All Star voting has been underway and although the actual game is still a ways off, it’s certainly not too early to discuss. It always makes me angry seeing the All Star voting as it more of an All Popular contest rather than how the players are doing. For example, Derek Jeter is certainly one of the greatest shortstops of all time and he deserves many of his All Star appearances, but with that, he has All Star appearances where fans voted him in, when he clearly was not the best choice. It doesn’t even stop there. Coaches have a certain level of bias when it comes to picking the backups and pitchers. Last year or the year before that, Ron Washington was the A.L. coach as the Rangers had made the World Series the year before. As a result, there were multiple Rangers players who were coach-picked that definitely did not deserve a spot. I hope that there can be a new system of picking players that involves some sort of calculations of the skill of the player at their respective position. With that being said, here are my All Star pickups thus far through the season.
A.L.
C: Joe Mauer
1B: Chris Davis
2B: Robinson Cano
SS: Jhonny Peralta
3B: Miguel Cabrera
OF: Mike Trout
OF: Adam Jones
OF: Nick Markakis
P: Clay Buchholz
N.L.
C: Yadier Molina
1B: Joey Votto
2B: Brandon Phillips
SS: Troy Tulowitzki
3B: David Wright
OF: Carlos Gonzalez
OF: Carlos Gomez
OF: Michael Cuddyer
P: Patrick Corbin
This without a doubt will change and many of these guys don’t have the popularity to get voted, but they would definitely have the skill.
The Yankees’ Plummet
When it rains, it pours. The Yanks have gone 1-7 in their last 8 games and just can’t seem to get it together. They were actually a surprise team up until this point as many people didn’t give them much of a chance with their age and the multiple injuries to their team of All Stars. Guys like Travis Hafner and Vernon Wells were filling their roles and starting off the year strong, vaulting the team into first place early. Those guys have since hit a wall, Curtis Granderson went back on the DL, and Mark Tiexiera has slumped in his return. This paired along with the struggles of the pitching staff. C.C. Sabathia hasn’t been the Sabathia of old showing a lot of inconsistency with a lot of questions after C.C. and Hiroki Kuroda. They’ve recently sent Ivan Nova down to the minors to see if he can figure things out at Triple-A. I really can’t see this team making the playoffs with the parts they currently have. The only way they can have a chance is if their stars can come off the DL and quickly make a large impact. Not to mention the questions they have going into the future. Their team is quite old and their prospect pool isn’t the greatest. I’m sure they will be able to buy some huge contracts in the offseason, but a little building from within never hurt anyone.
Domonic Brown
There isn’t a hotter player in baseball. The man is ripping the cover off the ball, lighting pitchers up for 12 homeruns in the month of May. But he’s continuing right where he left off hitting homeruns in back to back games within the first three days of June. He certainly was not living up to the major hype when he got his big break in the majors in 2011. He’s almost the bright spot in the Phillies’ lineup in the season thus far as the offense has been really struggling with the downfall of past stars like Ryan Howard and the beginning of Chase Utley’s. I debated putting Brown in my All Star picks, but I don’t think he’s quite there yet. Until I see his performance in June, I can’t see if this is the real deal or just a spurt of greatness. The Phillies will most likely be selling when the trade deadline rolls around, but I can’t see them moving Brown as he is turning into a guy that you can build a future team around.
Fantasy Moment
Top Adds
Hitters
- Matt Joyce
- Yasiel Puig
- Jason Castro
- Marcell Ozuna
- Jed Lowrie
- J.D. Martinez
- Didi Gregorius
- Jonathan Lucroy
- Michael Brantley
- Adam Lind
Pitchers
- Michael Wacha
- Tyler Lyons
- Luke Gregerson
- Jeff Locke
- Francisco Rodriguez
- Rex Brothers
- Mike Leake
- Jorge De La Rosa
- John Lackey
- Jason Vargas
Top Drops
Hitters
- Eric Chavez
- Dayan Viciedo
- Brett Lawrie
- Jon Jay
- Vernon Wells
- Brandon Moss
- Michael Young
- Andre Ethier
- B.J. Upton
- Adam Dunn
Pitchers
- Brandon McCarthy
- Wade Miley
- Jose Fernandez
- A.J. Griffin
- Ervin Santana
- Jim Henderson
- Tim Hudson
- Kyle Lohse
- Tim Lincecum
- Huston Street
In other news, as I am writing this Monday night, Game 7 between the Heat and Pacers is currently happening. As a little prediction, if the Pacers win, I think they will win the NBA Championship, but if the Heat win the series, I think the Spurs will win the championship. As much as I love Lebron James, his supporting players have not stepped up in these playoffs, especially Chris Bosh. I know they’re asking him to play center, which he is undersized for, but averaging around 3 rebounds per game is unacceptable. If the Heat lose this game, the talk will be brought up about him leaving when he is eligible for free agency and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he entertained offers from other teams if not signing elsewhere.
-Robert
The 2-2 Pitch 