choices.
American League
First Base: Tough call here since Paul Konerko, Mark Teixeira, and Travis Hafner are all pretty fabulous players and there are a couple of wild cards in the mix including the surprising Chris Shelton who is having a career year and Boston’s David Ortiz, who is listed as a first baseman. I know some think that Jason Giambi is also worthy of consideration but I’ll never vote the steroid kids in on my ballot.
The winner for me hands down is Travis Hafner, one of the most exciting young hitters in the game. He’s in the prime of his career and appears to be an All-Star for years to come.
Second Base: Nobody clearly jumps out in this category but three players worthy of consideration in my book are Brian Roberts, Tahido Iguchi and National League import Luis Castillo. Tahido has the power, Roberts has the speed and Castillo has the batting average. It’s comparing apples to oranges so again I asked who I would most like to see in an exciting game. The answer – Brian Roberts, he’s a solid all around player with a mixture of power and speed and plays his heart out.
Third Base: This was somewhere I didn’t really expect to have much to think about, after all Alex Rodriguez is probably one of the top offensive players in the game and a solid all around defensive player to boot. Then I took a look at the numbers .261- 5-16…Yuck! Those aren’t All-Star numbers; those aren’t even middle of the pack numbers. My choice the tremendously talented Eric Chavez of the Oakland A’s who is posting an awesome .396 On Base Percentage and incredible .689 slugging.
Shortstop: This has been Derek Jeter’s exclusive domain for way too long and if you let the numbers rather than the popularity of the player determine who the real All-Star is, it clearly isn’t Jeter but rather the Orioles’ Miguel Tejada, who dominates in average, home runs, RBIs and runs as well as slugging percentage. Jeter’s two steals and better OBP just doesn’t count for enough to earn him my vote this year.
Catcher: With apologies to Ivan Rodriguez, Ramon Hernandez and Jorge Posada this one is a no brainer – it’s all about Victor Martinez, the best offensive catcher in the game today. His numbers over the last two seasons have been dazzling and he’s poised to get even better this year. He leads all catchers in every major offensive category and probably will for years to come.
Outfield: Lots of great choices here but the guys I’d most want to see at the plate – Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, and Kevin Mench. Sure you could argue for other players – most notably Johnny Gomes, Vernon Wells, Alexis Rios or Nick Swisher all of who have had terrific starts to the season., but in Vlad and Manny you’ve got perennial MVP candidates and Kevin Mench is a true slugger who hasn’t gotten the media attention that he deserves playing for the Texas Rangers.
National League:
First Base: Well this one wasn’t much of a contest even though the field is loaded with great choices including the always consistent Carlos Delgado, a healthy Lance Berkman, talented newcomer Ryan Howard, as well as Derek Lee and Todd Helton. Even if Helton and Lee hadn’t lost time to the DL this season the only man who could have taken this slot is Albert Pujols. Pujols looks like he’ll have 30 plus home runs by the All-Star break, is hitting .333 and has a major league leading OPS of 1.381. Can you say best player in baseball?
Second Base: Chase Utley. Utley hasn’t really hit his stride this year but he’s right in the middle of the pack with Jose Vidro and Craig Biggio. Biggio is without a question the sentimental choice and should get an invitation in any case, but Utley is the future and last year was the most dominating player at this position in the majors. Unless someone else stands up and takes control, Utley’s earned the job based on his first two seasons. The NL also is the home of another great second baseman, one who’ll be a first ballot Hall of Famer in Jeff Kent, but Kent’s season thus far has been undistinguished at best.
Third Base: There are a lot of contenders for this spot and good arguments could be made for players like David Wright, Miguel Cabrera, Edwin Encarnacion or Garret Atkins but the numbers tell the story and my choice of All-Star has to be Morgan Ensberg who stands head and shoulders above the others when it comes to home runs and consistency since last season when he established himself as the backbone of the Astros’ lineup.
Shortstop: On this one I have to admit to choosing more with my heart than by the numbers. Numerically there are a number of better players, but many of them are still young and unproven (Hanley Ramirez, J.J. Hardy), some are playing above their career numbers (Craig Counsell, Jack Wilson) and some are having disappointing seasons (Jimmy Rollins, Rafael Furcal) but in my mind one of the most exciting players in the game right now is Jose Reyes – and I enjoy watching him play enough to want to see him make the All-Star team.
Catcher: How weak is the NL catching pool? It’s weak enough that the well past his prime Mike Piazza can only be matched up against light hitting Brad Ausmus and Paul LoDuca. Of the three, Piazza is the only one capable of changing a game with a single swing of the bat. That earns him the nod in my book.
Outfielder: I don’t want to see Barry Bonds in the All-Star game; he’s the epitome of the steroid era and to my mind the personification of the worst era of baseball since the Black Sox scandal in 1919. That being the case I’ll case my vote for three well rounded players who may not have been outstanding so far this season but are just loaded with talent and I’ll expect to distinguish themselves over the next few months before the break. Those would be Jason Bay, Andruw Jones and Bobby Abreu. Of the three Bay is likely to have the hardest time in proving his worth since the Pirates have been beset by injuries which will take away both protection and RBI chances. Abreu is and has been an elite outfielder for years and over the past two seasons Jones has finally realized the kind of power stroke we always thought he’d have.
There are other players that could easily have earned the pick, but in the end I’d need to lean on track records and potential to differentiate between members of this group of outfielders all of whom can be game breakers.
