Writings on baseball by Matt Barnard and Dan Stein.

 
A few comments on today's action...

- It's been a terrific Yankee day, even we only focus on their own play. While I realize I'm probably jinxing him for the rest of the evening, Brandon Claussen has been good so far in his first major league start, having now pitched five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and a walk while striking out four. I'm in Worcester, Massachusetts at the moment and MLB.TV won't let me watch the game...but at least statistically, early indicators are good. The Yanks won the early game in today's home-and-home doubleheader as well, with Hideki Matsui playing the big hitting star and Roger Clemens pitching eight good innings for his 301st career victory. Sure, it's only the Mets and the Devil Rays, but I'll take the six wins in a row.

- The success of the Yankees is enhanced a great deal by today's failure of the Blue Jays, and more significantly, the Red Sox. Leading 9-2 heading into the 8th inning, Boston gave it all back and a little more, culminating with Mike Lowell's three run homer (his 25th, a new career high) off Brandon Lyon to give the Marlins a 10-9 lead that Braden Looper would close out.

- I happened to be watching the Red Sox game on Friday night, and it was pretty unbelievable. As awed as I was by the offensive explosion (I can't remember ever seeing 25 runs scored in a game by one team) and the inability of Marlin pitching to get outs, the Red Sox laid it on pretty thick. I generally feel that you can't have enough runs these days (tonight in Boston being a fine example) and you can't ask guys not to try as hard as they can...but that doesn't mean it's a good idea for Bill Mueller to try to score from second on Johnny Damon's shallow first inning single to left with the team already up 14-1 (he was thrown out by about 30 feet, mercifully ending the inning). The Marlins, very professionally, didn't retaliate or anything, but it had to feel good to beat the Sox embarrassingly where they were shown up less than 24 hours previously.

- I've become a huge admirer of Vin Scully lately (I know, I'm a little late to the party), and have been watching a lot of Dodger games as a result. I'm watching Dodgers-Angels right now, and tuned in hoping it'd be a Scully telecast...only to find to my horror that, instead of Scully, my ears were to be affronted with the mind-numbing blather of Rex Hudler. There are a lot of bad announcers, so I try not to complain much about them in this space...but something about "Hud" makes me want to rip my ears off.
posted by VZW Watcher at 10:36 PM -

 
Yanks acquire Garcia, Miceli
Naturally, Karim Garcia is no great shakes and Dan Miceli has had his problems. But after watching Tuesday night's spectacle at Tropicana Field in Tampa, it's pretty damn clear that the Yankees are desperate for bullpen help in any form they can get it, so I have no problem with this. I don't know that Miceli's going to be a good pitcher here...it's impossible to tell. I remember him being really effective and nasty for one glorious season (1998, with the Padres - he went 10-5 out of the pen with a pair of saves and a 3.22 ERA in 67 appearances), but for the bulk of his career, he's been very much mediocre. So far this season during all his time in the majors (he's pitched with both the Rockies and Indians this year) he's posted a 3.79 ERA...if he can find a way to duplicate that in New York, it'd be more than adequate.

Garcia is another bat who'll be coming off the bench, and is interesting due to the monster second half he enjoyed last season. While he's got the stigma that any disappointing former big-time prospect has to overcome, if he can show a little bit of what he brought to the table last summer, he'll be a valuable addition - a lefty with power never goes out of style at Yankee Stadium, crowded as the outfield already is. I'd certainly be pissed about this if I were someone like Bubba Trammell, who really hasn't got anything close to a shot to earn any playing time in Bernie Williams's absence, but from an outsider's perspective, the hope has to be that manager Joe Torre should be provided with all the available talent and be left to figure out playing time on his own.
posted by VZW Watcher at 8:38 AM -

 
Blogger troubles
As you no doubt are aware, blogger.com was undergoing an upgrade pretty much all day yesterday and made it impossible for those of us that run our sites through them to post anything. Pretty annoying, but I guess that's the price we pay for using them. Anyhow, Dan and I had a whole bunch of stuff we wanted to say, which we will hopefully get up late tonight, after we return home from the NBA Draft, where we'll be much of the day.

Have a good one, and thanks for checking in.
posted by VZW Watcher at 8:14 AM -

 
Juan Gonzalez moving?
Sorry about the lack of content the last few days. There's more coming, but I wanted to get this up quickly...Juan Gonzalez has, apparently, been traded to an undisclosed National League Team, according to the Dallas Star-Telegram. There's some speculation in this article that two of the teams most interested in his services are the Dodgers and the Expos, and since I can't imagine he's headed to Montreal, I'm inclined to believe, at this point, that he's headed to LA. We'll see what happened, and we'll be back with commentary when more information is available.
posted by VZW Watcher at 6:06 PM -

 
Bellhorn-Hernandez

Colorado Rockies get: Mark Bellhorn, Travis Anderson.
Chicago Cubs get: Jose Hernandez.

Okay, you know who Mark Bellhorn and Jose Hernandez are. Both of them can help a team when they're playing well (last year), or be non-factors/detriments when they aren't (this season so far). I would say that I don't really understand the Cubs' motivation for making this trade - as Bellhorn is the better player (he's younger, he's cheaper, has more power and gets on base more often)...but it's become pretty clear that Dusty Baker wasn't going to use Bellhorn at all, so it's better to get something for him than let him rot on the bench.

