The should-be all-star teams

Dr. Giganto

Sports Moderator

Here are who I think should have made the all-star teams, starting with the AL. 32 players, each team must be represented...

Starting catcher: Victor Martinez - .323/.384/.543, 14 HR, 63 RBI

Back-up catcher: Jorge Posada - .336/.405/.525, 9 HR, 45 RBI

Starting first-baseman: Justin Morneau - .279/.353/.548, 20 HR, 61 RBI

Back-up first-baseman: David Ortiz - .314/.430/.557, 13 HR, 49 RBI

Mark Teixiera - .302/.405/.554, 12 HR, 41 RBI

Starting second-baseman: Brian Roberts - .327/.413/.457, 5 HR, 24 RBI, 25-for 29 stolen bases

Back-up second baseman: Placido Polanco - .330/.378/.421, 2 HR, 36 RBI

Starting shortstop: Carlos Guillen - .321/.389/.560, 12 HR, 59 RBI, 6 SBs

Back-up shortstop: Derek Jeter - .338/.411/.470, 5 HR, 39 RBI, 7 SBs

Orlando Cabrera: .337/.375/.457, 5 HR, 48 RBI, 9 SBs

Starting Third-baseman: Alex Rodriguez - .327/.425/.680, 28 HR, 79 RBI, 9 Sbs

Back-up Third-baseman: Mike Lowell - .297/.350/.513, 12 HR, 55 RBI

Outfield: Magglio Ordonez - .370/.444/.617, 13 HR, 68 RBI

Vladimir Guerrero - .328/.423/.564, 14 HR, 73 RBI

Ichiro Suzuki - .365/.419/.466, 5 hR, 39 RBI, 23-for-25 stolen bases

Back-up outfielders: Gary Sheffield - .290/.401/.530, 18 HR, 52 RBI, 11 stolen bases

Torii Hunter - .302/.344/.550, 17 HR, 63 RBI, 11 SBs

Grady Sizemore - .285/.400/.468, 13 HR, 41 RBI, 23-for-26 stolen bases

Alex Rios - .287/.336/.515, 17 HR, 45 RBI, 7 SBs

Starting Pitcher: Dan Haren - 10-2, 2.20 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 98 Ks

Back-up starters: Johan Santana - 9-6, 2.76 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 120 Ks

C.C. Sabathia - 12-2, 3.20 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 116 Ks

Gil Meche - 5-6, 3.28 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 83 Ks

John Lackey - 11-5, 3.04 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 87 Ks

Justin Verlander - 9-3, 3.18 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 90 Ks

Josh Beckett - 11-2, 3.38 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 83 Ks

James Shields - 6-4, 3.76 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 110 Ks

Erik Bedard - 6-4, 3.36 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 129 Ks

Closer: J.J. Putz - 1-0, 0.92 ERA, 0.59 WHIP, 23-for-23 saves, 43 Ks

Back-up relievers: Francisco Rodriguez - 1-2, 2.27 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 24-for-26 saves, 49 Ks

Bobby Jenks - 2-3, 2.76 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 22-for-24 saves, 29 Ks

Jonathon Papelbon - 0-1, 1.50 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 19-for-20 saves, 42 Ks

Slimdust

Sammy Sosa already has 63 RBI's this season. I would say he should be there.

PS3 Online Name: xJimmyx23

www.haulingkings.com

Dr. Giganto

Sports Moderator

Here are the people who may or may not be getting snubbed by my selections, and a reason why they were left off, if possible:

Chad Gaudin (high WHIP: 1.36)

Jon Garland (not great record: 6-5, low Ks: 50)

Jeremy Guthrie (only made 12 starts)

Joe Blanton (no more room)

Jeremy Bonderman (I probably should have got him on somehow...but all the guys on there either have lower ERAs, except Shields, who is the TB representative)

Joe Nathan (High WHIP for a closer: 1.25, 8th in the AL in saves)

Kevin Youkilis (first base is overcrowded, needed to include Teixeira as Texas' representative. Plus, he only has 9 HR from a traditional "power" position)

