American League:
First Baseman: Justin Morneau- Minnesota Twins: The race for first base in the AL is tough with a variety of players who are well-deserving such as Russell Branyan, Miguel Cabrera, Mark Teixiera, Carlos Pena, and Kevin Youkilis. In the end, however, I decided to give the nod to Morneau. The Twins first baseman leads all American League first basemen in RBI's and is tied for third in home runs behind Pena and Teixiera. Morneau has been one of the most consistent players in the AL in the last five years and deserves the opportunity to start in his first All-Star game.
Second Baseman: Aaron Hill- Toronto Blue Jays: Most fans have Ian Kinsler in this spot because he is one of the few second baseman they are familiar with. However, Hill has had a great start to the season, while helping the surprising Toronto Blue Jays. Hill has the same amount of home runs as Kinsler, but also has a batting average about forty points higher with five more RBI's.
Shortstop: Derek Jeter-New York Yankees: The power number may be better for White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez, but Jeter has been producing consistently for the Yankees all season with a .300 plus batting average and 17 stolen bases. Jason Bartlett for the Rays also makes a strong argument with a .362 batting average, but he was hurt for part of the year and does not have a enough at bats to qualify in the league leaders category.
Third Baseman: Evan Longoria-Tampa Bay Rays: With 16 home runs and 63 RBI's, Longoria should make his second trip to the All-Star Game in as many years as he has been in the Majors. Brandon Inge, Mike Lowell, and Michael Young are also having respective years for their clubs, but Longoria is the obvious choice here based on production.
Catcher: Victor Martinez- Cleveland Indians: Let the criticism come! I almost plugged in Joe Mauer here, but I don't think it is fair to Martinez who has compiled a fine year himself and has also been healthy the whole year so far. Sure Mauer's average is hovering around .400, but Martinez has been consistently well above .300 throughout the whole year and has 100 more at bats than Mauer. Mauer will obviously be the second catcher selected to the All-Star team; I just don't think he should start after missing the first month of the season.
Outfield (1): Jason Bay- Boston Red Sox: It was a tough call for the three starting outfielders because many in the AL have had great years thusfar. The first nod has to go to Jason Bay who leads all outfielders in home runs with 19, and leading all of the AL in RBI's. Bay obviously could get his average a little higher since it is around .260, but the power he has displayed thusfar does not lie.
Oufield (2): Carl Crawford- Tampa Bay Rays: Crawford is having one of the greatest seasons in the history of baseball on the basepaths since Ricky Henderson. Crawford already has 40 steals, six of those coming in one game earlier this year against the Boston Red Sox. Crawford is also fourth in the American League with a .320 batting average to go along with 8 home runs.
Outfield (3): Torii Hunter-Los Angeles Angels: Vlad may have had a disappointing first half of the year for Angels, but Hunter certainly did not disappoint. Hunter has carried the Angels offense back into the hunt for the American League West title. His stat line is certainly impressive all around with a .305 average, 17 home runs, 59 RBI's and 13 steals.
National League:
First Baseman: Albert Pujols- St. Louis Cardinals: This is as close to a lock as it gets. If there was a first half MVP, Pujold would win the National Leagu side, leading the league in home runs and RBI's as of July 2nd. Prince Fielder and Adrian Gonzalez are both very much deserving, but with the kind of year Pujols is having, it is just bad luck and timing for them. Oh yeah, and don't forget about a guy named Ryan Howard too.
Second Baseman: Chase Utley- Philadelphia Phillies: This is another one that the fans will have gotten right. Utley leads all NL second basemen with 17 home runs and 52 RBI's. The second base crop isn't relatively strong as Utley beats out Orlando Hudson and Brandon Phillips.
Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez- Florida Marlins: The National League seems so much easier than the AL. Ramirez is another lock to start in St. Louis in two weeks. He leads all shortstops in every major statistical category (.348, 13HR, 58 RBI's, 12 SB)
Third Baseman: Mark Reynolds- Arizona D'Backs: And this is where it begins to get tricky. There are many third basemen who are dserving to head to St. Louis, but no one really stands out in front of the others. Let's look. Ryan Zimmerman had the hit streak going for him and is having a solid year with a batting average hovering around .300 with 13 home runs. David Wright is hitting .340, but his power has been lost this year, only belting 5 home runs. Casey Blake has been good in LA, but his overall numbers are weaker than Zimmerman's. That leaves me to select Mark Reynolds of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ok, so the D-Back's have not had a great year so you may not know a lot about this slugger. But truth be told, even though Reynolds is batting .270 (the lowest average of the previously mentioned players), he does lead all NL third basemen in home runs (21) and RBI's (56). Not bad for a player whose team is eighteen and a half games back of first in the NL West.
Catcher: Bengie Molina- San Francisco Giants: So the catchers in the NL haven't been so great this year. Brian McCann has been hurt, Russell Martin isn't hitting well, and Geovany Soto has had his struggles too. Who would have thought, but Bengie Molina has quietly put together a nice season with 10 home runs and 46 RBI's, leading all catchers in those two categories.
Outfield (1): Raul Ibanez-Philadelphia Phillies: Ibanez may be hurt now, but he is still well-deserving of starting in the All-Star game. His 22 home runs still tops all NL outfielders and the 59 RBI's are not too bad either. Ibanez has been a great hitter for the last five years . Now that he is finally on a good team, fans are starting to notice what kind of player he is now and has been in the past.
Outfield (2): Ryan Braun- Milwaukee Brewers: Braun should be well on his way to starting his second consecutive All-Star game. One of the yey cogs in the Brewer lineup, Braun's average has topped out at .330 and he has 16 home runs to complement that. Although Prince Fielder may be more deserving to be an All-Star starter than his teammate, Braun gets the benefit from a weaker outfielder class than first base.
Outfield (3): Andre Ethier- Los Angeles Dodgers: Ethier is the main reason why the Dodgers are 7 games above .500 without Manny Ramirez in the lineup. His offense has been huge, with 15 home runs and 52 RBI's. Although he is struggling to keep his batting average above .250, you can not deny how valuable and huge he has been to the Dodger lineup. His teammate Matt Kemp, the Rockies Brad Hawpe, and Nationals Adam Dunn are all also well-dserving, but Ethier gets the slight edge of having good numbers on a good team.
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