After playing pretty regularly in April - and really sucking (.194/.345/.269) - Bellhorn's accrued just over 80 plate appearances in the last month and a half, not really giving him much of an opportunity to work his way out of his malaise. On top of that, Baker's chosen to use Bellhorn exclusively at third base. This is okay, I guess, realizing that the Cubs have problems at the position, but they're also trotting out Mark Grudzielanek (at second) and Eric Karros (at first) on a fairly regular basis at positions that Bellhorn can handle defensively.

Baker's disinterest in playing Bellhorn isn't an issue anymore though, and it seems likely that Hernandez will find some at bats. While he's not the third baseman Cubs fans were hoping for, he can play the position and hit a little. Both of these guys are pretty versatile players defensively, and I guess if it comes down to Baker having a shortened roster (because he won't play Bellhorn regularly) or sacrificing a bit of quality and having a larger one to work with, this deal is defensible. Maybe.

That said, the Rockies get a steal here. Hernandez wasn't making much money ($1 million, just this season), but they save some on Bellhorn (making less than half that), who has outproduced Hernandez this year despite the latter playing half his games at Coors Field (.256/.327/.376 at home, .218/.287/.347 on the road). While Hernandez was a nice, cheap gamble to take before the season as team after team passed on signing him this was an opportunity to pick up a guy who is more likely to retain some his success from last season in the future. And you get a minor league pitcher (Travis Anderson) on top of that, who I'll dig up some information on when I get a chance. It'll be interesting to see how the Rockies choose to integrate Bellhorn into their already pretty decent infield rotation, but I'd imagine he'll find at least a semi-regular role before too long.
posted by VZW Watcher at 5:09 PM -

 
Seo continues his mastery
I'll freely admit I was less than optimistic about Jae Seo's prospects when he entered the Met rotation earlier this season. In fact, I wrote something to that effect in this space on April 16th:

I'm not sure why Seo is in the rotation to begin with. I don't particularly understand Cone either, but he's a reclamation project, is a way of sticking it to Steinbrenner and at least has had success in the past, even in a Met uniform. Seo's real major league career (he pitched a perfect inning as a reliever last year) has begun with 8 runs allowed (6 earned) on 19 hits over his first 10.1 innings. He's struck out six and not walked a batter, but that's not nearly as significant when you're giving up that many hits. Obviously, we've got a pretty small sample size to work with here, but early returns (a .900+ OPS against) aren't encouraging. He's 25, has a career AAA ERA of 3.83 with significantly more than one hit per inning pitched (198/176.0) and a BB/K ratio of 28/112. Those aren't terrible numbers by any means, but they also don't demand an opportunity at the major league level.

He's certainly proven that he does indeed deserve to be pitching in the major leagues, as he's done a terrific job (including a masterful scoreless, 1 hit, no walk performance over 6.2 innings against the Marlins tonight, which improved his record to 5-2 and his ERA to 2.66). He's now down to just a hit per inning (88 of both) on the season, and has walked just 17, good for a WHIP of 1.19. Before tonight, Baseball Prospectus had him rated as the 30th best starter in baseball (according to Support-Neutral Wins & Losses), and that's sure to improve based on this outing. The Mets have really sucked this year, but the work of Seo, the early returns from Jose Reyes and the nice offensive years being had by Jeromy Burnitz and Cliff Floyd are at least giving fans a reason to stay interested.
posted by VZW Watcher at 10:11 PM -

 
the dump's sportslog National League All-Stars
The full rosters have been completed, so here they are for your perusal. The players on both rosters (the American League immediately follows the National if you scroll down further) are not in any particular order other than that the guys listed first are our starters at each position...generally there's a note made of that in the player comment as well. When the real rosters are announced, we'll revisit these and see how close we were...perhaps we'll take a look back at the end of the season as well. We don't expect these to conform to reality, but we'll see how it works out anyway. If you've got any comments, please do let us know: email us at feedback@thedump.org.

C - Javy Lopez (ATL)
Having the best year of pretty good career. I'm surprised to see that he's still only 32, so maybe he's got a few more years of good production left in him if this season-to-date turns is at all indicative of what he'll be like going forward. He's drawn very few walks (only 9 right now), but that's slightly more acceptable when you're hitting over .300, as he is (.306) and slugging a ridiculous .694 with 19 homers. The Braves' offense is having a great first half, and he's a huge reason why.

Paul Lo Duca (LA)
Could give this spot to Jason Kendall, but Lo Duca's as good a choice as any to backup Lopez. He's posted a .328/.383/.460 line thus far while playing adequate defense and catching for the best pitching staff in baseball. I have no idea how much his presence has to do with the fact that guys like Kevin Brown, Hideo Nomo and Kaz Ishii are pitching as well as they are...but there you have it. Anyhow, he's been consistently decent since he came into the league and stuck two years ago, and while he hasn't shown the power he did that first season (when he slugged .543), he's a decent contributor to a crappy lineup.

1B - Todd Helton (COL)
Playing at Coors helps him (he's a ridiculous .383/.474/.699 at home this year), but that shouldn't discredit the terrific overall numbers he continues to put up every season (.329/.429/.552 so far in this particular one). While the next two guys are good first basemen, Helton's the clear choice to start this season.

