BOTTOMFEEDER BASEBALL BLOG

Dedicated to the constructive criticism of the Washington Nationals.

ALL ARTICLES AND PICTURES UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED ARE (C) DAVID W. NICHOLS

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Friday, June 27, 2008

All Stars, Revisited

MLB All Star teams are announced July 6. Since I'm leaving for vacation July 1, I present to you now my All Star teams for 2008. Check back after the teams are announced and feel free to tell my how stupid I am. The starters I list are the leading vote-getters as of today. It's all I have to work with. I took 12 pitchers for each sqaud, and filled out the rest of the rosters as required: 32 players, at least one from each team. The Dodgers really made me work for their rep.

I get one extra in the AL since Big Papi won't be healthy enough to play.

Anyway, here we go...
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NL Starters: 1B Berkman (HOU), 2B Utley (PHI), 3B C.Jones (ATL), SS H.Ramirez (FLA), C Soto (CHC), OFs Soriano (CHC), Fukudome (CHC),
Griffey (CIN).

NL Reserves: 1B A.Gonzales (SD), 1B Pujols (STL), 2B Uggla (FLA), 3B Wright (NYM), 3B A.Ramirez (CHC), SS J.Reyes (NYM), C B. McCann (ATL), C R.Martin (LA), OFs Braun (MIL), Holliday (COL), McLouth (PIT), Ludwick (STL).

NL SPs: Volquez (CIN), Webb (ARI), Sheets (MIL), Haren (ARI), Lincecum (SF), Dempster (CHI), Santana (NYM).

NL RPs: Wood (CHI), Lidge (PHI), Capps (PIT), Wagner (NYM), Rauch (WAS).

Guys I hated leaving off NL: Bengie Molina, Carlos Lee, Mark Teixeira, Aaron Cook, Tim Hudson, Cole Hamels.
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AL Starters: 1B Youkilis (BOS), 2B Pedroia (BOS), 3B A.Rodriguez (NYY), SS Jeter (NYY), C Mauer (MIN), OFs M.Ramirez (BOS), Hamilton (TEX), Ichiro (SEA), DH Ortiz (BOS).

AL Reserves: 1B Morneau (MIN), 2B Kinsler (TEX), B.Roberts (BAL), 3B Crede (CHW), SS M.Young (TEX), C Navarro (TB), C Pierzynski (CHW), OFs Crawford (TB), Quentin (CHW), M.Ordonez (DET), Bradley (TEX), J. Guillen (KC).

AL SPs: C.Lee (CLE), Saunders (LAA), E.Santana (LAA), Halladay (TOR), Mussina (NYY), Duchscherer (OAK), Padilla (TEX)

AL RPs: F.Rodriguez (LAA), Sherrill (BAL), Papelbon (BOS), Rivera (NYY), Soria (KC).

Guys I hated leaving off AL: Grady Sizemore, JD Drew, Gavin Floyd, Zack Greinke, Bobby Jenks.
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Quick Comments: I ended up taking 3 catchers for both leagues. With 32-man rosters and with the game structured the way it is anymore, you really need to take three. Pierzynski is the weak link, but felt I needed the third in the AL. Martin was my LA rep, and I could have taken a fourth C with Molina in SF, but I don't see anyone taking 4 catchers.

AL 1B was weak this year. Even though Ortiz is hurt, I couldn't bring myself to take another DH in Giambi, although his numbers would qualify him. AL pitching is kinda soft too. I really tried hard not to take Padilla, but again, numbers warrant the selection.

Teams with one All Star: TOR, CLE, DET, SEA, OAK, WAS, HOU, SF, SD, LA, COL.
Most All Stars: CHC 6, BOS 5, TEX 5, NYY 4, NYM 4, LAA 3.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

You took Rauch over Guzzie for Nats rep? Otherwise I agree with almost all your picks.

Dave Nichols said...

it's not a personality contest :-)

Dann Berkowitz said...

Where is Varitek as the AL Catcher!? What gives -- how many no hitters has Mauer (or Pierzynski) run?

Dave Nichols said...

Danno, if Varitek doesn't get voted in, he doesn't deserve to go.

Steven said...

Couple comments:

1. I hate the rule that all teams get one player. In addition to just undermining the whole legitimacy of the AS game, it helps obscure the crappiness of certain crappy GMs.

2. If you adopt the traditional standards of the AS game, then I think Rauch has to be closer to being a legit AS than Guzzy.

3. If you adopt actual player value, Guzman doesn't come close to being in the top 2 most valuable SS-es in the NL.

Neither guy deserves to be there, but Rauch is the better choice right now. Galarraga would beat them both out if he was pitching for us.

Anonymous said...

Honest to gosh, Bud Selig would screw up a wet dream. If the commish is going to make the all-star game count for something (WS home field advantage0 than its his responsibility to get rid of all the rules that applied when it was an exhibition game. In other words, get rid of the "every team gets an all-star" requirement. How pathetic is it that Jon Rauch could be pitching in the late innings with the all-star game on the line and it will have absolutely no effect on him or his team.

Screw Bud Selig!!!!

Unknown said...

Dave - I agree with almost all of your picks! Great job! I think you'll be really darn close to what really happens. I have to agree with Bill too on the "every team gets an all-star" rule. I think it undermines the whole point of an AS game and completely hurts the guys who are on the bubble and deserve to be there much more than someone who is on the AS team just because they are the only one from a specific team. I've watched plenty of Pro Bowls and NBA All-Star games with no representation of my favorite teams, and I've survived. I love the Nats, but they dont' really have anyone who truly deserves to go.

Unknown said...

A few suggestions. In NL: Garrett Atkins over D.Wright. Xavier Nady over Matt McLouth. AL: Jermaine Dye over Carlos Quentin. And why rank on Guzman, he has more hits than anyone else in baseball. You'ver got 3 underachieving Mets, bump Reyes, leads league in gagging.

Anonymous said...

You left off Ryan Howard. Not only didn't he make your list, you didn't even list him as someone you regretted leaving off. He leads the league in HRs and RBIs. That's two of the three offensive triple crown categories. How much more production does a player have to have to make the squad? I could understand, given his low batting average, if he were only "among" the lead leaders. But he is #1 in two top offensive categories. Anti-Philly bias rears its ugly head again.