Here is my All-Star Team for the AL:
STARTERS
C: Joe Mauer - Is there really another choice? .394-.468-.691
1B: Miguel Cabrera - .340-.391-.573 is enough to be a starter
2B: Ian Kinsler - A really tough decision between him and Aaron Hill, but Kinsler wins out due to his stolen bases (16) and the more power he provides. .272-.351-.527
3B: Evan Longoria - .307-.386-.580 is enough to make him the class of the AL.
SS: Jason Bartlett - Even though he missed some time with a stint on the DL, there isn't really another choice (.366-.404-.566)
OF: Jason Bay, Torii Hunter, Ichiro Suzuki - Both Bay and Hunter have had amazing seasons (Bay (.278-.387-.550, 19 HR's), Hunter (.308-.385-.587, 17 HR's)) and Suzuki is currently hitting .375-.405-.505.
P: Zach Greinke - Was the best starter for most of the 1st half.
RESERVES (Will be done according to last years rosters, so 11 more pitchers, 2 C, 6 IF, 3 OF, 1 OTHER)
P: Roy Halladay: 10-1, 2.53 (Blue Jays)
P: Felix Hernandez: 8-3, 2.54 (Mariners)
P: Edwin Jackson: 6-4, 2.40 (Tigers)
P: Jered Weaver: 8-3, 2.65 (Angels)
P: Mark Buerhle: 7-2, 3.26 (White Sox)
P: Justin Verlander: 8-3, 3.40 (Tigers)
P: Joe Nathan: 1-1, 18 sv, 1.52 (Twins)
P: Jonathan Papelbon: 1-1, 18 sv, 1.91 (Red Sox)
P: George Sherrill: 0-1, 16 sv, 2.05 (Orioles
P: Brian Fuentes: 0-2, 21 sv (MLB Leader), 3.91 (Angels)
P: Andrew Bailey: 4-1, 2.18 (Athletics)
C: Victor Martinez: .323-.402-.538 (Indians)
C: No real obvious choice here, but we will go with Jorge Posada: .271-.361-.516 (Yankees)
IF: Brandon Inge: .271-.364-.514 (Tigers)
IF: Aaron Hill: .304-.343-.495 (Blue Jays)
IF: Chone Figgins: .321-.401-.412, 23 SB's (Angels)
IF: Mark Teixeira: .277-.387-.576 (Yankees)
IF: Derek Jeter: .308-.377-.451 (Yankees)
IF: Russell Branyan: .302-.399-.613 (Mariners)
OF: Adam Lind: .310-.387-.551 (Blue Jays)
OF: Jermaine Dye: .285-.354-.556 (White Sox)
OF: Carl Crawford: .314-.372-.442 (Rays)
Other: Ben Zobrist: .286-.402-.626 (Rays)
Teams That Didn't Have Anyone Originally:
Orioles
First Cuts (Player on Original Team, but got booted to satisfy 1 player per team requirement)
David Aardsma (Mariners): I believe George Sherrill was the best choice for the Orioles, barely ahead of Adam Jones.
Evaluation: Several deserving players, such as wins guys Kevin Slowey and Tim Wakefield (each tied with 10), Carlos Pena (who has 23 HR's, lost out to Russell Branyan), Nelson Cruz (18 HR's), Justin Morneau (16 HR's, .310-.390-.556), Scott Rolen (.329-.392-.479) got left out even my original list.
Jeter made the team due to its needing a backup SS. Fuentes made it due to being MLB's SV leader and those rarely get left out of All-Star Games, even though Aardsma has had a better year. Andrew Bailey was my choice as the A's rep.
Reaction? Who do you believe got snubbed and should have been a starter/on the team?
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8 years ago
Agree with the vast majority of it. Love the Branyan inclusion, even if I don't think he'll get the notice he deserves.
ReplyDeleteI could be picky and take issue with a few relievers. I'd replace Papelbon, Bailey and Fuentes with Jason Frasor, Scott Downs (yep, two Blue Jays) and Michael Wuertz.
I don't consider the save "stat" at all, which is why Fuentes is out. That's the only thing keeping him in the conversation. Same with Papelbon. A look at his secondary numbers show he's really been solid instead of great this year. His walks are way up from his norms.
As much as I love Andrew Bailey, Wuertz has been slightly more effective. Bailey walks quite a bit more than Wuertz, while only striking out slightly more. I admit this is nitpicking and it's very close between the two. I also want to be clear that I prefer Bailey over Wuertz by a mile as far as who I'd rather have in the future.
Yea, I am not a big fan of including guys based on saves. However, it seems that players tend to include them and I tried to get guys that would make it and guys I considered. That is why I threw the MLB leader in on Fuentes due to that.
ReplyDeleteFrasor is a good pick instead of Fuentes. I think Downs injury kills his chances of making the team, as it would be very difficult for a reliever to do so like that.
And I will be honest, Branyan wasn't even on the radar of the team until I searched the leaders in some categories to find my snubs and found his giant numbers staring me in the face. He should probably be the starter at first base, but I agree, he is a likely candidate to get snubbed. I think the common fan puts Cabrera, Morneau, Teixeira and Pena at least ahead of him. He needs to hope that he can get players and coaches to vote for him.
