All Star Selections

Ok so All-Star Selections came out today so without further ado, here they are:

Starters	Starters
C: Jason Varitek, BOS	C: Mike Piazza, NYM
1B: Mark Teixeira, TEX	1B: Derrek Lee, CHC
2B: Brian Roberts, BAL	2B: Jeff Kent, LAD
SS: Miguel Tejada, BAL	SS: David Eckstein, STL
3B: Alex Rodriguez, NYY	3B: Scott Rolen, STL
OF: Johnny Damon, BOS	OF: Bobby Abreu, PHI
OF: Vladimir Guerrero, LAA	OF: Carlos Beltran, NYM
OF: Manny Ramirez, BOS	OF: Jim Edmonds, STL
DH: David Ortiz, BOS	DH: TBD

Yankee's closer Mariano Rivera

Pitchers	Pitchers
Danys Baez, TAM	Chris Carpenter, STL
Mark Buehrle, CHW	Roger Clemens, HOU
Bartolo Colon, LAA	Chad Cordero, WAS
Justin Duchscherer, OAK	Brian Fuentes, COL
Jon Garland, CHW	Livan Hernandez, WAS
Roy Halladay, TOR	Jason Isringhausen, STL
Joe Nathan, MIN	Brad Lidge, HOU
Mariano Rivera, NYY	Pedro Martinez, NYM
Kenny Rogers, TEX	Jake Peavy, SDG
B.J. Ryan, BAL	John Smoltz, ATL
Johan Santana, MIN	Dontrelle Willis, FLA
Bob Wickman, CLE

Giant's All Star, Moises Alou (Above)

Reserves	Reserves
C: Ivan Rodriguez, DET	C: Paul Lo Duca, FLA
1B: Paul Konerko, CHW	1B: Albert Pujols, STL
1B: Mike Sweeney, KAN	2B: Luis Castillo, FLA
2B: Alfonso Soriano, TEX	SS: Cesar Izturis, LAD
SS: Michael Young, TEX	SS: Felipe Lopez, CIN
3B: Melvin Mora, BAL	3B: Aramis Ramirez, CHC
OF: Garret Anderson, LAA	OF: Moises Alou, SFO
OF: Gary Sheffield, NYY	OF: Jason Bay, PIT
OF: Ichiro Suzuki, SEA	OF: Miguel Cabrera, FLA
DH: Shea Hillenbrand, TOR	OF: Luis Gonzalez, ARI
	OF: Andruw Jones, ATL
	OF: Carlos Lee, MIL

Should-be All Stars

• 3B: Morgan Ensberg, HOU *.287-22-59, .385 OBP, .588 SLG
• C: Mike Matheny, SF *.234-8-37, .300 OBP, .430 SLG
• OF: Jose Guillen, WA *.310-17-46, .359 OBP, .545 SLG
• 3B: Troy Glaus, ARI, *.252-17-48, .348 OBP, .503 SLG
• OF: Brady Clark, MIL *.316-7-28, .380 OBP, .430 SLG
• OF: Cliff Floyd, NYM *.288-21-53, .362 OBP, .561 SLG

• 3B: Jorge Cantu, TB *.297-13-49, .324 OBP, .502
• OF: Scott Podsednik, CHI *.280-0-16, 40 SB, .356 OBP, 1 Error
• SS: Derek Jeter, NYY *.310-10-35, .390 OBP, .444 SLG
• DH: David Dellucci, TEX *.270-15-31, .419 OBP, .540 SLG
• OF: Kevin Mench, TEX *.292-15-42, ..360 OBP, 558. SLG
• RP: Dustin Hermanson, CHW *0-2, 1.44 ERA, 5 ER in 31.1 Innings

Should Not-be All Stars

• 3B: Scott Rolen, STL *.260-5-22, .358 OBP, .433 SLG
• OF: Carlos Beltran, NYM *.262-9-40, .318 OBP, .430 SLG
• SS: Cesar Izturis, LAD *.275-1-20, .322 OBP, .338 SLG, 5 SB, 8 Errors

• RP: Danny Baez, TB *4-2, 2.75 ERA, 13 Saves, 6 Blown Saves, 28 K's in 36 Innings
• SP: Johan Santana, MIN *7-4, 3.74 ERA, 140 K's in 118 Innings, 14 Homers Surrendered
• C: Ivan Rodriguez, DET *.294-5-29, .308 OBP, .455 SLG
• 1B: Mike Sweeney, KC *.396-9-37, .332 OBP, .502 SLG
• OF: Garret Anderson, LAA *.313-10-61, .334 OBP, .477 SLG
• OF: Ichiro Suzuki, SEA *.300-6-27, .344 OBP, 18 SB

ESPN.com Covers Should-Be All Stars

ESPN.com put out a story about players who should and shouldn't be named to the All Star squad. Among them were Ichiro Suzuki. About Suzuki, writer Rob Neyer writes,

He's not one of the best outfielders in the league...Ichiro's .767 OPS ranks just 19th among American League outfielders...his .341 on-base percentage ranks 17th among AL outfielders

Personally I agree with what Neyer says. Ichiro is nothing but a familiar name, and a perfect example to how undeserving players with big names can fool voters into making the wrong decision. Plain and simple, he has high standard set in previous seasons that he has yet to fulfill. Neyer also gave an exceptional explanation to why undeservingrds that he's players are elected:

Generally, an undeserving All-Star can be attributed to one of four explanations: 1) the questionable requirement that every franchise be represented by at least one player; 2) the questionable judgment of Joe and Josephine Voter, who are allowed to vote just about as many times as they like; and 3) the questionable emphasis that managers and players place upon traditional stats like wins and RBI; and 4) the questionable tendency to favor relievers with 25 or 30 innings over starters with 100 innings

The one reason I don't agree with is the 4th one, regarding relievers. Relievers with 25-30 innings tend to be closers; players that dominate for 1 inning a game. Pitchers are used for 3 innings tops in the All-Star game and that's usually only the starter. Pitchers after that pitch for 1-2 innings. Having a closer in there that can set down a lineup 1-2-3 and then turn it over to the next closer inning after inning strategically is the best way to handle an All-Star pitching staff. If you had to choose, would you rather have closer Jason Isringhausen (22 Saves, 2.05 ERA, 26 innings, 19 hits) or starter Livan Hernandez (12-2, 3.32 ERA, 127.1 innings, 131 hits)? Isringhausen surrenders less than a hit per inning while Livo gives up more than a hit/inning. It's a simple question of who's the more dominating pitcher, and in this case, it's usually closers.

I'll go back to talking about the Giants in my next post. I just couldn't ignore the All Star hub-bub that's been going on and saw it as a perfect opportunity to write some good posts. Here's the scouting report off of MLB.com for tomorrow's pitchers: Scouting Report:

[Elizardo] Ramirez gets the call in Monday's series opener against the Giants because of the need for a spot start after Thursday's rainout and Saturday's doubleheader against the Astros. Ramirez will be making his first appearance in more than a month; his last outing came on June 3 in Colorado. The right-hander has made three starts for the Reds this season, each getting progressively worse. In his last start, Ramirez lasted just 2 2/3 innings, giving up six runs to the Pirates.
[Kirk] Rueter has yet to win a game since May 13 and has lost five straight decisions with three no-decisions, including last Wednesday's game against Arizona when he allowed only one earned run over five-plus innings and three hits. The Giants scored late to win, 4-2, but "Woody" mixed his pitches well.

Rueter has looked good in his last few outings so let's up hope that momentum can carry over tomorrow.