[TDDance234]

It's about time to start thinking about the MLB All-Star Teams. If you could throw yours together right now (minus the MLB rules, ie; every team has to have at least one player). Who are the best of the best right now.

NL
C - Brian McCann
1B - Lance Berkman (and it's not even close)
2B - Chase Utley
SS - Rafeal Furcal
3B - Chipper Jones (again, not even close)
LF - Xavier Nady
CF - Nate McClouth
RF - Fukudome (anyone else surprised?)
P - Brandon Webb

AL
C - Joe Mauer
1B - Justin Moreneau
2B - Brian Roberts (weakest position in all of baseball)
SS - Michael Young (Tex)
3B - Chone Figgins
LF - Josh Hamilton
CF - Carlos Quentin
RF - Emil Brown
P - Cliff Lee


I know it's early but there is never a bad time to talk about baseball. Add your team!

[ToTheLeft]

NL

C- Soto (Chi)
1B- Berkman (Hou)
2B- Utley (Phi) (Uggla a very close second)
3B- Chipper (ATL)
SS- Tejada (HOU) (Hanley a close second, Furcal 3rd)
OF- McClouth (Pit)
OF- Holliday (Col)
OF- Burell (Phi)
P- Webb (Ari)

AL

C- Mauer (Min)
1B- Kotchman (LAA)
2B- Kinsler (Tex)
3B- Figgins (LAA)
SS- Jeter (NYY)
OF- Quentin (CWS)
OF- Hamilton (Tex)
OF- Crawford (TB)
P- Lee (CLE)

[jcmanson]

When does football start?

[whmatthews]

I'm going to go with three pitchers

NL

C- Brian McCann - Braves
1B- Lance Berkman - Astros
2B- Chase Utley - Phillies
3B- Chipper Jones - Braves
SS- Hanley Ramirez - Marlins
OF- Nate McClouth - Pirates
OF- Matt Holliday - Rockies
OF- Kosoku Fukudome - Cubs
SP- Brandon Webb - Diamondbacks
P - Edison Volquez - Reds
P - Aaron Cook - Rockies


AL

C- Victor Martinez - Indians
1B- Casey Kotchman - Angels
2B- Brian Roberts - Orioles
3B- Joe Crede - White Sox
SS- Derek Jeter - Yankees
OF- Josh Hamilton - Rangers
OF- Raul Ibanez - Mariners
OF- Torii Hunter - Angels
DH- Jim Thome - White Sox
SP - Cliff Lee - Indians
P - Diasuke Matsuzaka - Red Sox
P - Chien-Ming Wang - Yankees

I think this will be the NL's year.

[flamesbball84]

This is still very early, but here are my votes (based on the official mlb.com ballot) which will undeniably change before I actually put in my final votes...

AL
C: Mike Napoli
1B: Kevin Youkilis
2B: Ian Kinsler
SS: Michael Young
3B: Joe Crede
OF: Josh Hamilton (if you don't pick him you shouldn't be allowed to vote)
OF: Emil Brown
OF: Manny Ramirez (can't vote for Quentin, he's not on the ballot)
DH: Aubrey Huff
P: Cliff Lee
RP: Dan Wheeler
CL: Joe Nathan

NL
C: Soto (dont even know his first name)
1B: Lance Berkman
2B: Chase Utley
SS: Hanley Ramirez
3B: Chipper Jones (if you don't pick him you shouldn't be allowed to vote)
OF: Ryan Braun
OF: Nate McLouth
OF: Xavier Nady
P: Edinson Volquez
RP: Carlos Marmol
CL: Jose Valverde

Never thought I'd be putting half of these guys on my list at the beginning of the season, heck, i hadn't even heard of quite a few of these guys prior to this season.

[ToTheLeft]

Geovany Soto. He's a beast, easily the NL ROTY so far...

[TDDance234]

Geovany Soto. He's a beast, easily the NL ROTY so far...

I think Fukudome is going to end up giving him a run for his money, with Jarrjens of the Braves a distant third right now.

[Hold My Own]

When does football start?

