Now that the actual All-Star teams have been announced, and the players that have been snubbed have been discussed to no end let's take a look at what the real All-Star teams should look like; starting with the American League.
The team I have formed is very much based on stats found over at Baseball Prospectus and The Hardball Times such as Value Over Replacement Player (VORP), Wins Above Replacement Player (WARP), and Pitching Runs Created. Some of these "deep" statistics are presented in the tables below, but if you do not like such metrics and do not want to read them the regular, everyday "newspaper" stats are also presented.
Every player's fielding ability was considered when making selections.
The players that were clearly snubbed from the actual All-Star team are high-lighted for you to see. The players that actually made the team are listed as well. Anyhow, without further ado, here is the Serious Baseball AL All-Star Team:
Catcher (Ivan Rodriguez, Joe Mauer, A.J. Pierzynski)
| Player | Team | "Newspaper" Stats | VORP |
| Joe Mauer (S) | Minnesota | 319 PA, .388/.458/.550, 7 HR, 44 RBI, 7 SB | 47.4 |
| Jorge Posada (R) | Yankees | 290 PA, .281/.390/.471, 11 HR, 45 RBI, 0 SB | 18.8 |
1st Base (David Ortiz, Paul Konerko, Jim Thome)
| Player | Team | "Newspaper" Stats | VORP |
| Travis Hafner (S) | Cleveland | 353 PA, .318/.460/.657, 25 HR, 74 RBI, 0 SB | 54.6 |
| Jim Thome (R) | White Sox | 343 PA, .296/.417/.646, 29 HR, 75 RBI, 0 SB | 42.3 |
| David Ortiz (R) | Red Sox | 353 PA, .280/.390/.615, 30 HR, 84 RBI, 0 SB | 36.5 |
2nd Base (Mark Loretta, Robinson Cano, Jose Lopez)
| Player | Team | "Newspaper" Stats | VORP |
| Robinson Cano (S) | Yankees | 287 PA, .325/.353/.439, 4 HR, 27 RBI, 2 SB | 16.7 |
| Ronnie Belliard (S) | Cleveland | 337 PA, .294/.343/.432, 8 HR, 42 RBI, 2 SB | 17.8 |
3rd Base (Alex Rodriguez, Troy Glaus)
| Player | Team | "Newspaper" Stats | VORP |
| Joe Crede (S) | White Sox | 317 PA, .296/.334/.519, 16 HR, 57 RBI, 0 SB | 15.3 |
| Mike Lowell (R) | Boston | 335 PA, .301/.355/.503, 10 HR, 43 RBI, 1 SB | 17.7 |
Shortstop (Derek Jeter, Michael Young, Miguel Tejada)
| Player | Team | "Newspaper" Stats | VORP |
| Michael Young (S) | Texas | 399 PA, .318/.363/.460, 7 HR, 57 RBI, 4 SB | 26.7 |
| Derek Jeter (R) | Yankees | 367 PA, .344/.425/.464, 5 HR, 51 RBI, 18 SB | 41.3 |
| Miguel Tejada (R) | Baltimore | 389 PA, .315/.362/.511, 17 HR, 60 RBI, 4 SB | 36.2 |
Outfield (Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, Ichiro Suzuki, Jermaine Dye, Gary Matthews Jr., Magglio Ordonez, Alex Rios, Grady Sizemore, Vernon Wells)
| Player | Team | "Newspaper" Stats | VORP |
| Grady Sizemore (S) | Cleveland | 401 PA, .299/.373/.531, 15 HR, 43 RBI, 13 SB | 39.6 |
| Ichiro Suzuki (S) | Seattle | 404 PA, .347/.401/.453, 6 HR, 31 RBI, 27 SB | 33.9 |
| Jermaine Dye (S) | White Sox | 312 PA, .318/.401/.625, 22 HR, 63 RBI, 3 SB | 33.2 |
