"All-Stars"

I've never been huge on the All-Star game. I like the fact that it now has post-season implications. I really like that players as well as fans have a say in who plays. I just wonder how early the players vote.

The Mets only have one player representing them...Billy Wagner. He might be the 7th or 8th best closer in the NL right now. Jose Reyes and David Wright are much more deserving of spots on the team, but didn't make the roster.

Miguel Tejada was chosen as the reserve shortstop, hitting .280 with 10 homers, 44 runs batted in, 59 runs scored, and seven stolen bases. His on-base percentage is .323 and his on-base plus slugging is .759. Reasonable numbers that would warrant an all-star reserve position...if he was the only player representing the Astros.

Reyes is snubbed because he's hitting .299 with nine homers and 38 rbis. His obp is .360, ops is .845, and he has 32 stolen bases to boot. I'd quickly put him on the team over Tejada and Wagner.

Aramis Ramirez is the reserve third baseman, hitting .283 with 15 homers and 60 rbis. His obp is .379 and his ops is .877.

Wright is batting .288 with 17 homers and 70 rbis. His on-base is .382 with an .894 ops and nine stolen bases to boot.

Neither Ramirez nor Tejada got in through fan voting, and since the Cubs have six others on the All-Star roster and Tejada has been playing very poorly the past month and half, I don't understand why these two were chosen over the Mets' big two.

Alfonso Soriano at least got in through fan voting, though he doesn't deserve to be withing 3000 miles of starting the All-Star game in the outfield. Carlos Lee, Pat Burrell, and Jason Bay are much more deserving of that spot on the roster.

What I like best about the All-Star process is how the pitchers are picked. The only hiccup this year is Wagner being put on the team. He was chosen by the manager, Clint Hurdle. I guess this is why the Rockies are 14 games under .500. That was a low blow, I know.

Over on the American League side, there aren't too many ridiculous snubs. Of course David Ortiz shouldn't be on the team, but there's not much you can do about fan voting. Jermaine Dye looks like the biggest snub over there. Michael Young should be starting over Jeter, but not much you can do about that. Young will just go about business as usual and probably have another game-winning hit.

The biggest story to me is that while the Cubs and Red Sox each have seven representatives, the best team in baseball, the Rays, only have two. Scott Kazmir and Dioner Navarro. I wish Carl Crawford made the team, he's probably the most underrated player in the League. Just like what is said about Curtis Granderson and Grady Sizemore...put Crawford on a bigger stage like Boston, Chicago, or New York, and he would be a GOD.


The Home Run Derby field is looking pretty shoddy this year. Right now it's Chase Utley, Josh Hamilton, Dan Uggla, Lance Berkman, and Grady Sizemore. The big names are completely absent. I don't blame A-Rod for electing not to play, it has shown to mess up players' swings. As long as players don't drop out of the All-Star game like the NBA players do, I don't mind them not participating in the derby. There were rumors of Vlad Guerrero wanting to play in it, but I don't see him on the roster, so I don't know if he'll be in the derby. If he makes it, he's my pick to win. Jason Giambi is on the final ballot, so if he makes the team, I'd take him to win it all if Vlad isn't there. Otherwise, my pick is Berkman.

I'll wait until this weekend when the first half standings are finalized to take a look at them. How about that NL West race?