Your 2010 All-Stars

BISdom: I feel like since we're more than a full day into June, we should write a new blog and it should be about baseball.

Since All-Star voting began this week, I'm wondering who our All-Star selections would be. What I'm thinking is that we both pick the players who we think should be All-Stars or, really, who we would vote for. Let's do a starting 10 for each league and then a few bench players. I'll let you start since it was my idea, and let's start with the Senior Circuit, since we're both likely to have some repeats there.

Benis: Probably a good idea. I'd hate to lose our one reader. First though, I tried not to pick COMPLETELY on who I'd want to make the All-Star team. Obviously, we're both Cardinals guys, so the bias probably runs a little stronger there – a.k.a. why not just put everyone on the Cardinals but Jose Lopez on the All-Star team? The answer is because they don't deserve it. So as much as it pains me to leave off my boy Colby Rasmus, his numbers at this point, (.279 batting average, 8 home runs, 23 RBIs and 34 runs scored) force me to keep him off my roster. If you're reading this Colby, please don't hate me...

Moving on…I also occasionally went with guys who were proven, not those just having a fluke first half of a season (sorry Ty Wiggington's of the world). Still, with all of that said, I had a hard time filling out my roster completely…though here is what I came up with for the National League, aka Senior Circuit:

• Catcher: Yadier Molina. Yes, a homer pick, but he is a proven guy who's defense makes up for his offense (.258, 2, 28, 9). On paper, a guy like Rod Barajas from the NY Mets would make more sense (.268, 11, 30, 22). But there's no catcher in the NL who makes the ladies swoon (a.k.a. the Joe Mauer effect), so Yadi's my guy. Homer Pick # 1 alert.
  
• Pitcher: Ubaldo Jiminez. Possibly the biggest no brainer on either roster. (At this point I'm not sure I've spelled one name right, so my apologies to the Jiminezes.) First in Wins (10), first in ERA (0.78). Not even my man crush on Adam Wainwright (ha spelled that right) or a perfect game by Doc Holladay could keep Jiminez from the SP nod.
  
• First base: Albert Pujols. I'd claim homer pick #2, but tell me he doesn't deserve it. Give me a real case that Pujols doesn't deserve this spot. Can't be done. I don't even need his numbers. Moving On.
  
• Second base: Dan Uggla. This was my first truly debatable spot on the team. Uggla gets the nod because chicks dig the long ball and his numbers (.268, 11, 32, 36) are slightly better than Martin Prado (.321, 4, 27, 27) and Chase Utley (.276, 10, 24, 36). At least in my mind.
  
• Third base: Scott Rolen. Surprisingly easy pick for me. First I love Scott Rolen and miss him in St. Louis (though honestly a bit less with David Freese doing his best Rolen impression thus far this season: .320, 4, 32, 23). Secondly he's got arguably the best numbers for NL third basemen (.290, 13, 36, 31). Lastly he's playing on a REALLY good Reds team that honestly is scaring the crap out of me right now in the Central Division. So congrats Rolen; you're having a heck of a comeback year and you made my All-Star team.
  
• Shortstop: Troy Tulowitski. The next truly debatable spot on my team. Tulo's numbers (.307, 6, 26, 39) look eerily similar to Hanley Ramirez's (.296, 8, 27, 30), but Hanley dogged it on the field, then was an ass hole about it. So Tulo gets the nod. Plus I just saw him on SportsCenter's Top 10 this morning…shades of a young Cal Ripken Jr. Nice.
  
• Outfield: Jason Heyward, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp. Okay so maybe Heyward shouldn't start, but the kid is fun to watch. Anyone who reminds me of Ken Griffey, Jr. is okay with me. Plus his numbers (.287, 10, 38, 29) are pretty good and compare favorably to the other OF possibilities. Ethier (.376, 11, 38, 25) and Kemp (.283, 11, 31, 43) have been downright nasty so far. Two last things to consider: the NL outfield pool this year was actually kinda weak in my mind. Secondly I fucking hate Ryan Braun so there's no way he's making my team. Especially when he doesn't deserve to. Fuck that guy.
  
