The All Star Game is quickly approaching and will be played at Citi Field in New York City in July.  The votes totals are starting to be counted and it is time to let the people know who they SHOULD be voting for this year.  Here are my selections for the American League All Star Team.

First Base – Chris Davis – Orioles

Davis is having an unbelievable season.  He is the only person keeping Miguel Cabrera from being the Triple Crown leader right now after winning the Triple Crown last season.  Davis has 2o HRs compared to Miggy’s 17.  But it isn’t just power numbers for Davis this season.  He is currently batting .356 with 52 RBI, an OBP of .436, slugging % of .740 for an OPS of 1.177!  He already has a WAR of 3.0 on the season.  So he has more HRs, a higher slugging % and a higher OPS than Miguel Cabrera.  Anyone who votes for someone other than Chris Davis at 1B for the All Star Team is an idiot and doesn’t deserve to have the right to vote.  Davis is currently leading the vote totals for 1B but Prince Fielder is on his heels.  No one else is really close but 375,000 morons think it is still 2009 and have voted for Albert Pujols.  The same Albert Pujols who is currently hitting .243 with 9 HRs, 35 RBI, an OBP of .311, slugging % of .420 and an OPS of .732.  Pujols’ WAR is a whopping 0.8.  So Davis has 11 more HRs, 17 more RBI, and his slugging % is higher than Pujols OPS but yet 375,000 people think Pujols is having a better year.  This is why we can’t have nice things America…because you vote without having a clue what is happening in the real world.

Others Deserving Consideration:

No one.  Edwin Encarnacion is having a good year for HRs with 17 and 48 RBI but doesn’t compare in batting avg, OBP, OPS or slugging.  Prince Fielder is having his usual solid season but nothing spectacular.  He just walks more than Davis but Davis has him beat in every other category.  Mark Trumbo is having a good season for him with 15 HRs but realistically, everyone pales in comparison to the numbers that Davis is putting up right now.  Imagine what his numbers will be by the actual ASG.

Second Base – Robinson Cano – Yankees

Robinson Cano gets my vote for the starting nod but it was much more competitive than the competition at 1B.  Since the game is being played in NYC, Cano wins any tiebreakers due to being the hometown guy for the game (even though it is at the Mets ballpark and not the Yankees.)  Cano leads the field of second basemen in HR (14), RBI (36) and slugging (.506).  He has a WAR of 2.1 already on the year and has been the leader for an injury riddled Yankees team that has believe it or not exceeded expectations after having to pretty much go this whole season so far without Granderson, Teixeira, ARod and Jeter.  Despite the injuries, the Yanks find themselves at 34-25 which puts them 2 GB of the Red Sox in the AL East and in the lead for the 2nd AL Wild Card if the playoffs started today.  Most of that has to do with Cano staying healthy and producing even with the increased stress of having more of the load to carry this season.  The fans are currently voting for Cano and then splitting Pedroia and Kinsler so Cano should win the vote.

 

Others Deserving Consideration:

Dustin Pedroia – Red Sox – DP is leading AL 2B in batting average (.330), has more walks than Ks (33 to 32), is 2nd in OPS (.867) and has a WAR of 3.4 right now.  He’s even had 8 stolen bases.  When you add in the fact that he has helped turn around the Red Sox from worst to first in the AL East, you may wonder how I would choose Cano as the starter instead of Pedroia.  The difference simply came down to Cano having more HR power (it is an ASG where HRs draw attention), having more of the burden to carry for his team to win and the hometown status.

Howie Kendrick – Angels – Howie is finally having the kind of season that LA anticipated when they signed Pujols (and since Hamilton).  Kendrick is displaying some power (8 HR) while also getting a good average (.317).  He is second in hits and average for 2B behind Pedroia but he just doesn’t get walks so his OBP and OPS diminish compared to some of the other 2B.

Third Base – Miguel Cabrera – Tigers

We’ve already discussed Cabrera but to recap, the reigning Triple Crown Winner from last year is threatening to repeat this season.  He has a big lead in BA (.366) and RBI (65) and is in 2nd in HR (17).  He has an OBP of .446 and an OPS of 1.105.  His WAR currently sits at 3.4.  I’m surprised he doesn’t get walked more even with Fielder in the lineup.  Cabrera is winning the fan vote but it is much closer than I thought it would be.