They wanted to ignore you and did....but rest assured I laughed

[adam42381]

AL
OF: Manny Ramirez (can't vote for Quentin, he's not on the ballot)

You can vote for anybody you want to. They have the write-in option.

[flamesbball84]

AL
OF: Manny Ramirez (can't vote for Quentin, he's not on the ballot)

You can vote for anybody you want to. They have the write-in option.

I don't do write-ins. Besides, the fans are going to screw up the whole starting lineups anyways by putting the same people in the lineup that they always do even though a great deal of them dont even deserve it this year...

[adam42381]

Here's my list so far:

NL
C Geovany Soto
1B Lance Berkman
2B Chase Utley
3B Chipper Jones
SS Hanley Ramirez
OF Nate McLouth
OF Kosuke Fukudome
OF Matt Holliday
P Brandon Webb

AL
C Joe Mauer
1B Kevin Youkilis
2B Ian Kinsler
3B Chone Figgins
SS Michael Young
OF Josh Hamilton
OF Manny Ramirez
OF Carlos Quentin
P Cliff Lee
DH Hideki Matsui (DH is listed as an option on AL Ballots)

[adam42381]

Besides, the fans are going to screw up the whole starting lineups anyways by putting the same people in the lineup that they always do even though a great deal of them dont even deserve it this year...

No doubt. It's always the same guys starting for the most part it seems like. Kind of like when Griffey was starting every year even when he was injured.

[BJWilliams]

Itd be tough for me to put together a really solid team but to the best that I can think of here is mine:

C: Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves; Geovany Soto, Chicago Cubs
1B: Lance Berkman, Houston Astros; Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies
2B: Dan Uggla, Florida Marlins; Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
SS: Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins; Jose Reyes, New York Mets
3B: Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves; Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals, David Wright, New York Mets
OF: Kosuke Fukudome, Chicago Cubs; Ken Griffey Jr, Cincinnati Reds; Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs; Xavier Nady, Pittsburgh Pirates; Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies; Carlos Beltran, New York Mets
SP: Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks; Tom Glavine, Atlanta Braves; Johan Santana, New York Mets; Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres
RP: Takashi Saito, Los Angeles Dodgers; Ryan Franklin, St Louis Cardinals; Jose Valverde, Houston Astros; Billy Wagner, New York Mets

I'll add my AL later today

[TDDance234]

No doubt. It's always the same guys starting for the most part it seems like. Kind of like when Griffey was starting every year even when he was injured.

Paging BJ...

OF: Kosuke Fukudome, Chicago Cubs; Ken Griffey Jr, Cincinnati Reds; Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs; Xavier Nady, Pittsburgh Pirates; Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies; Carlos Beltran, New York Mets

The same Griffey that's hitting .250 and slugging a whopping .382?

[RubberMallet]

what on earth has mccann done better over soto?...

[adam42381]

No doubt. It's always the same guys starting for the most part it seems like. Kind of like when Griffey was starting every year even when he was injured.

Paging BJ...

OF: Kosuke Fukudome, Chicago Cubs; Ken Griffey Jr, Cincinnati Reds; Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs; Xavier Nady, Pittsburgh Pirates; Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies; Carlos Beltran, New York Mets

The same Griffey that's hitting .250 and slugging a whopping .382?

What he said.

[BJWilliams]

No doubt. It's always the same guys starting for the most part it seems like. Kind of like when Griffey was starting every year even when he was injured.

Paging BJ...

OF: Kosuke Fukudome, Chicago Cubs; Ken Griffey Jr, Cincinnati Reds; Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs; Xavier Nady, Pittsburgh Pirates; Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies; Carlos Beltran, New York Mets

The same Griffey that's hitting .250 and slugging a whopping .382?

Yes the same guy. Also, I just put down who I would have on my roster (them whole every team thing being thrown out the window). Other than him I think I have a pretty solid group of outfielders. Here is how Id set the defense to start if starters weren't named by the fans:

OF: Kosuke Fukudome
OF: Matt Holliday
OF: Xavier Nady
1B: Lance Berkman
2B: Dan Uggla
SS: Hanley Ramirez
3B: Chipper Jones
C: Geovany Soto
P: Brandon Webb
DH: Ryan Howard (AL Park)

[TDDance234]

what on earth has mccann done better over soto?...