Richie Sexson (MIL)
There's no one else worthy from the Brewers, but he's deserving of a spot on his own merits. His 21 homers thus far get most of the attention (nothing wrong with that), but he's also getting on base at a .365 clip, drawing 40 walks to offset his modest .257 average. He'd be a nationally popular player if he played in a reasonable market, even with all those strikeouts.

Ryan Klesko (SD)
We need a Padre, and unfortunately, nobody's really made much of case for themselves. I suppose we could take Mark Loretta or Rondell White...but we're relying on track record, knowing that Klesko's been a consistent performer since he arrived in San Diego three years ago. His .250/.364/.495 line is hardly awe-inspiring and there are guys who probably deserve this third first base spot more (Jim Thome, notably), but when we added things up, he's our pick.

2B - Jeff Kent (HOU)
He's having a pretty typical Jeff Kent season (a little less power than we're accustomed to, with only 10 homers thus far), posting a .315/.376/.518 line. His numbers away from Minute Maid Field are a little bit disturbing (.261/.324/.440), but we'll overlook that for the time being because he's been so great over the past few seasons. He's still a deserving starter at second and, amazingly, the only position player Astro on this team.

Jose Vidro (MON)
For guys who have firmly established themselves as major league stars at their positions, the individual season's performance is less important, while still a factor in their potential selection. Vidro's having another excellent year, hitting .329/.418/.500 thus far, and I'd be absolutely fine with flip-flopping he and Kent, making Vidro the starter. He's our only Expo unfortunately...we'd love to be able to put Vladdy Guerrero on this team, but with his injury problems and the packed outfield, there's simply not room.

Marcus Giles (ATL)
We weren't sure whether or not we'd have room for him, but we're awfully glad we did. He's having a fantastic season, hitting at a .317/.395/.535 clip. A lot of people thought he could do this if ever given the chance to settle into a steady job, and here he is. Not that it matters at all, but we've got the Brothers Giles on the same team for once, so the family Giles can be unconflicted about their rooting interest.

SS - Rafael Furcal (ATL)
Another Brave having a tremendous offensive season, Furcal's posted a .309/.374/.522 line that is far better than anything he's produced thus far in his career. There are real questions about how old he is (he's still listed at 25), but it's irrelevant in terms of evaluating current performance...he's been awesome. He's got a cannon at short and is continuing to improve offensively, which'll become more and more necessary as young guys like Jose Reyes enter the league. Renteria's closed the gap quite a bit, but we're still going with Furcal.

Edgar Renteria (STL)
Having a terrific season in a great lineup that features four guys we've selected for this team. His line of .348/.394/.508 is a lot better than his career numbers bear out to this point (especially in terms of slugging, where he's up over 100 points). Of course, he's still only 27, so it's very possible that some of the gains we've seen over the first half are real and will stick. He would've been the starter in many seasons in the National League.

Alex Gonzalez (FLA)
I'm still not convinced that he's anywhere near this good, but picking guys like this is one of the pitfalls of basing your selections as heavily as we do on first half performance. We can't ignore .332/.375/.594 coming from anyone, let alone a guy who plays shortstop. We don't need a Marlin and we've already got two shortstops...we'll just have to bite our collective lip and hope he isn't a All-Star a la Scott Cooper.

3B - Mike Lowell (FLA)
You can definitely make the argument that Rolen should be starting here over Lowell, but we've been very impressed with him thus far, as this season appears to be the culmination of his developing since he arrived in Florida. He's been terrific (.305/.360/.621), and is finally turning some of the doubles power he's shown over the past few years (at least 37 in the past three seasons) into homers (he's got 21 already).

Scott Rolen (STL)
The best defensive third baseman in baseball is also a terrific offensive player (.293/.397/.537). While he has yet to show the same kind of power that Lowell has this season, he's getting on base with a bit more regularity. I'm still a bit conflicted as to who should get the nod here as the starter...either way, both are very worthy candidates and All-Stars.

OF - Barry Bonds (SF)
Having another dominant year (.315/.498/.685) as he approaches some really big counting numbers (he's got 632 homers, 1694 RBI, 2520 hits, 498 stolen bases, 1878 runs...the list doesn't stop). He can DH in the All-Star Game if he decides to play (it apparently depends on the condition of his ailing father at the time), as we've got three capable outfielders in the other three spots.

Andruw Jones (ATL)
The best defensive centerfielder in baseball today (definitely) and perhaps ever is having a pretty awesome offensive season as well, having hit .300/.366/.571 with 30 extra base hits at this point. He's our starter in center and, at this point, pretty clearly the best at his position in the majors.

Albert Pujols (STL)
Having a huge year worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence with Barry Bonds. His absurd .379/.442/.706 line with 45 extra base hits despite being limited for about two weeks would make him our starter at any position, but since he's listed as an outfielder on the ballot and has played most of his games out there this year, that's where we're putting him.

Gary Sheffield (ATL)
He's having his best season in three years (since 2000, in Los Angeles) and has been an essential cog in the Braves' tremendous first half offensive exploits. Thus far he's posted a .345/.427/.647 line with 36 extra base hits while striking out just 21 times. He's got some off-the-field issues as always, but he's a hell of a hitter and our starting rightfielder.

Brian Giles (PIT)
No way he makes the team if not for the player-per-team rule, but that's only because he's been hurt. When healthy (43 games, 194 plate appearances), he's posted a terrific .293/.448/.507 for a bad team. While his power's down a bit (slugging down to .507 from .622 in 2002), he's still an All-Star caliber player, even in the packed National League outfield.