• Designated hitter: Joey Votto. Okay so there was an actual argument to be made against Pujols. That argument is Joey Votto. So far he was the only one I even thought about putting over Albert…and I didn't think long. Votto (.326, 11, 34, 32), Pujols (.318, 12, 39, 32)…only Pujols has been doing this for 10 years. Time to switch positions Joey or you'll be relinquished to All-Star bench spots the rest of your career.
  

BISdom: I was also planning on making some of my picks based on who I think will win the popularity contest that is All-Star voting, which I suppose is a bit different than picking based on merit or man-crushes. So, some of my picks will go that way.

• Catcher: Yadier Molina. You spelled your first name right. Congrats. So I suppose I can't edit your writing if you're going to point out your spelling errors, typos, etc. So, you're bad.
  I think Yadi is hands down the best catcher in the National League. You listed the tangible numbers, which aren't that impressive, but the intangibles – at least based on modern stat-tracking – are all off the imaginary charts.
  The catcher spot is actually one of the hardest to determine because most catchers are just there; for the most part, they aren't stars or household names. I'd guess most people who are voting for All-Stars can probably name less than a half dozen catchers from all of MLB. But Yadi does have some name recognition because people always talk about him, he has two Gold Gloves, and is one of the three Molina brothers from that ESPN3 commercial that points out that all three brothers have a World Series ring. So, yes, this is a homer pick and was even more so last season with the game in St. Louis, but it's also a smart pick.
  
• Pitcher: Ubaldo Jimenez. Considering the pitcher spot isn't voted on by fans, Ubaldo is a pretty safe bet (unless he pitches on the Sunday beforehand, a new wrinkle that could severely water down the pitching quality). You listed most of his important numbers. He also has a 0.90 WHIP, which means he's allowing fewer runners than he's pitching innings, and 70 Ks to only 26 BBs.
  
• First base: Sir Albert. Even though Pujols isn't really having a Pujolsian year (he only broached double-digit HRs and .300 BA on May 30^th with a 3-HR-for-3-ABs game that brought his HR total to 12 (against the Cubs, by the way)), he's still the best 1B in the NL, numbers-wise. There is a chance that Ryan Howard wins the voting, even though he's not super hot this year (.280, 9 HRs, 35 RBI), but I'm picking Pujols based on my own voting tendencies.
  
• Second base: Chase Utley. This is Utley's spot to lose. His numbers are down a bit (only hitting .276 and on pace for about 75 RBI), but he does have 10 HRs already – only a couple behind NL leaders Uggla and Kelly Johnson. The Phillies picked a bad time to slump in terms of All-Star voting, but they have a lot of idiot fans who would vote for them anyway. I do think Martin Prado deserves a spot and may very well earn one.
  
• Third base: Ryan Zimmerman. This is actually a very tough pick this year. There are arguably four players who might get this spot: Zimmerman (.306, 11 HRs, 31 RBI), David Wright (.269, 9 HRs, 36 RBI), Scott Rolen (.290, 13 HRs, 36 RBI), and Casey McGehee (.299, 9 HRs, 41 RBI). I'm guessing Wright wins, though his numbers are probably the worst, especially considering he's struck out more than twice as often as the next guy. Rolen has pretty good numbers, but a lot of his production has come in the past couple weeks, so I'm guessing he slows down. McGehee will get a lot of votes from Milwaukee, a city that always votes in droves, but I think Zimmerman wins on the Strasburg effect: the Natinals have a lot of nati(o)nal buzz right now and are playing up to the part.
  
• Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez. Tulowitzki and Ramirez do have very similar numbers at this point. You bring up an interesting point about Ramirez's PR problems of late, but he did eventually man up. And there's a saying in the PR fields, though: there's no such thing as bad publicity. For better or worse, people know Hanley's name. Tulowitzki plays in Denver. The most TV time he's gotten lately is when he ran in behind Ublado to check on the runner on second that one time this year that Ubaldo had a runner on second.
  
