AL All-Star ballot, 2008

Last year I went through the AL and NL All-Star ballots and made my picks, so why not give it another go this year? We'll start with the AL, because I like and know it better. If you're not a baseball type reader, feel free to tune out until we return to posting cute pictures of Banjo.

First Base:
I'm as big of an A's fan as anybody, but I have to say I'm shocked to see Daric Barton as the first player listed on the AL ballot. Aside from his great defense, he's be somewhat of a disappointment out here in Oakland. But even more suprising is Ben Broussard's name on the ballot - he was released by the Rangers (the team for which he's on the ballot), then picked up by the Yankees, released, and now picked up by the Cubs (NL) and given a minor-league contract. And you could vote for him as an All-Star. Wha? But this is supposed to be about the players who are most deserving. A cursory glance leaves the clear candidates as Justin Morneau, Kevin Youkilis, Jason Giambi, and Carlos Guillen. All four have comparably impressive offensive stats, and all but Giambi play excellent defense. No strong feeling here, but Youkilis gets my vote here because while Giambi has the HR edge, Youk beats him in all the other significant categories, in particular posting 76 hits to Giambi's 49, not to mention the defense factor. But I could just as easily go Morneau here.

Second Base:
1B might have been a tough choice, but this one is easy: Ian Kinsler. He's having yet another great season for a great offensive Rangers team, batting around .300, OPSing .840, slugging around .400 with 10 HRs, not to mention going 17/18 in SB attempts so far. Not even close, although I should mention that Brian Roberts is having another good year, which is nice to see following the Mitchell Report and all that mess. Now I realize each team needs a representative, but yet again there are some head-scratchers on the ballot for this position as well: Asdrubal Cabrera, who batted .182 with only 1 HR before getting demoted to AAA. I mean, he's maybe like the 3rd best second baseman on the Indians, and that's being generous! Why not put Jamie Carroll on the ballot?

Shortstop:
As much as I would like to vote for Bobby Crosby (and I probably will) for just staying healthy and productive this year, the Texas middle infield really deserve to start for the AL this year. Michael Young is the clear choice here, posting all-around offensive numbers at the top end of each category and playing good defense. Unfortunately for Young, I think there's about as much chance of Young beating out Derek Jeter for the starting spot as there is that Ben Broussard will be starting at first.

This position's entry for the "Was that a typo?" contest is KC's Tony Pena Jr. This offensive powerhouse has managed to NOT get out only 28 times in his 162 at-bats so far. For those of you without calculators, that's really bad. Fortunately, the KC management seems to know not to vote for him either, as they've already replaced him with rookie Mike Aviles.

Third Base:
There's a good argument here for Joe Crede, who is having a great year after many thought he would lose the 3B job in Chicago to Josh Fields (see earlier post). But even though he has more HRs and RBIs, you'd be a fool not to recognize that ARod is the All-Star here. He's heating up, too, and now is at .326/.411/.600. None of the candidates are too egregious here, but I will poke fun at Willy Aybar for being in contention, as he's only been good enough to deserve 65 at-bats so far (full time players have ~200), and even then he's playing first base.

Catcher:
This is an interesting one, as the guys I would have guessed would be fighting for the top spot in voting aren't quite deserving. Victor Martinez is now out with an injury, and has still amazingly not hit a single home run yet. Jorge Posada has also been injured and thus not much of a factor this year. As for the contenders... Joe Mauer is not a power hitter, but he is suffering a similar drought with only 2 HR, but he's still near the top of most of the other batting categories, with a .324 avg and a .839 OPS, the best among catchers. There's also the Rays' Dioner Navarro, who missed a little time to injury earlier but is surprisingly still right up there with Mauer in terms of offense. Navarro gets a great deal of credit for handling the resurgent Rays' pitching staff, one of the major turn-around stories of the season. In another month I'm pretty sure we could clearly give this to Mauer, but right now I'll vote for the hot hand who has been powering a surprise contender in the AL East in Dioner Navarro. Too bad Posada and Varitek will end up as the top-vote getters, thanks to the NY and BOS fans. There aren't really any completely ridiculous options on the ballot at catcher, but if I see anyone voting for Gregg Zaun I will just assume they are somehow related to him.

Outfield:
Well, Josh Hamilton for one. That was easy. I'm sure you've heard about his recovery from serious drug addiction to make his way back to the majors and become one of, if not the, most feared hitter in the AL this year, so I won't repeat it here. I think you can't overlook his Ranger teammate Milton Bradley, despite the fact that he spends a lot of time DHing. GameBoy is leading the AL with a .329 avg, a 1.081 OPS, and is right up there with 15 HR. The last OF spot is a tough choice, as Grady Sizemore has played up to his usual standards and Carlos Quentin's newfound power has carried the White Sox (until his recent slump). But I think Boston's high-priced right-fielder J.D. Drew has been deserving this year. His line of .322/.429/.588 is pretty awesome. With 12 HRs has already surpassed his total from last year. And he's been a key cog in the high-powered Red Sox offensive machine, scoring 51 runs. Don't worry, Manny, Ichiro, and Vlad will all still be there. I wouldn't mind also seeing Nick Markakis, Luke Scott, Magglio Ordonez, or even David Murphy make the team, too. I would, however, be a little suspicious if I saw Jerry Owens (Josh Fields' teammate at AAA Charlotte), Jacque Jones (released by first the Tigers, then the Marlins in the span of a month, now has no job), or Chris Denorfia (about 19th on the A's OF depth chart at this point) put on an American League jersey in Yankee Stadium next month.

Designated Hitter:
Not a lot to pick from here. Jose Vidro? Is that just because MLB thinks people will recognize his name from back in 2000 when he was good? (I'll answer - yes, unless it's some kind of crack at the Mariners organization by pointing out that they're still paying him $8.5 million this year to float just barely above the Mendoza line as a DH). Anyway, I'm clearly going to vote for Jack Cust, and it might even be justifiable, given his 11 HRs and .420 OBP. But I guess I can see how, among the guys actually on the ballot as DHs, one might vote for Hideki Matsui this year. But still, Matsui gets negative points for being an OF that plays DH, while Cust is really a DH who (tries) to play OF (when the A's make him).

Stay tuned for my less-educated NL picks, and in the meantime go vote yourself!