With the pitching staffs set in our last All-Star Team post, the next step is to make sure that every team gets at least one representative. I believe in the All-Star rule that every team, no matter how well or how poorly they did, has at least one person they could tag as an All-Star, based on his performance on the field. If it means that another person gets snubbed, that's sadly the way it goes. It does not matter how many spots there are on an All-Star team, someone always manages to be left out.
Now the pitching staffs from both sides locked in one representative from nine of the AL teams and seven of the NL teams. So that means in this post, I am going to name six position players in the AL, and eight in the NL.
On the American League side, the Orioles, White Sox, Indians, Tigers, Angels, Royals, Yankees, Athletics, and Mariners have representatives. These six players will ensure that the AL has all 15 teams represented:
- OF Yoenis Cespedes, Red Sox (.260, 22 HR, 100 RBI)
- 2B Jose Altuve, Astros (.341, 7 HR, 59 RBI)
- 2B Brian Dozier, Twins (.242, 23 HR, 71 RBI)
- 3B Evan Longoria, Rays (.253, 22 HR, 91 RBI)
- 3B Adrian Beltre, Rangers (.324, 19 HR, 77 RBI)
- OF Jose Bautista, Blue Jays (.286, 35 HR, 103 RBI)
With two of the three 2B and 3B positions filled, it's going to be very tough to pick the player who takes the final spot. Many worthy candidates will be left out, I can sadly guarantee. The hardest team to find a proper player rep was probably the Red Sox. Yes, the defending World Series champs had an extremely bad year. And yes, David Ortiz had another fantastic year. The problem is that there is only one spot for the DH, and there were too many guys to consider there. Now, I'm not going to say if Big Papi made the team yet (stay tuned on Thursday to find out), but I figured that Cespedes, with his combined numbers with the A's and Red Sox, was a proper pick. Now, could he be the only BoSox player going?
In the NL, the Braves, Reds, Dodgers, Pirates, Cardinals, Giants, and Nationals have representatives. These eight players will ensure that the NL has all 15 teams represented:
- C Miguel Montero, Diamondbacks (.243, 13 HR, 72 RBI)
- 1B Anthony Rizzo, Cubs (.286, 32 HR, 78 RBI)
- 1B Justin Morneau, Rockies (.319, 17 HR, 82 RBI)
- OF Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins (.288, 37 HR, 105 RBI)
- OF Carlos Gomez, Brewers (.284, 23 HR, 73 RBI)
- 1B Lucas Duda, Mets (.253, 30 HR, 92 RBI)
- 2B Chase Utley, Phillies (.264, 25 HR, 85 RBI)
- OF Seth Smith, Padres (.266, 12 HR, 48 RBI)
Before you go screaming that the 1B spots are now full and that someone may be left out, understand that Justin Morneau won the NL batting title this year, so he needs to be on here. Now, does this mean that he can't be moved over to the DH position (as that is usually filled by the hitter with the best average who had not been picked for the team after the fielding positions were filled)? Duda and Rizzo were picked because they were the best power hitters on their respective teams (Mets and Cubs). Adding Stanton, Gomez, and Smith leaves six outfield spots open, which works out well considering that normally, the OF spots are usually filled by guys who wind up being the sole representative of their team.
Now before you start to say, "Where's this guy?" or, "Why didn't my guy make the team?" Please keep in mind that I'm not done filling out the team. These 14 guys are only here so that all 30 teams have a player. The best (trust me) is still yet to come.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
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