MLB All-Star Game Picks

Soria is a lock for KC. Jose Guillen, while not a starter, sure as hell should be a reserve. His numbers are monstrous, and they quadruple in value when you consider he's about the only run-producer in that lineup.

 

But it's a soft lead.

 

Zeke, is it really necessary to channel spnited?

 

i'm still amazed that the guy who should be the starting pitcher (but not sure if he will be) for the nl and the guy who will be in the starting outfield for the al will have been traded for each other in the off-season

 

Soria's a definite and I suspect Guillen will make the team somehow, mainly because of his high RBI and doubles total. But it's not a sure thing by any means. The Royals are terrible, the first-place White Sox have two All-Star OF contenders (the very deserving Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye), you know Francona will pick JD Drew (as he should), and Grady Sizemore will get a spot.

 

Agreed. Quentin, Dye, Drew and Sizemore all deserve to go ahead of Guillen. If Hamilton, Ramirez and Ichiro hold on to the starting spots, that puts seven outfielders ahead of Guillen. Sizemore has been a little disappointing overall, but I think his base-stealing and defensive skills give him an edge.

 

If it happens that'll be something for the folks at Elias to track down to see if it's happened before. Both of them certainly deserve to start, and although it's a ways off yet, it looks like the All-Star game would fall on or within a day of Volquez's regular day to pitch.

 

Sizemore should be hitting higher than .268, but his OBP is far higher than Guillen's. And Grady's still on pace for 38 HRs, 91 RBIs, and 38 SBs...which would all be career highs.

 

A few fringe guys?

Giambi is tied for second in the league in HRs, ranks fifth in slugging and eighth in OBP.

Damon is hitting .415 this month and is third in the league in BA.

And Mussina is tied for second in wins and has dropped his ERA every month.

But yeah. They're just fringe guys. Yet if they were employed 200 miles to the northeast, they'd be iron-clad locks with those numbers, right?

 

Mussina's 10 victories are deceiving and Damon's numbers don't stack up against the other OFs. But now that I think about it, Giambi could very well get a nod if the AL carries three first basemen.

 

Damon's numbers don't stack up against the other OFers? Really?

Mussina's 10 wins aren't as deceiving as you wish they were. And that's coming from someone who figured Mussina would have been battered into retirement by now.

 

Yes, really. Damon misses the cut.

And wins are a pretty meaningless statistic. You know that and I know that. Mussina's been good, but there are more or equally qualified candidates who don't have his lofty win total including: Cliff Lee, Joe Saunders, Shaun Marcum, Felix Hernandez, Roy Halladay, Ervin Santana, Jon Lester, Gavin Floyd, and Vicente Padilla.