All-Star Weekend

As difficult it may be to follow up a post as insightful and interesting as Curtin's last post, I will try my darnedest.

With the All-Star game at AT&T park in San Fransisco a mere two weeks away, let's tackle position by position who SHOULD be starting for each league. This by no means is what the starting line-up will be because as we all know the fans have the last word, and big names usually end up getting the start over the player that deserves it. I will go through each position in each league with who I believe should be starting thus far, and in parenthesis, where my player is in the standings to date, followed by the leading vote getter (though 6/19 for AL and 6/25 for NL).

Let's start with the visiting AL:

C - Jorge Posada (2nd, Ivan Rodriguez) - He may not be the best catcher in the AL (Joe Mauer), but he is having a career year (in a contract year, no less).

1B - David Ortiz (1st) - the DH will get the start at first in the NL park.

2B - Brian Roberts (N/A, Placido Polanco) - A year removed from a devastating arm injury, Roberts is back to his All-Star form batting .324 with 24 stolen bases. Somehow is not in the top 5 in voting.

SS - Derek Jeter (1st) - The captain is putting up another stellar season at the plate.

3B - Alex Rodriguez (1st) - Next.

OF - Magglio Ordonez (4th) - Having a monster first half.
OF - Ichiro (3rd) - Batting over .350 with 22 SB's.
OF - Vladmir Guerrero (1st) - MVP candidate continues to put up huge numbers.

*Manny Ramirez is the 2nd vote getting in an off year.

Starter - Dan Haren - This is the hardest position to decide on right now. There are so many leading candidates this year for the AL starter, but Haren has been absolutely lights out posting a 1.78 ERA while going 9-2. Oh, and in his two loses, he gave up a combined 1 earned run. Although I would not argue against Johan Santana, C.C. Sabathia, Josh Beckett, or Justin Verlander.

Now for the NL:

C - Russell Martin (1st) - This young Canadian is putting up great numbers, with a rare 13 SBs for a catcher.

1B - Prince Fielder (1st) - Off to a tremendous start. This young guy is a superstar in the making.

2B - Chase Utley (1st) - Consistently puts up the best numbers of any 2B in both leagues.

SS - Jose Reyes (1st) - Arguably the most exciting player in baseball. Hardy has put up great numbers but cooled, surprisingly Hanley Ramirez isn't even in the top 5 vote getter's, yet I would probably consider him a close second to Reyes.

3B - Miguel Cabrera (2nd, David Wright) - Wright has made nice push in the past month, but minus SBs, Cabrera's numbers are superior.

OF - Matt Holliday (6th) - How is this guy 6th in the voting? Oh yeah, he plays in Colorado. This young right handed hitter is one of, if not the best in baseball.
OF - Ken Griffey, Jr. (2nd) - Numbers wise you could make a case for some other guys, but because there is not a dramatic difference, even I can make a push for a classy guy who just deserves to be there.
OF - Carlos Lee (7th) - As much as I wanted to put Eric Byrnes here, because he definitely deserves it (not even in the top 15 vote getter's), Lee's 60 RBI's on a terrible, terrible hitting team, pushed him over the top.

*Carlos Beltran, Griffey, Jr., and Alfonso Soriano are the leading vote getter's to date.

Starter - Jake Peavy - Another close call, but with not as many candidates, Peavy's 113 K's are third in the ML to Erik Bedard and Santana. You could make a case for Brad Penny, Chris Young and even Cole Hamels. But Peavy is the choice here.

The voting could fluctuate a little from now until the All-Star game, but I don't see it changing too much. The most intriguing factor will be who the starters for each rotation will be.

Interesting side note, ARod was the leading vote getter, with Beltran second, playing in NY does have its advantages.