Jim Edmonds (STL)
Jumped out of the gate with a .391/.500/.768 April before cooling off considerably in May (.223/.305/.479). Of course, he's back to his old tricks in June, posting a .354/.426/.854 line so far this month. He's a terrific defensive centerfielder as well, and has established himself as an offensive star and borderline All-Star every season...this one is no exception.

Austin Kearns (CIN)
The Reds need a representative, but we wanted to get Kearns on the team anyway. Adam Dunn's the six-and-a-half foot monster who hits baseballs a mile, but it's Kearns who's been far more productive this season, posting a .294/.396/.525 line to date. It's pretty scary to realize that he's only 23 and has just over a full season of major league service time, after which his career line reads .307/.403/.510. The Reds don't have the best outfield in baseball yet, but it's not his fault.

Luis Gonzalez (ARI)
We were going to put Sammy Sosa in this spot based on past performance until we realized we didn't have a Diamondback. Injuries have wrecked Arizona so far this season and have probably already ruined their chances at contention, but Gonzo's been a stabilizing force, hitting .305/.375/.544 thus far. It's a far cry from his unbelievable 2001, but he's continued to perform at a very high level.

SP - Kevin Brown (LA)
Having an amazing year at age 38, Brown gets the call as our NL starter. He's only leading the league in ERA (2.00), wins (9), WHIP (0.96) and has struck out 81 while walking 22 over 94.1 innings. He appears to be all the way back from the injury that ruined his 2002 season...he's been head and shoulders the best starter in the National League and a huge reason why the Dodgers have had as successful a first half as they have.

Woody Williams (STL)
His ERA was at 1.99 until his last two starts, as he's allowed five runs in each of them (vs. the Yankees and Red Sox) and seen it balloon to 2.66. Regardless, on a team desperate for pitching, he's provided it. It's pretty amazing what he's done since coming to St. Louis from San Diego during the 2001 season, having pitched nearly 300 innings now with an ERA right around two and a half.

Jae Seo (NYM)
I'm more than a little uncomfortable with putting him on the team, but he's definitely been the Mets best pitcher this year and they do need a representative. Cliff Floyd and Jeromy Burnitz would have adequate, but unfortunately, both play the most star-studded position in the league, so there's no room for them. I'm sure we're leaving out better candidates with his inclusion, but his 2.88 ERA is impressive all the same. Incidentally, Curt Schilling would have made this team if healthy...that's not to say Seo would've been the casualty, but know that we're not snubbing Schilling on merit.

Kerry Wood (CHC)
Wood's a strikeout machine (he's got 119, which leads the majors) in an excellent rotation on a good team that's contending in the NL Central. Of course, he's also got pretty erratic control, but it's a lot easier to give him a pass on the 42 walks he's allowed when noting that he's only allowed 67 hits over the 91 innings he's pitched so far. Amazingly, due to his extreme success right at the beginning of his career and his subsequent injury troubles, he's still only 26.

Mark Prior (CHC)
My preseason pick for the NL Cy Young Award isn't too far off the pace. Thus far he's 8-2 with a 2.71 ERA and a 106/25 strikeout to walk ratio, all among the league leaders. The foursome of Prior, Wood, Carlos Zambrano and Matt Clement is already nasty...it's going to get disgusting if Clement can kick it into gear, and he's been better of late.

Kevin Millwood/Randy Wolf (PHI)
I was amazed as we were looking over our first draft NL team to notice that we didn't have a Phillie on the roster...stunning, given what an awesome team they have on paper with the likes of Jim Thome, Bobby Abreu and Pat Burrell. That said, either of these guys would be fine additions to the team, so we're copping out again...we'll let the argument settle itself over the next few starts as these guys put some distance between their close numbers to this point. Push comes to shove, I'm taking Wolf, but we'll let it play out.

Hideo Nomo (LA)
Maybe it's just because we're on the East Coast, but I don't feel there's nearly enough attention paid to the pitching exploits of the Dodgers this year. Having four All-Star worthy pitchers on the staff (we've left Kaz Ishii off our team) is pretty significant. Nomo, returning to the place of his greatest glory, has held opponents to the lowest BA against in the majors (.196) while striking out a ton of guys (90) and pitching to a 2.64 ERA. The ballpark helps, but he's been even better on the road, posting a 5-2 record with a 1.64 ERA with a .166 BAA and only one home run allowed (in 60.1 innings) away from Dodger Stadium.

Jason Schmidt (SF)
Consistently good starter having his best season. Schmidt's strikeouts are up a tad, his walks are down considerably, and he's doing it both at home and on the road. Among the league leaders in a bunch of categories (strikeouts, WHIP, ERA, BAA), he's a deserving All-Star and the anchor of the pitching staff on a pretty good Giants team.

RP - John Smoltz (ATL)
There are a bunch of really awesome relievers in the National League this year, and John Smoltz is certainly one of them. I don't know how much closers really contribute to team success, but Smoltz is effective enough that he makes close games against the Braves in to eight inning affairs, and there's value in that. He's saved 26 games in 27 chances and compiled a ridiculous 0.72 ERA in 37.2 innings so far.