Others Deserving Consideration: 

Manny Machado – Orioles – Machado is currently in 2nd place in the fan voting with 723,000 votes.  He is leading the world in doubles with 26 and is currently batting .323 and has 5 SBs.  However, he doesn’t walk so his OBP and OPS suffer.  He’s also still so young that his power hasn’t fully develop so while he has 26 doubles, he only has 5 HR.  Maybe in a year or two he can be a serious threat to challenge Cabrera as worthy of the starting nod, this isn’t the year even though he has the same 3.4 WAR as Cabrera.

Josh Donaldson – Athletics –  Donaldson is my surprise selection here seeing as he isn’t even in the top 5 in fan voting.  But Donaldson is having himself a damn fine season so far.  He finds himself second in the league among 3B to Miggy in BA (.332), OBP (.402) and OPS (.931) while being second in doubles to Machado (18).  He walks twice as much as Machado but Ks more as well.  He has a very strong 2.6 WAR.  Oakland is stockpiling young good players.  Moneyball isn’t dead yet folks and I’d rather see these youngsters get a chance to play on a bigger stage than Evan Longoria and Adrian Beltre that are having their usual caliber season.

Shortstop – Jed Lowrie – Athletics

This is in no way an endorsement of Jed Lowrie as an AS SS but an indictment as to how bad the position has been this season in the American League.  The best overall stats belong to Jhonny Peralta of the Tigers who is about to go down in the Biogenesis investigation and get handed a suspension if MLB has its way (and thus not worthy of any AS consideration).  His numbers were not that great in comparison to other PED numbers in the past so that is just shameful.  By default, Lowrie gets the nod with his .319 BA along with 18 doubles, .398 OBP and .843 OPS.  This position is so bad this year, I can’t even fully rag on the 350,000 people that voted for Derek Jeter even though he hasn’t played a single damn game this season!

Others Deserving Consideration:

JJ Hardy – Orioles – Currently in 2nd place in the voting (to Elvis Andrus), Hardy has 13 HRs and well…um…13 HRs.  He has struck out a lot less than I anticipated before looking up his numbers but his BA is not good (.253) although that is better than the .238 he hit last season.  The fact that he is at a 1.9 WAR shows how bad the average AL SS is this season!

Catcher – Joe Mauer – Twins

While Joe Mauer may not be what he used to be, he is still the best the AL has to offer at yet another weak position this season.  The former 3 time batting champ and MVP is currently batting .329 with an OBP of .408 and an OPS of .890…all leaders among AL catchers.  The numbers that caught my eye are his walks to strikeouts this season.  Over his 10 year career he has many more walks than Ks but this season he has twice as many Ks as walks so far.  He still has a WAR of 2.6 this season though.

Others Deserving Consideration:

Carlos Santana – Indians – Santana is second to Mauer in most of the stats including BA (.284), OBP (.391) and OPS (.875) while leading in slugging % (.484).  Those are all career bests for Santana so far and might signal a potential changing of the guard in a year or two as Mauer continues to regress as he ages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outfield – Mike Trout (Angels), Adam Jones (Orioles) and Nate McClouth (Orioles)

While Mike Trout may not be setting the world on fire like he did last year in his rookie campaign, he is still a beast.  He leads all AL OF with an OPS of .899 thanks to 10 HR, 16 doubles, an OBP of .366 and a slugging % of .533.  He also has 13 steals.  His WAR is only at 1.7 but I don’t think you could get the Angels to trade him.

Adam Jones and Nate McClouth are helping the Orioles prove that last season was no fluke.  McClouth is tops in SBs with 21, hitting .301 with an OBP of .370 and an OPS over .800.  Adam Jones is also over .300 with his BA and is among the tops in slugging % after taking out Biogenesis patient Nelson Cruz thanks to 17 doubles and 11 HR.  Jones has even contributed 9 steals without being thrown out once.  I just wish that Jones’ K to BB ratio wasn’t so out of whack.

Others Deserving Consideration:

Alex Gordon – Royals – every team has to be represented and he is really the only one from KC worthy at this point except maybe James Shields.  He leads all AL OF with a BA of .316.  He also has 13 doubles, 2 triples and 6 HRs and has an OPS over .800

Kelly Johnson – Rays – He has had a great year for the Rays so far.  10 HR.  A slugging percentage over .500 and an OPS over .850

Jose Bautista – Blue Jays – He is currently in the lead for HR among AL OF (12) when you take out Biogenesis patient Nelson Cruz.  He has a slugging % over .500 and an OPS over .870.

 

Do you agree?  Disagree?  Feel free to voice your complaints or agreements.