It's a wash at this point and since I'm a Braves fan, I went with McCann.

[RubberMallet]

what on earth has mccann done better over soto?...

It's a wash at this point and since I'm a Braves fan, I went with McCann.

wash?...other than being tied for dingers (soto as of this afternoon has more) soto beats him in everything else....everyone and their grandmother can run on mccann for crapsake...

being a fan is justifiable at least...

[flamesbball84]

Itd be tough for me to put together a really solid team but to the best that I can think of here is mine:

C: Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves; Geovany Soto, Chicago Cubs
1B: Lance Berkman, Houston Astros; Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies
2B: Dan Uggla, Florida Marlins; Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
SS: Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins; Jose Reyes, New York Mets
3B: Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves; Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals, David Wright, New York Mets
OF: Kosuke Fukudome, Chicago Cubs; Ken Griffey Jr, Cincinnati Reds; Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs; Xavier Nady, Pittsburgh Pirates; Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies; Carlos Beltran, New York Mets
SP: Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks; Tom Glavine, Atlanta Braves; Johan Santana, New York Mets; Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres
RP: Takashi Saito, Los Angeles Dodgers; Ryan Franklin, St Louis Cardinals; Jose Valverde, Houston Astros; Billy Wagner, New York Mets

I'll add my AL later today

soriano is overrated, griffey doesnt deserve to be on the list, and beltran isnt even batting 250 and is grossly underacheiving.
and anyone from the mets doesnst deserve to be on the team other than maybe johan.

[01LUGrad]

soriano is overrated

Oops. You may want to check the recent stats on that one.

[flamesbball84]

soriano is overrated

Oops. You may want to check the recent stats on that one.

he's a leadoff hitter, and he's only hitting .265 with a .302 OBP, that's hardly all-star numbers...he may be hot in his last 7, but that's the only time he's been any good all season.

[BJWilliams]

Duly noted 84...I take it you would replace Jr with Braun at the very least.

Anyway on to my AL:

C: Victor Martinez, Cleveland Indians; Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
OF: Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox; Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays; Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers; Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners; Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians; Torii Hunter, Los Angeles Angels
1B: Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins; David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
2B: Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox; Brian Roberts, Baltimore Orioles
SS: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees; Michael Young, Texas Rangers
3B: Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees; Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers; Chone Figgins, Los Angeles Angels
SP: Ervin Santana, Los Angeles Angels; Chien Ming-Wang, New York Yankees; Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians; Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox
RP: Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins; Troy Percival, Tampa Bay Rays; Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox, Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees


OF: Grady Sizemore
OF: Carl Crawford
OF: Manny Ramirez
1B: Justin Morneau
2B: Dustin Pedroia
SS: Derek Jeter
3B: Alex Rodriguez
C: Joe Mauer
P: Cliff Lee
DH: David Ortiz

[01LUGrad]

soriano is overrated

Oops. You may want to check the recent stats on that one.

he's a leadoff hitter, and he's only hitting .265 with a .302 OBP, that's hardly all-star numbers...he may be hot in his last 7, but that's the only time he's been any good all season.

Keep checking the stats... After today's game (5-5, 2HR, 2b, 3 RBI)
A Soriano - 10HR, 25 RBI, .331 OBP, .598 Slug, .295 AVG.

He's not the prototypical leadoff hitter. I'll give you that, but you only lead off once each the game. With the Cubs' incredibly potent offense this year (#8 hitter just dropped below .275 avg), he is going to have tons of RBI opportunities. It's also nice to have a guy who hangs a "1" on the scoreboard after the first pitch of the game (4 out of last 6 games).

[flamesbball84]

He's also missed 15 games, which explain whuyy this hot streak this week has inflated his numbers so quickly. But like I said when I put my rosters up, they are inevitable going to change before I make my final vote and if he continues at his current averages (which it will be interesting to see how he does when this hot streak ends) then I'll consider voting for him.