Eric Gagne (LA)
Yeah, he's allowed 15 hits in 36 innings and struck out 64. He's also a perfect 26 of 26 on save chances. Being pigeon-holed as he has may not make a lot of sense to some of us (he's been in 35 games, just barely over an inning per appearance), but there's no denying that he's been really, really effective and maybe there's no sense in messing with something that's working so well. Pitching for the Dodgers he's got a lot of close, late leads to wrap up, and he's the man for the job.

Billy Wagner (HOU)
He slipped a little over the past three seasons, but at age 31, Wagner is dominant again. He's 19 for 20 on save opportunities and has struck out a staggering 51 batters in 39.1 innings. The theme with these closers is that we'd like to see them pitch more innings...but that's the manager's issue, not theirs. Compiling a 1.60 ERA in a regular, high-pressure role combined with a track record of success like he's got is enough to make the team.

Those are our 32 National League All-Stars. We'd appreciate any feedback you've got...drop us a line at feedback@thedump.org. Regular content will pick up from here. Thanks for reading.
posted by VZW Watcher at 7:46 PM -

 
the dump's sportslog American League All-Stars
Took a little while, but these are our selections for the American League All-Star team. This is what we think should be, not a representation of what we think we will happen (clearly the fan balloting has a significant impact on this, as it appears Torii Hunter, for instance, will rob one of our more worthy candidates of a spot). The National League will follow relatively shortly, either later today or tomorrow. If you've got comments on any of our selections or anything else, please let us know about it...contact us at feedback@thedump.org. Enjoy.

C - Jorge Posada (NYY)
He's the best catcher in the American League, and this year has been no exception. He's hitting .264 but sporting an OBP of over .400 (he's at .408 right now) while slugging nearly .550. He'd be an excellent offensive player at any position, and having performed as he has for the Yankees while catching makes him all the more valuable. On top of his terrific offensive contributions, he's improved defensively this season as well, throwing out 33% of opposing runners from behind the plate. No, that's nothing amazing and yes, I'm rounding up (the actual number is 32.6%), but the adequate defense he provides is just gravy when looking at the total package he brings to the table.

Greg Myers (TOR)
He's been part of a very effective platoon in Toronto, and because he doesn't play every day, we had some questions about putting him on the team. But the guy is putting together the best year of his career (.345/.431/.559 right now) at age 37, and he deserves a trip to Chicago in a pretty weak catching field in the American League. I'm not going to lose any sleep in omitting A.J. Pierzynski.

1B - Carlos Delgado (TOR)
Really no question or need to explain why Delgado's an All-Star...he's been the best hitter in the American League thus far. He leads the league in homers (22), runs (61), RBI (76), slugging percentage (.660), OPS (1.091) and is second in walks (46). The Blue Jays have had a nice first half and Delgado's the MVP of the league at this point.

Mike Sweeney (KC)
We need a Royal, but Sweeney's a worthy candidate without any charity. An on-base machine in a pretty crappy lineup (aside from borderline All-Star Carlos Beltran), he's posted a terrific .316/.435/.524 line and a 45/28 walk to strikeout ratio thus far. He's proven himself to be a consistently excellent hitter over the past five seasons, and is a big reason for the Royals early season relative success.

Jason Giambi (NYY)
This certainly hasn't been his best season, but in spite of his eye problems and resulting crappier-than-usual numbers early on, he's put together a .240/.379/.494 line for the year to date, including .308/.481/.821 in June thus far, as he's begun to round into form. Sure, we're Yankee fans and like to see our guys represented, but Jason Giambi is legitimately a stone cold star, a great offensive player who will again have terrific numbers come the end of September. He's a worthy All-Star selection.

2B - Bret Boone (SEA)
I've never been able to totally get past his poorly spelled first name (I really think it should be "Brett"), but I can acknowledge that he's having another phenomenal season. As awesome as his 2001 was, he's getting on base just about as much as he did then (.375 now to .372 then) and slugging twenty points higher (.598 to .578). He's also a terrific fielder...definitely the best all-around second baseman in the American League right now.

Alfonso Soriano (NYY)
Still not sure how he does it, but the man's amazing. Soriano continues to put up terrific power numbers (slugging .526 with 33 extra base hits thus far) despite his poor plate discipline and slight frame. He's incredibly fast (18/21 on steals and three triples) and improving defensively. I still don't know if I can count on him over the long term, but I'm a lot more confident in his ability to keep this up now than I was at the beginning of the season. Not the starter at second, but that's only because Bret Boone's played so damn well.

SS - Alex Rodriguez (TEX)
The best position player in the league, whether his stats right now show it or not. His combination of offensive brilliance and his ability to play the toughest position on the field (particularly at the level he does) is unparalleled. His line reads .297/.381/.544 right now, a little below his career totals (in terms of slugging, anyway)...but more than enough to make him the starting shortstop for the American League yet again.

Nomar Garciaparra (BOS)
Doesn't walk, just hits...he's at .333/.366/.596 at the moment with a ridiculous 42 extra base hits, including 12 triples. A bonafide star overshadowed at times in the American League by Rodriguez (deservedly) and sometimes Jeter and Tejada (not as much so)...not this year, where he's clearly emerged as the second-best shortstop in all of baseball.

3B - Troy Glaus (ANA)
He's having an excellent year (.281/.382/.548), rebounding nicely from last year's disappointing regular season. Still the class of the American League at third base, but he's now got some competition biting at his heels. Still only 26, which is pretty amazing...it seems like he's been around awhile already (he has, having come up for the first time in 1998).

