Happened to come across ESPN.com's All-Star teams. Needless to say, they're are some significant problems with them, and hey, who doesn't love a bit of ESPN bashing every now and again? I've always enjoyed discussions on who the "real" (that is, deserving) All-Stars should be, so, without ado, here are your real 2009 American League All-Stars. (Bolded first name is starter, following are reserves.)

Feel free to disagree, vehemently!

American League:

• Catchers: Joe Mauer, Victor Martinez.

And it's not even really worth discussion. (ESPN: Mauer).

• 1st Base: Kevin Youkilis, Russell Branyan, Mark Teixeira, Justin Morneau.

Not an easy decision, as there are at least five first basemen in the AL worthy of a roster spot. Youkilis is the clear leader here, though, with the highest OPS and wOBA marks, as well as a strong UZR rating of 10.7 this year (career 5.8 at 1B.)

Branyan seems like a sentimental pick, but in reality I didn't have to stretch to include him. He has the second highest OPS and wOBA of all AL 1B, and his play at 1B has actually been right around league average this year (-0.6 UZR/150).

Why Teixeira and Morneau (ESPN's starting pick; they used the fact that he's leading the AL in RBI to make their case) over Fat Cabrera? Both Teixeira and Morneau have better numbers at the plate, and both are better 1B than Cabrera (regardless of his 6.0 UZR/150 rating this year).

• 2nd Base: Ben Zobrist, Aaron Hill, Ian Kinsler.
  

The starter is an obvious choice (of course, he had less votes from ESPN than Dustin Pedrioa and his .095 ISO and .758 OPS), as Zobrist is leading the entire American League in OPS and wOBA. It's hard to get a proper reading on his defense since he plays so many positions ... but come on, he's leading the AL in OPS! (And ESPN gave him only a single vote.) (ESPN: Hill)

• 3rd Base: Evan Longoria, Brandon Inge.

Longoria is obvious, and he's probably going to be an All-Star for as long as he plays. Inge gets the pick over Scott Rolen because of better power numbers (.245 ISO to Rolen's .161). (ESPN: Longoria)

• SS: Jason Bartlett, Derek Jeter.

Listen, this is just stupid. Derek Jeter is only an All-Star reserve at this point because the AL crop is seriously weak. Bartlett is a much, much better defender, has more XBH (in twelve less games than Jeter), a higher ISO, OPS, and wOBA, and is hitting .367. (ESPN: Jeter, and no, he's not "Still the man", as ESPN says.)

• OF: Carl Crawford, Torii Hunter, Ichiro Suzuki, Adam Lind, Adam Jones, Nelson Cruz, Jason Bay.

Crawford starts because of his good defense and speed score. Trust me, I tried to leave Ichiro off the team, but I can't exactly ignore his .368 average (even if his walk rate is terrible and .125 ISO is bad for a corner outfielder ...)

Note: Johnny Damon can never be an All-Star with that arm. Never. (ESPN: Hunter, Bay, Ichiro—Lind, Jones, and Cruz didn't get a single vote combined.)

Starting Pitchers: Zack Greinke, Felix Hernandez, Roy Halladay, Justin Verlander, Cliff Lee, Jon Lester, Josh Beckett.

Edwin Jackson, you've been too lucky to make this list. (ESPN: Greinke)

Relief Pitchers: Mariano Rivera, Joe Nathan, Bobby Jenks, Andrew Bailey, Scott Downs, David Aardsma.

It felt good leaving Papelbon off this list (and its because he doesn't deserve it).

Teams with the most number of All-Stars:

Bos: 4 (Youkilis, Bay, Lester, Beckett); SEA: 4 (Branyan, Ichiro, Hernandez, Aardsma); TOR: 4 (Hill, Lind, Halladay, Downs); TB: 4 (Zobrist, Longoria, Bartlett, Crawford); NYY: 3 (Teixeira, Jeter, Rivera); MIN: 3 (Mauer, Morneau, Nathan); CLE: 2 (Martinez, Lee); TEX: 2 (Kinsler, Cruz); DET: 2 (Inge, Verlander); BAL: 1 (Jones); CHW: 1 (Jenks); KC: 1 (Greinke); LAA: 1 (Hunter); OAK: 1 (Bailey).

Next Up: Your 2009 National League All-Stars.

The Big Game Thread.

 

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CLE: Carmona
DET: Who knows?

Bonderman was scheduled to start, but is pitching in a B game because Leyland didn't want to showcase him to the Indians before it was absolutely necessary.

In other Tigers news, Granderson is hurt, and Miguel Cabrera is on the verge of signing an eight year contract north of $150 million. Blah.

CLE: Carmona
TOR: McGowan

It doesn't look like there's any audio for today's game, so I have no idea how any of us will follow this game. Let's just make this a dumping ground for all thoughts Spring Training.

Me, I'm really excited about Aubrey's (SSS alarm) performance so far.

Man, I really thought this was 300 characters. Umm, everyone give suggestions for what Andrew should hold up at the Indians-Mets game on Friday (ESPN televised).

Well, since there's going to be a ton of discussion about this, I thought I might start something here about potential bats to target.

A few guidelines:

1. Be realistic.
   
2. Platoons are always an option.
   
3. Think about how we match up (trade wise) with other teams needs.
   
4. Playing multiple positions (flexibility!) is a bonus.
   
5. Plate discipline is preferred, though our organization is good at helping youth with their approaches.
   
5. Left handed bats are OK, but RH is preferable ... I guess.

A few (just to get the ball rolling):
Atkins, Garret, Colorado, 3B
Johnson, Kelly, Atlanta, 2B (LH)
Guillen, Jose, Seattle (Bavisi!)
Ethier, Andre, LAD (LH; they hate youth!)
Kemp, Matt, LAD (lefty masher, needs work on PD)

Have at it.

Yep.

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HEY, HEY HEY LETS GO TRIBE
HEY, HEY HEY LETS GO TRIBE
HEY, HEY HEY LETS GO TRIBE
HEY, HEY HEY LETS GO TRIBE
HEY, HEY HEY LETS GO TRIBE
HEY, HEY HEY LETS GO TRIBE