• Outfield: Andre Ethier, Ryan Braun, Jason Heyward. Ethier is pretty much a no-brainer, even though he took a couple of weeks off. He's got 50 hits in only 133 ABs for a .376 average, which is 50 points above the eligible leader, Joey Votto.
  Braun will be there. Sorry. You should really start hating Rolen and Votto more – two of your picks – since the Reds are the competition this year.
  But really, how much fun will it be to have a legitimate rookie start in the All-Star game for the first time since Sandy Alomar, Jr. started behind the plate 20 years ago. (Hideki Matsui (2003), Ichiro (2001), and Hideo Nomo (1995) all started in their MLB rookie seasons but played professionally in Japan before that.) Plus, Heyward deserves it.
  
• DH: Ryan Howard. This is another position selected by the managers, and for the NL, it has to be a first-baseman, since they're likely to have four or more on the roster (Pujols, Howard, Votto, Adrian Gonzalez, Prince Fielder?). Howard is my pick because he'll probably have the most votes for a non-starter and because his manager is making this selection.
  

Who you got in the AL?

Benis: You picked that bastard Ryan Braun? What in the hell man? That guy's a bigger douche than LeBron, and you know how I feel about LeBron.

But I digress…First off, feel free to edit some of my blabber, but for the most part I'm grammatically incorrect on purpose. Wow that makes me sound ig'nant.

I found the American League picks even more difficult to decipher than the NL. It's not because I don't watch AL baseball (ESPN, TBS, and FOX make sure of that), but because there are multiple deserving guys at a number of positions. As before I'll start off with…

• Catcher: Joe Mauer. As you may have been able to tell earlier I'm all about making sure baseball is fun for the women out there, so Joe you get my vote, which I'm not sure he'll need because my friend Holly will probably vote for him a thousand times, but I digress. He's probably not the most deserving at this point in the year, but screw it, it's my ballot.
  
• Pitcher: Andy Pettitte. Not quite as dominant as our boy Ubaldo (or even Halladay), but the long-time Yankee great is having another good year. Currently he's first in wins (7) and second in ERA (barely) at 2.48. Plus he's been around a long time, and HGH or no HGH, he deserves the start.
  
• First base: Justin Morneau. BY FAR the toughest spot to pick on either team. My top two picks for this spot are Morneau (1a) and Miguel Cabrera (1b). Both deserve to start, and probably would if Vlad Guerrero didn't find new life in Texas (spoiler alert he's my DH). Check out their numbers; .374, 12, 37, 36 for Morneau and .347, 14, 48, 34 for Cabrera. I guess I picked Morneau for his defense and the fact that hitting .374 is just bad ass.
  
• Second base: Robinson Cano. Possibly the easiest pick to make. .366, 11, 40, 37…as Grandpa LeBron would say, "'Dem Numbers." Considering Cano plays 2^nd, 'dem really impressive numbers.
  
• Third base: Evan Longoria. Back to another tough-as-nails spot to pick. Alex Rodriguez is having a pretty damn good year (.293, 7, 41, 30) and will probably get better, but Longoria is having a better one (.318, 10, 42, 36)…so far at least. Plus, in my mind, I'm really voting for Eva Longoria.
  
• Shortstop: Derek Jeter. So both the NL guys deserve it more than anyone in the AL I think, but since I had to pick someone, I went with tradition. Not that Jeter is having a bad year (.307, 5, 31, 33), but it's not great either…Honorable mention to Alex Gonzalez (.264, 11, 32, 31), but I couldn't vote him in. It'd just be embarrassing.
  
• Outfield: Vernon Wells, Carl Crawford, Ken Griffey Jr. Yeah I know, Griffey is having a terrible year, but it's most likely his last. And, in my mind, we should honor one of the greatest players of my generation by giving him an All-Star game farewell. Injuries took years of Junior's highlights from us, and he never complained (well rarely complained). The Kid just loves to play baseball. And isn't that what the game is all about? So Griffey's on my team. Wells (.307, 13, 37, 34) and Crawford (.314, 4, 25, 40) get the last two OF spots over Alex Rios (.315, 11, 27, 32) and Jose Bautista (.247, 16, 41, 37) though both deserve to make the squad, as well, as bench guys.
  
