B Mac's AL All Stars

As usual the fans and MLB have screwed up the all star rosters. I'm here to fix them. Adhering to the rules and standards, i.e. 33 man roster and including at least one player from each team; here are my selections for the 2009 All Star Game in St. Louis on July 14. (Bold - league leader, Italic - top 5 in league.)

STARTERS:

• C- Joe Mauer, Twins (.388 BA 15 HR 47 RBI)
• 1B- Justin Morneu, Twins (.313, 21 HR 69 RBI)
• 2B- Aaron Hill, Blue Jays (.298, 20 HR 59 RBI)
• 3B- Evan Longoria, Rays (.287, 16 HR 65 RBI)
• SS- Jason Bartlett, Rays (.354, 8 HR .558 SLUG)
• OF- Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners (.356, 17 SB 120 H)
• OF- Torii Hunter, Angels (.305, 17 HR 65 RBI)
• OF- Jason Bay, Red Sox (.263, 20 HR 71 RBI)
• SP- Zach Greinke, Royals (10-5 2.12 ERA 5 CG 15 QS)

BENCH:

• C- Victor Martinez, Indians (.299, 14 HR 58 RBI)
• 1B- Mark Texeria, Yankees (.281, 21 HR 63 RBI)
• 1B- Miguel Cabrera, Tigers (.323, 17 HR 48 RBI)
• 2B- Ian Kinsler, Rangers (.252, 20 HR 52 RBI 17 SB)
• 3B- Kevin Youklis, Red Sox (.289, 14 HR 47 RBI .959 OPS)
• 3B- Michael Young, Rangers (.314, 10 HR 34 RBI)
• SS- Derek Jeter, Yankees (.315, 10 HR 17 SB)
• SS- Ben Zobrist, Rays (.288, 17 HR 50 RBI 1.009 OPS)
• OF- Carl Crawford, Rays (.314, 43 SB 58 R)
• OF- Luke Scott, Orioles (.304, 17 HR 50 RBI)
• OF- Jermaine Dye, White Sox (.300, 20 HR 54 RBI)
• OF- Adam Lind, Blue Jays (.309, 19 HR 59 RBI)

BULLPEN

• SP- Roy Halladay, Blue Jays (10-2 2.79 ERA 11 QS)
• SP- Edwin Jackson, Tigers (6-4 2.59 ERA 13 QS)
• SP- Felix Hernandez, Mariners (8-3 2.62 ERA 13 QS)
• SP- Kevin Millwood, Rangers (8-6 3.34 ERA 12 QS)
• SP- Cliff Lee, Indians (4-8 3.45 ERA 14 QS)
• SP- Justin Verlander, Tigers (9-4 3.59 ERA 141 K)
• SP- Mark Buehrle, White Sox (9-2 3.14 ERA 11 QS)
• SP- Nick Blackburn, Twins (7-4 2.94 ERA 3 CG)
• RP- Marino Rivera, Yankees (23 SV 2.43 ERA 1 BLSV 14.33 K:BB)
• RP- Joe Nathan, Twins (22 SV 1.35 ERA 2 BLSV)
• RP- Jonathan Papelbon (22 SV 1.84 ERA 2 BLSV)
• RP- Andrew Bailey (9 SV 2.03 ERA 1.01 WHIP)

1st Half MVP: JOE MAUER C MINNESOTA TWINS

How does someone miss 22 of their teams first 85 games and claim the most valuable player of the first half of the season? How about these May stats? .414 BA .500 OBP 11 HR 32 RBI 1.338 OPS? Is that something that might interest you? After finally officially qualifying for MLB stats with enough at bats this week, he leads the league in batting, on base %, slugging, and OPS. He also plays the most difficult defensive position on the field and anchors another solid Minnesota pitching staff. In the history of major league baseball three catchers have won a league batting title. Joe Mauer is two of them (2006, 2008)

1st Half Cy Young: ZACH GREINKE KANSAS CITY ROYALS

Speaking of hot starts, check out these April/May stats for Greinke: In 11 starts he had 10 quality starts, 8 wins, 4 complete games, and 3 shutouts. Through those 11 starts he amassed an ERA of 0.90. Since then he has cooled off but he still leads the league in ERA, QS, CG, shutouts, and is 2nd in strikeouts with only 21 walks in 18 starts. The most dominant starter in the league.

Who I left off the team:

Dustin Pedroia 2B Red Sox: An up-and-down 1st half which leaves him only 3 HR in 328 AB and an OPS under .800.

Tim Wakefield SP Red Sox: He leads the league in the most overrated of pitching stats, wins (11). He ranks 26th in the AL in ERA (4.31), 15th in innings pitched (108), and has walked at least four batters in 5 of his 17 starts.

Josh Hamilton, OF Rangers: Last year's home run derby hero was voted in as a starter by the fans. Big mistake. He's only totalled 138 at bats this year with .254 BA 6 HR 24 RBI in 38 games.

Brian Fuentes, RP Angels: He leads the league in saves with 24 but also has 3 blown saves and an ERA of 3.38. Honestly he probably would have the roster spot if not for the one player per team rule. It hurts me to admit the one team in the league that doesn't deserve an All Star is my favorite team, the Oakland Athletics. Andrew Bailey has had a solid start but has only been the team's full time closer for about a month and has more blown saves than Fuentes with 15 less saves.