Dustin Perdoia (it was close between he and Polanco, but I went with Polanco because he has 87 more plate appearances, thus his total contribution has been greater, even though Pedroia's averages are better)

Ian Kinsler (tough choice between he and Teixeira for Texas' rep. Low average and OBP was the deciding factor)

Jhonny Peralta (having a great year, but not as good as Guillen, Jeter, and Cabrera)

Curtis Granderson (crowded outfield, low OBP: .343, and only decent power numbers: 11 HRs)

Carl Crawford (same reasons as Granderson, though Crawford has less power, more speed)

Dr. Giganto

Sports Moderator

Sosa is also batting .255, with an OBP of .308. He's 43rd in the AL in OPS

Dr. Giganto

Sports Moderator

Team-by-team breakdown:

Yankees: 3
Red Sox: 4
Blue Jays: 1
Orioles: 2
Devil Rays: 1
Indians: 3
Tigers: 5
White Sox: 1
Royals: 1
Twins: 3
A's: 1
Rangers: 1
Mariners: 2
Angels: 4

Suntan Superman

WC's Resident Samoan

Gee I was kicking myself for double posting >.>

On-topic, the all-star game is a joke, plain and simple. Selig tried to make it something, but it's not. Pro Bowl/NHL All-Star Game/NBA All-Star Game> MLB All-Star Game

Freak

Based on what? They're all jokes.

If I had to choose one game to watch out of the four, I'd probably choose baseball, simply because it's got a bit of a history behind it, and it's the only game where anything is actually at stake. Following that, I'd go with basketball, just to see a few nice dunks.

Strangely enough, I'd almost certainly rather watch football and/or hockey in any other instance.

Jayman

Super Moderator

Tom Dogg, what do you have against Pudge?? Not even a backup spot?

It looks like your picks were based purely on offensive categories. In which case you could argue Russell Martin from the Dodgers deserves a spot.

I think all all-around, Pudge is probably the best catcher in the AL. It might be a homer talking, but oh well. On top of what he has accomplished offensively, I think he would be the best candidate of leading the team behind the plate. Not to mention his ability to pick off runners. His H, R, RBI are all on par with the two you mentioned above...even though his BA is a little lower.

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Slimdust

pudge has been to the All Star game more times then any other catcher in history. Pudge is awesome, I gots to agree with you jay.

PS3 Online Name: xJimmyx23

www.haulingkings.com

Dr. Giganto

Sports Moderator

Pudge's offensive numbers aren't anywhere close to Posada's or Martinez's...

Both of them have more runs, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, and walks than Pudge. They both have higher batting averages, on-base percentages, and slugging percentages.

Pudge is obviously the best defender of the 3 of them, but:

a) all available defensive statistics, especially for catchers, are shaky, at best

b) I'm of the belief that offensive contributions are more "valuable" to a team than defensive contributions (i.e., a guy who's an absolute masher but has no glove is better to have than a guy who's a wizard with the glove but no bat). To explain why, consider this, Jorge Posada has had 80 base-runners try to steal against him. However, he has 301 plate appearances this season. So, even if you add in plays in the field (pop-ups, bunts, etc), Posada probably has twice as many opportunities to do something positive with his bat than with his glove.

c) Pudge isn't even having THAT great of a year throwing runners out. He's only thrown out 19% of runners this year, which is not all that good. Actually, it's pretty bad. Posada is also bad, at 17%, and Martinez actually blows away Pudge, having thrown out 27% of potential base-stealers. If I had to pick a third AL catcher, I would pick Pudge, but it would be at the expense of somebody else that I feel is more deserving (or, has to be on the team because each team needs to be represented)

As for Russell Martin, he's thrown out 32% of attempted base-stealers, which is fantastic. I dont know if you're trying to say Martin doesnt deserve to be an all-star, but he's a slam dunk this year. In fact, I had a great deal of trouble trying to pick out a back-up for the NL.

And, going back to Pudge, I picked 5 Tigers, more than any other team. And, I gave an honorable mention to two more (Bonderman and Granderson). I think I treated the Tigers very well in my selections.