• Designated hitter: Vladimir Guerrero. Vlad has revitalized his career in Texas and is one of the few guys left in the league who bats without any batting gloves. I have to have a guy like that on my squad as well. I just hope he's not using the Moises Aluo hand crème.
  

Wow, so apparently I voted with my heart much more with my AL team than with my NL team. Interesting. And yes I know Griffey isn't eligible for an OF spot but I don't give a crap. It's my roster. And in my mind the Kid will always roam the outfield smiling and crashing into walls…though not always at the same time.

BISdom:

• Catcher: Joe Mauer. It has to be Mauer because, well, we went to Cabo together. Jorge Posada is a good dark horse candidate, though, for three reasons: (1) he's not having a terrible year, considering he's only played about half of it, (2) any Yankee can win at any position in any year, and (3) he's close to the end of his career, but nobody really knows how close, so we could have a Shaq situation on our hands where a non-deserving guy starts 3 or 4 straight All-Star games just in case.
  
• Pitcher: Jered Weaver. This is, again, tough because of the new rule. I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot more hometown guys starting games because they'll feel more, excuse the expression, at home and will be exciting for the fans as well. Weaver has a good 3.03 ERA and is 4-2 with 74 Ks in 68.2 innings, so his résumé looks fine. If he can win 3 of his next 5 or 4 of his next 6 decisions, I'd almost lock him in here. I just think so many managers will break their backs to ensure their aces start on that Sunday, so the options will be limited. I suppose we can feel (un)comfortable in the fact that the Cardinals have two aces in Carpenter and Wainwright.
  
• First base: Miguel Cabrera. Morneau's .374 average is impressive, but Cabrera is no slouch at .347. He also has 9 fewer Ks and 11 more RBI on a worse team. Either pick is a winner, but I like Cabrera's chances.
  
• Second base: Robinson Cano. D-Pads isn't that far behind Cano, but Cano obviously deserves the start.
  Fantasy.
  
• Third base: Alex Rodriguez. You're right: this is another particularly close call, especially considering the positive PR Longoria has gotten lately from his stupid hat commercial and his "best player under 25 but is still getting less than $1 million this year" moniker and the negative PR that seems to follow A-Rod (maybe because of his bad decisions and closed-off personality). I think/hope (for fantasy purposes) that A-Rod will have better numbers than Longoria by the end of the voting, which will add enough peripheral votes to the already enormous voting base that follows all Yankees.
  
• Shortstop: Derek Jeter. There is almost no way that Jeter doesn't get voted in. He's also not having a bad year and has hit .429 (9/21) over his ten All-Star performances, including an MVP performance in 2000. Maybe someone like Jason Bartlett will unseat Jeter in the future, but for now, he's an All-Star necessity. He should just compete in a HR derby for fun. He'd have to do better than Brandon Inge did last year.
  
• Outfield: Ichiro Suzuki, Carl Crawford, Vernon Wells. Ichiro has started every All-Star game since he's joined MLB; there's no reason to think that'll stop now. The guy is just hugely popular. He's also having another very Ichiro year with a .346 BA and a .395 OBP. He's second in the AL in hits (73) behind only Cano (75). He only has 25 runs and 11 RBI, but the whole team has only scored 190 runs this season, so he's involved in about 20% of them.
  Considering their blazing hot start, the Rays need an All-Star starter. This is probably the only spot where they'll beat out the Yankees, however. David Price could also start at pitcher, though he's not looked great in his past two starts. By the way, when you show Carl Crawford's stat line, you need to include his SBs (17 in 21 attempts).
  You already showed Vernon Wells numbers, which are the best in the AL for outfielders this year.
  
• DH: Ken Griffey, Jr. I also wanted to put Griffey in the outfield, but he isn't eligible. Fortunately, unlike in the NL, the fans do get to vote for the AL DH, where Griffey is eligible. I hope they make the right decision. The only way he can start in the outfield is if he's written in. Just to be safe, I'm doing both.