We are a little over a month away from the MLB All-Star rosters to come out for the Mid-season Classic. I’m not crazy about how the All-Star voting is done for baseball. I would rather all of the selections be coaches picks or players picks, because the fan voting just means all of the players from the most popular teams will be selected. I would say there’s a real good shot Derek Jeter will win the fan voting for American League shortstop, despite not playing a game so far this season. I will try and fill out the All-Star rosters with my predictions for the fan voting and follow the rule for every team getting at least one representative, but also assuming players who get voted in like Jeter will decline his spot who haven’t really been playing this year.
American League Starters:
Catcher- Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
First Base- Prince Fielder, Detroit Tigers
Second Base- Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
Third Base- Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
Shortstop- Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers
Left Field- Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
Center Field- Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles
Right Field- Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays
American League Reserves:
Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals
Chris Davis, Baltimore Orioles
Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles
David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
Carlos Santana, Cleveland Indians
Jhonny Peralta, Detroit Tigers
Torii Hunter, Detroit Tigers
Chris Carter, Houston Astros
Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers
American League Pitchers:
Starter- Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
Clay Buchholz, Boston Red Sox
Matt Moore, Tampa Bay Rays
Hisashi Iwakuma, Seattle Mariners
Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox
Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers
Max Scherzer, Detroit Tigers
Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers
Alex Cobb, Tampa Bay Rays
Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees
Tom Wilhelmsen, Seattle Mariners
Grant Balfour, Oakland Athletics
James Shields, Tampa Bay Rays
Justin Masterson, Cleveland Indians
Some of the things I noticed about filling the American League roster was how noticeably absent Yankees and Red Sox were from the starting lineup. The American League lineup is usually full of Yankees and Red Sox, but between injuries and typical all-star players leaving the teams, I can’t seem to find a lot of players from the traditional AL East powerhouse teams that fans will stuff the ballot box for. I also thought Alex Rios would deserve to make the team over Chris Carter, but thought Carter might get the nod due to being one of the few possible representatives from the Astros. I selected Felix Hernandez as the starter, but it could easily be Clay Buchholz, and there has even been some talk about Mariano Rivera starting the game in his last season, which I think would be a great tribute to the Yankees closer.
National League Starters:
Catcher- Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
First Base- Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds
Second Base- Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds
Third Base- David Wright, New York Mets
Shortstop- Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies
Left Field- Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
Center Field- Justin Upton, Atlanta Braves
Right Field- Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals
National League Reserves:
Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals
Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks
Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants
Jean Segura, Milwaukee Brewers
Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates
Carlos Beltran, St. Louis Cardinals
Carlos Gomez, Milwaukee Brewers
Chase Headley, San Diego Padres
Marco Scutaro, San Francisco Giants
John Buck, New York Mets
Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
National League Pitchers:
Starter- Matt Harvey, New York Mets
Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
Patrick Corbin, Arizona Diamondbacks
Jordan Zimmermann, Washington Nationals
Shelby Miller, St. Louis Cardinals
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals
Jason Grilli, Pittsburgh Pirates
Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta Braves
Aroldis Chapman, Cincinnati Reds
Jeff Samardzija, Chicago Cubs
Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies
Jose Fernandez, Miami Marlins
Kyle Kendrick, Philadelphia Phillies
Of the things that stuck out while making the National League rosters, I’m sure many people could make a case for Clayton Kershaw starting the game over Matt Harvey, but with the buzz Harvey is starting to generate, plus the fact that the game will be played at the Mets stadium, makes me think Harvey will get the start. John Buck was a questionable selection too, as I don’t think there have been a ton of all-stars with an on-base percentage less than .300, but he’s got ten homeruns and 31 RBI, and the New York thing helps him out too. Choosing outfielders to fill out the team was difficult, and I had to leave off some great players like Shin-Soo Choo, and Carlos Gonzalez, but there are only so many outfielders you can put on the roster, and many are having a better year than Andrew McCutchen, but he was my choice over A.J. Burnett for the Pirates representative.