MLB All Star Game Rosters Announced

In My Humble Opinion
1

OK, so ESPN is announcing the rosters right now. Here’s the NL:

C - Mike Piazza
1B- Derrek Lee
2B - Jeff Kent
SS - David Eckstein
3B - Scott Rolen
OF- Bobby Abreu, Jim Edmonds, Carlos Beltran

My thoughts:

What’s this obsession with Derrek Lee? He’s had a good half-season, but is he really better than Albert Pujols?

Can we get a new 2B in the National League already? I’m getting sick of Jeff Kent.

AL Lineup:

C - Jason Varitek
1B - Mark Teixeira
2B - Brian Roberts
SS - Miguel Tejada
3B - Alex Rodriguez
OF - Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon, Vlad Guerrero
DH - David Ortiz

My thoughts:

A lot of Red Sox, to no one’s surprise. Thankfully, the Yankees didn’t get Jeter voted in. Brian Roberts gets a well-deserved nod.

2

The AL team is surprising…in that on a quick look it appears all of the players are deserving. That almost never happens.

The NL team is more typical - popularity over performance. Piazza? Beltran? Rolen?

3

That one surprised me, given how much time he’s spent injured this season.

4

He’s been better than Pujols for the half-season, that’s what gets him the nod. Lee is having a career year, but Pujols is by far the better player.

5

Forgot to add – the AL team is exactly what I would have chosen. I would normally taken Ichiro over Damon in the OF, but Damon is having a great year and Ichiro is slumping hard.

6

Career-wise? Not a chance. But he’s had a jaw-dropping first half, and Pujols (who’s been very good, just not as good) is still on the team, so I’m okay with it.

Some serious weaknesses and bad choices on the NL side. Rolen and Beltran shouldn’t be starting this year, good as they are. If Eckstein is the best SS in the NL… eew. I love watching him, but based on this season, Edmonds might not deserve to be starting either. Andruw Jones has been terrific lately. Piazza’s indisputably on the decline, but I’m not sure who ought to be starting there.

7

I don’t understand this debate that the All-Star rosters should be the 64 most “deserving” guys. The All-Star rosters should be the guys that the fans want to see. If the fans want to see Piazza, Rolen and Beltran, that’s their choice, and just because Andruw Jones is hitting better than Beltran doesn’t change that more fans wanted to see Beltran.

Listening to John Kruk and Harold Reynolds bitch about how Jim Edmonds is starting really pissed me off. The whole point of letting the fans vote is so they can choose the players they want to see. It’s the All-Star Game, not the Best Statistics Game. If the fans want to vote Miguel Cairo and Joe McEwing in as starters, that’s their choice.

Then again, I think the whole “this time it counts” thing is dumb too. Yes, the 2002 ASG was a debacle, but that’s because Bud Selig, Joe Torre and Bob Brenly all screwed the pooch with roster decisions and adjusting to the situation.

8

You’re not alone in that view, but then there’s nothing to discuss. The guys the most (or most motivated) fans want get to start, bingo, end of story.

9

Eckstein’s played his ass off this year, and is doing a yeoman’s job of replacing Edgar Renteria. He’s also the first true leadoff hitter the Cards have had in years. Is he Miguel Tejada? No, but who other than Miggy is?

10

Sure, I just don’t think he’s a great player or the best shortstop in the NL. Looking through the list of his competition, there are guys I’d rate ahead of him career-wise, but I’m not sure if any of them are having better years. Most of the ESPN guys I read suggested even lesser-known guys like Felipe Lopez to start.

11

And what’s the problem with that? If you let the baseball writers pick the teams, you’ll have the 64 best statistical guys there, but it’ll be a boring game. If you let the players vote, you’ll never get enough of a consensus to put two teams on the field. The fans vote for the guys that they like. If that means that the marginally-average outfielder from the Royals doesn’t get the nod, then that’s the cost of doing business.

Frankly, I don’t know that every team deserves a spot anyway. If a guy is good enough to be an All-Star, he’ll get attention. Picking the cream of the crop from the Devil Rays and the Royals just for the sake of completeness doesn’t work for me.

12

A-Rod… oh wait. :stuck_out_tongue:

13

Admittedly, I’m a bit biased here, but there’s only one guy I’d possibly take over Eck and that’s Cesar Izturis from the Dodgers.

14

I don’t think that’s true. By and large the fans and writer/media types agreed. The exceptions would be Rolen and Beltran. You said yourself you’re glad New York didn’t vote Jeter in, but he’s more deserving than Beltran is.

Nor I. They’re trying to split the difference between a few different All-Star philosophies and the result doesn’t make any sense to me.

15

I won’t go in to how bad the Yankees screwed their infield up in depth here, but let me just say this: having A-Rod play third with Jeter at short is like hiring Tiger Woods to caddy for John Daly.

16

Nicely put.

17

I think they made the right move. I forget the name of the economics principle I’m trying to apply here, but having an excellent shortstop and a crummy third baseman wouldn’t help them as much as having fair players at both positions. Rodriguez is the superior athlete and he’s adjusted to playing third better than Jeter probably would have.

18

It’s important to note that Eric Chavez would have adjusted better to playing in New York while Jeter adjusted to playing in Oakland.

19

Chavez for Jeter would’ve been a remarkably awful trade.

20

This IS the club that traded for Jason Giambi, signed Tino Martinez again, overpaid for Javier Vasquez, Carl Pavano, Mike Mussina and Jon Lieber and regularly uses Tanyon Sturtze. Trading Jeter for Chavez looks like the Deal of the Century compared to some of the moves they’ve pulled.