Hank Blalock (TEX)
It took an extra year, but here he is. We're giving the start to Glaus on reputation and past performance, but Blalock (.341/.400/.556) has slightly outperformed him this year, which is quite a feat. He's doing this at age 22, and while we're giving him an All-Star spot based solely on his first half production, there's plenty of reason to believe there'll be a lot more appearances in his future.

Aubrey Huff (TB)
He's primarily been a rightfielder this year, but he's listed at third (where he's played most of his career to date) on the ballot, so we're going to list him there. It doesn't matter either way...we've got three third basemen and plenty of outfielders, and Huff's an All-Star in both categories. On a brutal offensive team in desperate need of a big-time hitter, Huff's come through to the tune of .304/.370/.570, hitting for average, getting on base and injecting serious power (23 doubles, 15 homers) into a dead lineup.

OF - Manny Ramirez (BOS)
Fairly typical Manny Ramirez year (.319/.419/.560), pretty much in line with his career numbers, and more than enough to be an All-Star starter in a really weak field (especially compared to the absolutely stacked National League outfield). Still only 31, he's a sure fire Hall of Famer if he can keep up this pace through the end of the decade.

Vernon Wells (TOR)
Overshadowed in Toronto by the awesome Carlos Delgado, Wells is having a very nice season (.296/.338/.529) in his own right. We'd like to see that OBP go up a bit, but he's our starting centerfielder anyway at age 24. If Bernie Williams were healthy, this spot (starting centerfielder) would be his.

Garret Anderson (ANA)
I don't really like him for a variety of reasons, but he's a good outfielder having a very nice Garret Anderson-type year (.315/.343/.585) with a bit more power than usual. The fact that he can play a reasonable centerfield is a plus. I think he'd look a lot better if he showed some emotion occasionally and shaved that stupid looking moustache, but that's his prerogative.

Mike Cameron/Ichiro Suzuki (SEA)
It's a copout, but take your pick. I'm partial towards Cameron (.267/.373/.475 and amazing defense in center), but I can live with Suzuki (.339/.384/.448) if he's the choice. Both are phenomenal defenders and excellent offensive players, worthy All-Stars who would both make the team if not for the one-player-from-every-team rule. We'll let them duke it out over the next couple of weeks to see who's more deserving.

Milton Bradley (CLE)
On the Indians, it's either Bradley or Sabathia, and we just weren't comfortable enough with the idea of Sabathia as an All-Star this year. Bradley's been injured a bit this year, but when healthy has put together a fine season (.330/.437/.508). We like the walks (33), we like the doubles (19) and we like the age (25) and defense. He's a borderline All-Star, but he's not going to embarrass us.

Melvin Mora (BAL)
Only the second-best hitter in the American League thus far, behind Carlos Delgado. Off to a ludicrous .360/.465/.585 start, Mora is putting up huge numbers extremely quietly. He's never been an All-Star in years past, which doesn't bode well for him being able to maintain this kind of production over the course of the full season...but the Orioles need a representative anyway, and there's really no way to dismiss a guy who is leading the AL in OBP and second in OPS (1.050) at this point. Oh yeah, he can play just about any position on the field too. Think the Mets (who traded him, Mike Kinkade, Pat Gorman and Lesli Brea for Mike Bordick at the 2000 trading deadline) could use him now?

Dmitri Young (DET)
Really not All-Star caliber without the player-per-team rule, but not a complete embarrassment either (.289/.362/.534). Still defensively versatile, which is nice (he has played 12 games and 102 innings at third...granted, he's made 4 errors and has a .867 fielding percentage there, but he does play for the Tigers, so what's the difference?), he'd be a nice bat for a contending team especially weak at a corner infield/outfield/DH position. Again, not necessarily an All-Star, but there's really no alternative.

DH - Edgar Martinez (SEA)
No idea how much more of this we'll get out of him, but Edgar continues to be extremely productive when he gets a chance to hit (posting a .303/.403/.561 line so far), and having the game in an AL park gives us the opportunity to get him on the roster, perhaps one last time. The fact that he's rebounded like he has from his downturn last year (at age 38, very understandable that he would drop off a bit at that point) is remarkable.

Frank Thomas (CHW)
He's been better than some of his numbers would indicate (notably the 35 RBIs, since the lineup he's in is so bad), but he'll get on the team anyway, as he's having his best year (.280/.418/.569) since his phenomenal 2000 season. He'll have 2000 hits and 400 homers before the year is out, but at 35, you have to wonder how much higher those totals will get a chance to climb. It's easy to forget how just awesome he's been over his career because he's had a few down seasons in recent years, but even with all that, he's still got a career OPS of .999.

SP - Barry Zito (OAK)
He's been victimized by poor run support (hence the 7-5 record), but his 3.01 ERA paints a more accurate picture...he's been terrific again. The defending Cy Young Award winner has pitched a lot (eighth in the American League with 95.2 innings pitched, including two complete games) and well (leading the league in batting average against at .198 and 4th in WHIP at 1.10). Absolutely dominant when he's on and pretty good even when he's not, he's probably the AL starter at this point.

Tim Hudson (OAK)
Our final addition to the AL pitching staff (when we realized that we were required to have 11 pitchers, which seems ridiculous...why on earth would Scioscia run through that many guys?), but he's having another excellent year in his own right. Like his teammate Zito, he's pitched a lot (105.1 innings) and done so very effectively (.231 BA against and 3.08 ERA). He's already got eight no-decisions this year.