Yeah, who should make it is a lot different than who will make it. Fuentes will surely make it ahead of someone like Frasor or Wuertz, because saves matter in All-Star voting.
ReplyDeleteWhy not Jason Kubel instead of Carl Crawford? Crawford is only beating him in SB, and runs and that's with Crawford having 60 more AB's than Kubel. Also, I would go with the Youk over Tex as reserve 1B. Tex did nothing without A-Rod. When do we get to see the NL voting? My boy Tiny Tim better be the NL starting pitcher.
ReplyDeleteNo way should Kinsler start over Hill. Hill leads all major league 2B in HR. Kinsler is now hitting under .270 in one of the best hitting ballparks in the majors and has Hill by less than 10 points (after Hill's 2-HR game yesterday) in SP.
ReplyDeleteNo major disagreements anywhere else though I agree with Will that Youk should take Tex's place as the BU-1B. While Tex is a notoriously slow starter, he has also benefited from the short porch in right.
While Kubel's numbers are outstanding (.317-.375-.558), he just doesn't beat out Crawford in my mind due to his tremendous success in stealing bases. He probably should beat out Dye for an OF spot though, so I will give you that one.
ReplyDeleteYouk got hurt and 1B is stacked. I love Youkilis, but couldn't include him with so many guys having strong seasons. Plus, hard to tell if Tex struggled due to A-Rod not behind him, adjusting to a new team or just plain old early struggles.
I will do my NL team sometime tonight after our baseball game at 6 (16-2 baby) and will Lincecum be the starter? Good competition, stop by to check it out...
Kinsler - .268-.347-.520, 18 HR - 50 RBI, 16/18 stealing
ReplyDeleteHill - .305-.344-.512, 19 HR - 56 RBI, 3/4 stealing.
While Kinsler's average is lower, he is hitting for a better OPS. He has also done more on the bases. While he has been helped by his home park (.336 with 10 HR's), I still think he wins out. Aaron Hill has also been better at home (.284 with 13 HR's)
Youkilis: .313-.443-.573
Teixeira: .276-.387-.575
Tex is hitting .313 with 13 of his 20 HR's at home. While Youkilis has hit a whopping .350 with 6 of his HR's. Just wanted to show that most players hit better at home due to getting in a routine. But, you both are probably right in the end, Youk is more deserving.
I'd also go Kinsler over Hill. Home runs are factored into slugging, and Kinsler is still slugging slightly higher. They're essentially equal offensively before you factor stolen bases, and Kinsler has the edge there. Pretty close though.
ReplyDeleteGuys, Kinsler is hitting .199 on the road. Last time I checked the All-Star game wasn't in Arlington.
ReplyDeleteBy comparison, Hill is hitting .326 on the road (and .277 at home).
Yes, Kinsler has more speed. So what? His slightly better stats are a home-park illusion. (And, after I looked up his away BA, I am more convinced that it isn't as close as it appears between the two).
The OPS's are about the same. It's really close. It is hard to penalize a guy for his home park, as he has no control over where he plays. Hill has 13 of 19 HR's at home while Kinsler has 10 of 18. It's really apples and oranges. Kinsler also gets a little bump because of how the Rangers were playing (1st before 2 days ago) and he is my only rep from there.
ReplyDeleteAre the OPS really the same on the road - I doubt it, but can't find those stats.
ReplyDeleteI'm not penalizing Kinsler for how he is hitting at home. I'm penalizing him (the penalty being relegating him to a reserve spot on the all-star team rather than being a starter), for how he hits on the road.
And, ultimately, we are trying to compare who is better. The only apples to apples comparison is road-to-road as it takes out home park effects.
Park effects have a major impact on the quality of a player (should we talk about Matt Holliday - Colorado vs. Oakland).
My main point is that we are looking for a tiebreaker between two statistically similar players. On pure stats, I agree the edge goes to Kinsler. But, looking a little deeper and trying to answer the question of who is the better player - my answer is that a .199 BA on the road suggests that Kinsler may be overrated by having the very real advantage of playing in a hitter's haven.
Hill on the road: .326-.357-.465
ReplyDeleteKinsler on the road: .199-.273-.390
Yes, Aaron Hill is better on the road. But, it isn't a true apple-apple comparison unless we were to evaluate the road parks the hitters have played in (for example, I am sure Aaron Hill has played more games at Yankee Stadium then Oakland's colossal ballpark).
Kinsler is a hitter built perfectly for Texas (just 15 % of the balls he hits are line drives, compared to 22 % for Hill) and I agree that Hill is a better all-around hitter. But, looking at batting average on balls in play, Hill is at .304 which is right in line with his career. Kinsler is at .258, well down from his career norm. He appears to have been getting a little hit unlucky (though some of it is due to his high Fly Ball %).
Bottom line is that, for me, Kinsler's stolen bases offset Hill being a better hitter and Kinsler also gets helped by his team having played so well early. I agree, Hill is a better all around player, but Kinsler has had the better 1st half in my opinion.
Careful about the Holliday thing, I mentioned something along those lines and got jumped on it at work. Apparently some people think that is null and void. Forget the fact Oakland is pretty much the exact opposite of Coors Field and that he moved to a tougher league, he was apparently in just a slump (which I wholeheartedly disagree with, but what can you do?)