| Manny Ramirez (R) | Boston | 348 PA, .305/.434/.616, 24 HR, 65 RBI, 0 SB | 38.0 |
| C. Granderson (R) | Detroit | 380 PA, .281/.369/.468, 11 HR, 43 RBI, 7 SB | 24.3 |
| Alex Rios (R) | Toronto | 303 PA, .330/.383/.585, 15 HR, 53 RBI, 9 SB | 27.7 |
| Carl Crawford (R) | Tampa Bay | 354 PA, .322/.362/.523, 13 HR, 45 RBI, 32 SB | 31.0 |
|
Vernon Wells (R) |
Toronto | 357 PA, .309/.375/.593, 21 HR, 64 RBI, 10 SB | 39.7 |
Starting Pitchers (Johan Santana, Roy Halladay, Barry Zito, Mark Beurhle, Jose Contreras, Scott Kazmir, Kenny Rogers, Mark Redman)
| Player | Team | "Newspaper" Stats | Rate Stats |
| J. Verlander | Detroit | 17 GS, 110.7 IP, 10.4, 3.01 ERA | 7.9 H/9--0.9 HR/9--2.7 BB/9--5.6 K/9 |
| Johan Santana | Minnesota | 18 GS, 124.0 IP, 9-4, 2.76 ERA | 7.3 H/9--0.9 HR/9--1.7 BB/9--9.5 K/9 |
| J. Bonderman | Detroit | 17 GS, 111.0 IP, 7-4, 3.65 ERA | 8.1 H/9--0.5 HR/9--2.4 BB/9--8.7 K/9 |
| Roy Halladay | Toronto | 17 GS, 122.3 IP, 11-2, 3.02 ERA | 8.3 H/9--0.8 HR/9--1.1 BB/9--4.9 K/9 |
| Curt Schilling | Boston | 18 GS, 121.3 IP, 10-3, 3.63 ERA | 8.8 H/9--1.3 HR/9--1.0 BB/9--8.1 K/9 |
| Jose Contreras | White Sox | 15 GS, 103.3 IP, 9-0, 3.31 ERA | 8.1 H/9--0.8 HR/9--2.4 BB/9--6.2 K/9 |
| Mike Mussina | Yankees | 19 GS, 122.3 IP, 10-3, 3.24 ERA | 7.7 H/9--1.2 HR/9--1.7 BB/9--8.0 K/9 |
| Scott Kazmir | Tampa Bay | 18 GS, 109.3 IP, 10-5, 3.29 ERA | 8.3 H/9--1.0 HR/9--3.3 BB/9--9.7 K/9 |
Relief Pitchers (Bobby Jenks, Jonathon Papelbon, B.J. Ryan, Mariano Rivera)
| Player | Team | "Newspaper" Stats | Rate Stats |
| J.J. Putz | Seattle | 38 G, 40.3 IP, 1-0, 2.23 ERA, 15 Saves | 5.8 H/9--0.2 HR/9--1.6 BB/9--12.7 K/9 |
| J. Papelbon | Boston | 38 G, 42.7 IP, 3-1, 0.42 ERA, 25 Saves | 4.6 H/9--0.2 HR/9--1.5 BB/9--9.1 K/9 |
| Joe Nathan | Minnesota | 31 G, 35.0 IP, 5-0, 1.80 ERA, 15 Saves | 5.9 H/9--0.5 HR/9--1.3 BB/9--12.9 K/9 |
| B.J. Ryan | Toronto | 38 G, 41.7 IP, 1-0, 0.86 ERA, 23 Saves | 4.5 H/9--0.0 HR/9--1.9 BB/9--11.2 K/9 |
(S) = Starter, (R) = Reserve
If you ask me, the biggest names not listed on the Serious Baseball All-Star team is Alex Rodriguez and Mariano Rivera.
While A-Rod does have a higher VORP (27.7) than both Crede and Lowell, the latter players are both better fielders--and by a wide margin. Large enough that Rodriguez' offensive superiority is more than cancelled out; making Crede and Lowell both more valuable than the 2005 AL MVP.
As far as Rivera is concerned, when using defense-independent metrics both J.J. Putz and Joe Nathan come out ahead. Rivera's K/9 of only 6.9 just doesn't compare to those of the players that did make the team.
Anyways, look forward to my NL All-Star team tomorrow, and I will look forward to your emails telling me who I snubbed and who shouldn't have made it.
Thank you for reading. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to email me at frnkbndy@yahoo.com.