Mark Mulder (OAK)
Yeah, we're taking all three of them. The AL isn't exactly awash in starters having great years, and Mulder's consistency and durability earn him the nod. Despite winning 40 games over the past two seasons (21 and 19 wins in 2001 and 2002, respectively), he's not yet made an All-Star appearance, so it'll be nice to get him in there and allow the Oakland triumverate to bask in midsummer glory together in Chicago. He's got five complete games in his 14 starts so far, which is worthy of note.

Mike Mussina (NYY)
Absolutely dominant at the beginning of the season (he was 5-0 with a 1.70 ERA in five games in April), he's tailed off considerably, but still has nice numbers on the year and appears to be rounding back into form with his last two starts (against the Astros and Cardinals this week at the Stadium). Nine wins and leading the league in strikeouts (99) combined with a 2.99 ERA and the best WHIP in the league (0.99) is plenty, and with a few more good starts, he could probably take the starting job from Zito.

David Wells (NYY)
His ERA has risen steadily since the beginning of the year, as he's allowed five runs in four of his last ten starts to reach his current number of 3.63 thus far this season. At the same time, he's 8-2 (the Yankees are scoring runs for him, as they always seem to do) and has given up a ludicrous four walks in 91.2 innings so far. That stat alone would be almost enough to get him on the team...but he's been pretty effective for most of the season, and in the relative dearth of pitching that is the American League, he makes our cut.

Kyle Lohse (MIN)
He's been kind of up and down...got off to a great start in April before crapping out and finishing the month with a 4.80 ERA and a 2-3 record before winning 4 of his next five decisions with an ERA under 2.00 since. Very quietly putting together his second real good year in a row with this one being a substantial improvement over last...I wasn't sure initially whether he belonged on the team, but it's hard to ignore the second best ERA in the American League (2.91), he's in.

Pedro Martinez (BOS)
He's been hurt, but he's back and reportedly feeling well. When he's pitched (just 63.1 innings so far) he's been terrific (2.70 ERA, .204 BAA, 1.01 WHIP, 65 strikeouts)...a bit off typical Pedro numbers, but that's only because of his ridiculously high standard. His track record would get him on this team if he was having a crappy year, and he's not. If he's healthy come the middle of July and can get another couple of wins between now and then, he'd be as good a pick to start the game as anyone.

Esteban Loaiza (CHW)
Of course he's unlikely to keep this up over the whole season, but the White Sox stink and Loaiza's put up terrific numbers over the first half. Lousy track record or no, I can't in good conscience leave off a guy who's posted a 9-2 record and 2.24 ERA in the first half. He's not starting the game, but were he judged solely on this year's antics, he would certainly be a worthy candidate. On top of those impressive numbers I've already given, he's 4th in the league strikeouts (78) and second in WHIP (1.04) and BAA (.213). I realize that we put more emphasis on the current season's performance than some other people when making our selections, but I just don't see anyway you can deny Loaiza this year. So far.

Jamie Moyer (SEA)
Every year we wonder whether or not Moyer can keep it up, and he continues to amaze. Pitching for the terrific Seattle Mariners, Moyer and friends have had to compensate for their oft-crappy "number one" starter in Freddy Garcia. He's certainly succeeded...he's got a 2.99 ERA through 14 starts and leads the majors with 10 wins. The fact that he strikes as many batters out as he does (66 thus far, ninth in the league) is simply amazing...he does more with less than anyone in baseball.

RP - Brendan Donnelly (ANA)
There's simply no way we could leave a guy with an ERA of 0.26, even in just the 34.2 innings he's worked, off the team. It's June 16th, he's been on the roster all season, and he's allowed just ONE earned run (Carlos Mendez of the Orioles scoring on a single by Jay Gibbons in the eighth inning at home on May 22nd). On top of that, he was excellent out of the bullpen on a World Series winner last year, so we can reward him for that too. Just as Jeff Zimmerman made the team a few years ago, Donnelly's making the trip this time.

Eddie Guardado (MIN)
We figured we should probably include a closer somewhere on the team, and since there's nobody as dominating in the American League as a Smoltz or Gagne or Wagner, Guardado gets the call. Limiting a rubber-armed guy like Guardado to 28 games (and 28.2 innings) at this point seems silly, but when/how he's used is out of his control, and the bottom line is that he's been very effective. He's got a 2.51 ERA at present with 19 saves (in 20 opportunities), which leads the league.

So yeah, those are our 32 American League All-Stars...the NL is coming up. Again, if you've got anything to say on this...talk to us. Thanks for reading.
posted by VZW Watcher at 9:16 AM -

 
Dan and I are doing some All-Star Game related writing that'll be up soon, but in the meantime, we'd like to point out that we've added a "buy these books" section on the sidebar. This isn't too complicated...these are books we're reading or have read and recommend. If you buy them through this site, we get a cut of the sale...so please keep that in mind before you make a purchase and give a look at that space on the site periodically. We're hungry college students...if we can get a percentage of one sale in this manner, it's worthwhile. Every little bit helps. Enjoy the content.
posted by VZW Watcher at 9:01 PM -

 
Jose Reyes is up
Dan and I were both at the Mets debacle of a doubleheader on Sunday that featured drubbings administered by the Mariners of 13-1 and 7-0 in the two games. Aside from having spectacular seats from which to watch the immortal Jamie Moyer work his magic (in this case, seven innings of shutout ball allowing just two hits and a walk), it was pretty damn ugly all the way through. Looking at the numbers, I'm far from convinced that Jose Reyes is ready to make his debut as a Met...but given the fact that they're currently trotting out the .229/.288/.271 Joe McEwing everyday at short, there's not a whole lot worse they can do.

