The Real All Stars: AL Edition
The rosters for this season’s All Star Game in Kansas City were revealed on Sunday. The fan vote often turns into a popularity contest, and players who deserve an All Star bid loses out on that recognition. Below is my version of the All Star team for the American League (a national league version will follow shortly). For the sake of this post being a reasonable length, I have limited my All Star roster to 25 players, and disregarded the rule that each team must have at least one representative.
| Pos. | Name | Team | Explanation |
| Starting Lineup | |||
| C | Joe Mauer | MIN | Quietly has put up a 140 wRC+, best in the American League among qualified catchers. |
| 1B | Edwin Encarnacion | TOR | Leads AL first basemen with a WAR of 2.3. Slightly edged Paul Konerko for this spot. |
| 2B | Robinson Cano | NYY | The fans got this one right. Has been worth almost four wins already. |
| 3B | Adrian Beltre | TEX | Beltre is having another great season at the plate, and continues to excel defensively as well. |
| SS | Elvis Andrus | TEX | A slick fielder who also happens to have the second-highest wRC+ among AL shortstops. |
| LF | Josh Hamilton | TEX | Has cooled off a bit with the onslaught of summer temperatures, but is still slugging .652. |
| CF | Mike Trout | LAA | Despite being in the minors until April 28th, he leads AL outfielders in WAR (4.0). |
| RF | Jose Bautista | TOR | Leads the majors in home runs and has a wRC+ of 144, despite a BABIP of .200. |
| DH | David Ortiz | BOS | Big Papi has absolutely mashed this year, to the tune of a .414 wOBA and an ISO over .300. |
| Bench | |||
| OF | Austin Jackson | DET | Has a similar WAR to Trout (3.6) in the exact same number of games played (only 56). |
| OF | Adam Jones | BAL | Fresh off a six-year contract extension with Baltimore, Jones is having his best season yet. |
| 3B | Brett Lawrie | TOR | Has been good on offense (110 wRC+), and has been excellent on defense. |
| C | AJ Pierzynski | C | The second most productive catcher in the league earns him the backup catcher spot. |
| Pitching Staff | |||
| SP | Justin Verlander | DET | Leads AL pitchers with a 3.6 WAR, on the back of 123.2 IP and a FIP under 3.00. |
| SP | Chris Sale | CHW | The transition from the bullpen to the rotation couldn’t have gone better. He has a FIP of 2.59. |
| SP | Jake Peavy | CHW | Possible Comeback Player of the Year has a 2.8 WAR and a 2.96 ERA. |
| SP | CC Sabathia | NYY | He’s good every year in a tough division for pitchers, and this year is no different (3.21 FIP). |
| SP | Felix Hernandez | SEA | King Felix has struck out 9.27 per nine, and walked 2.6 per nine over 110.2 innings. |
| SP | Matt Harrison | TEX | Has been the most reliable pitcher for the Rangers, with a 3.16 ERA and a 3.43 FIP in 105.1 IP. |
| SP | Jered Weaver | LAA | Has missed a few starts, but when healthy he has a 2.94 FIP. Oh, and he threw a perfect game. |
| SP | Jason Hammel | BAL | So far looks like a good pickup by the O’s. He has 3.33 FIP and has struck out 8.61 per nine. |
| RP | Joe Nathan | TEX | Has been outstanding since coming back from TJ surgery, with a FIP of 1.78. |
| RP | Fernando Rodney | TAM | His 1.04 ERA and 1.94 FIP has been shutting down the ninth for the Rays all season. |
| RP | Tom Wilhelmsen | SEA | Has a 2.45 FIP, and is among a handful of relievers to throw more than 40 innings. |
| RP | Charlie Furbush | SEA | 11.68 K/9, 2.08 BB/9, 1.82 ERA, 1.99 FIP in 34.2 innings. |
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