Reyes has hit .269/.333/.356 at AAA Norfolk in 181 plate appearances, drawing 15 walks and stealing 26 bases (caught five times) over that span. I'm not sure what those numbers translate to at the major league level, but they've got to compare favorably to what McEwing's currently doing, and Reyes is a guy who Met fans can get at least a little bit excited about. While they're at it, it might be a good time to bring up a guy who is that much closer to actually being ready in Aaron Heilman, which I assume will happen sooner rather than later. I understand there are negatives involved in bringing up the cream of the Mets system now, perhaps before they're really ready to help at the major league level (as their service time clock gets going)...but this is an awful, awful team with no real alternatives that needs to energize a bored fanbase.

We were sitting around in the bottom of the ninth in game two on Sunday, and saw that the Mets had the top of the order coming up to try to get something going offensively. Most teams would be happy to have their best table-setters coming up followed by the middle of their lineup and would feel somewhat confident in the triumverate coming to the plate. Not that it would be normal to expect a team to rally from a seven run deficit...but at least you could give the fans (the few that remained) something to smile about. Of course, the Mets 1-2-3 on this day consisted of Tsuyoshi Shinjo, Jay Bell and Ty Wigginton. Things are very ugly in Met country...maybe Jose Reyes can represent a glimmer of hope.
posted by VZW Watcher at 4:54 PM -

 
Red Sox deal Matt White for minor leaguer Sheldon Fulse

Seattle Mariners get: Matt White.
Boston Red Sox get: Sheldon Fulse.

This kind of deal (involving two guys who are basically minor leaguers) would ordinarily pass under the radar of this website, especially recently when entries have been hard to come by, but I had never heard of Sheldon Fulse until a few moments ago, and I expect few of you have.

Fulse is a switch-hitting outfielder (drafted as a shortstop) playing a Class A Inland Empire who has posted a .280/.396/.408 line there through 49 games (188 plate appearances) who was a third round pick of the Mariners (97th overall) in 1999 out of George Jenkins High School in Bartow, Florida. He's an interesting new Red Sox management type of player...while still clearly a long way from the majors, he's drawn 26 walks thus far this year and has 14 extra base hits as well as excellent speed (according to Vanderbilt University, where he was to have gone had he not signed with Seattle, he runs a 6.5 second 60-yard dash).

While he's struggled quite a bit and been stuck at the A ball level since he was drafted, he's made substantial strides this year and still has plenty of time (he's only 21) to make an impact. This article, by Michelle Gardner of the San Bernardino County Sun, indicates that he talked to Mariners' utilityman extraordinaire Mark McLemore prior to the season, which may have helped him in his success this year. The important thing is that he's off to a solid start and is a reasonable acquisition for the Red Sox, who can stash him away and see if he turns into anything interesting, and all they had to give up was a guy they selected in the Rule V Draft and could well have lost anyway (rather than keep him on the roster the entire season).

In the short term, this deal gives the Mariners another lefty of the bullpen in Matt White, who they hope will be more effective with them than he has been in his very limited duty with the Red Sox.
posted by VZW Watcher at 11:45 PM -

 
Yanks acquire Ruben Sierra

New York Yankees get: Ruben Sierra.
Texas Rangers get: Marcus Thames.

There's been an awful lot of talk in New York in recent days about the Yankees desperate need for a left-handed bat off the bench or an outfielder to play some until Bernie Williams returns from injury (around the All-Star Break), as current left fielder Juan Rivera has been stinking it up (.204/.250/.286 in 52 plate apperances).

I think the desperation is a bit overblown, but the Yanks could certainly use some help to, at the very least, lighten the load placed on the young and inexperienced Rivera, who is in a tough spot as a starting corner outfielder on a team like the Yankees. I'm far from optimistic about what Ruben Sierra will bring to the team...but he is a switch-hitter who can play the outfield adequately and will likely have no problem being brought off the bench as a spot starter and pinch hitter once Bernie returns. He doesn't have much of a platoon split over the past three years (he's .293/.328/.430 vs. lefties and .269/.313/.484 vs. righties) and in what is almost certainly meaningless, June's been his best month in that time frame by a significant margin, as he's posted a .313/.328/.609 line at the time of the year where the Yanks are really going to lean on him most heavily.

So while I'm not particularly excited about the acquisition of Sierra, he's cheap ($600,000 this season) and will probably be useful. And to get him, the Yanks only had to give up Marcus Thames, who is a borderline prospect who had one incredible minor league season, but that's about it. There wasn't much future for him in the Yankee organization anyway, so maybe he'll get some opportunities for a Texas team that trotted out Donnie Sadler in left the other afternoon in Atlanta. I was at a Yankees-Diamondbacks game last summer and got to see Thames hit the first pitch he saw in the majors for a home run...off Randy Johnson no less...which was pretty cool.
posted by VZW Watcher at 4:45 PM -