We did it last year...so we'll do it this year!

To me, the All-Star game is more of a status symbol than it is a fun game to watch.  I know it stems from Selig and the team managers agreeing to call it a tie game--at which point baseball pulled a 180 and in a desperate attempt at "No, No!  It really matters, it really, really, totally counts!" decided to give an exhibition game some actual merit by granting home field advantage to the league that won the contest.  It went from fun...to flat-out meaningless...to an oxymoron.

But just because the league made a pair of bad decisions, it doens't mean we should punish the players.  Election to the starting lineup of the All-Star game is still an honor and a symbol of status and respect; exactly as it should be.  With that, I present my All-Star selections.

Catcher:  Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
Age:  25
Previous All-Star Selections:  1 (2006)

No big surprise here.  Mauer has been the best offensive catcher in the American League and, arguably, the best defensive catcher as well.  He's on pace for nearly 40 doubles, walks twice as often as he strikes out and controls the strike zone like few others in all of baseball.  He's a suberb player in every sense of the word, not to mention a great guy, and he deserves this opportunity to represent the best of his league.

Runner-Up:  Dioner Navarro, Tampa Bay Rays

First Base:  Kevin Youkilis, Boston Red Sox
Age:  29
Previous All-Star Selections:  0

I tried to justify going with Morneau over Youkilis, but in all good conscience couldn't do it.  Youkilis has a significant lead in slugging and extra-base hits, and even though Justin walks more and strikes out less, I couldn't award the position to Justin just because I wanted him to have it.  Youkilis is a fantastic player on both sides of the ball and deserves this nomination.  More than anything he's a great hitter, and any lineup would be happy to have him in it.  Besides, what pitcher isn't afraid of Leonidas?

Runner-Up:  Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins

Second Base:  Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers
Age:  26
Previous All-Star Selections:  0

It's tough to deny a guy who's on pace for 90 extra-base hits.  After finishing seventh in Rookie of the Year voting in '06, Kinsler turned in a solid year in '07.  Neither of those seasons has compared to how he's belting in '08.  He's matched career highs in stolen bases and doubles already, as will likely smash career marks for hits, walks, home runs and RBI as well.  Kinsler provides the full package for a second baseman from the offensive side, and he's adequate in the field as well.  Do you think Arizona would have liked him to sign with them on one of the two seperate occasions where they drafted him?  Probably.  Luckily for Texas, he didn't.

Runner-Up:  Brian Roberts, Baltimore Orioles

Third Base:  Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
Age:  32
Previous All-Star Selections:  11 (1996-1998, 2000-2007)

When you talk about the best players of all time, Rodriguez has to be in the conversation.  Any time a guy hits .316/.399/.591 and it's run of the mill, you've got something special.  He turns 33 later this month but, luckily for fans of spectacle, greatness and baseball in general, he's showing no signs of slowing down.  Alex deserves all the credit he gets and then some.  His similar batter comps include Ken Griffey Jr., Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott, Manny Ramirez and Frank Robinson.  When you get an opportunity to watch a player the caliber of A-Rod, even if you hate the Yankees, you have to appreciate the skill.

Runner-Up:  Mike Lowell, Boston Red Sox

Shortstop:  Michael Young, Texas Rangers
Age:  31
Previous All-Star Selections:  4 (2004-2007)

Young, having a down year, is the benefactor of the circumstances surrounding the position of shortstop throughout the American League:  all shortstops are having down years.  Peralta in Cleveland, Jeter in New York, Eckstein, Bartlett, Lugo...if they don't have glaring weaknesses they've missed time, and all-in-all it makes for a situation that we're not used to in the AL.  For years it was impossible to pick the one best shortstop, just like this year, but usually it was because there were too many options.  This season there aren't enough.  Young is the best of a weak list of finalists.

Runner-Up:  Derek Jeter, New York Yankees

Outfield:  Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
Age:  27
Previous All-Star Selections:  0

I don't know what happened to Josh Hamilton from 2003-2005, and part of me doesn't want to know.  I'd like to think he returned home to the planet Krypton, developed super powers, and then returned to earth to better mankind through baseball.  Actually, it was suspension due to violating baseball's drug policy, which makes his transformation intriguing to say the least:  prior to 11 games at triple-A Louiseville last summer, he'd had no success past high-A ball.  At any rate, the Rangers made a stellar pickup in the off-season with Hamilton, and now he's hit his way into my All-Star lineup.  Also, I'm sticking with the Krypton story.  Hamilton is the third, but not the final, Ranger to make my list.

Outfield:  Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians
Age:  25
Previous All-Star Selections:  2  (2006, 2007)

Nice headshot, Sizemore you freak.  Think the Expos/Nationals would like to reverse this trade?  In June of '02, the Expos sent Sizemore (stud), Cliff Lee (having a stellar year in Cleveland), Brandon Phillips (serviceable with the Reds) and Lee Stevens (out of baseball) to the Indians for Bartolo Colon (on the DL with the Red Sox) and Tim Drew (failed pitching prospect, last heard from last season with the Independent League).  At any rate, Sizemore is an absolute stud.  He hits for power, gets on base, steals bases and is an extra-base machine.  In addition he's a superior defender, and took home a Gold Glove award last year.  As far as center field candidates are concerned, Sizemore is head and shoulders above the competition.  Even hitting an mediocre .261, he's still productive at the plate.

Outfield:  Jermaine Dye, Chicago White Sox
Age:  34
Previous All-Star Selections:  2 (2000, 2006)

While he isn't as spectacular as he was in '06, Dye continues to stave off decline and is on pace to have the third-best offensive season of his career.  Age hasn't hinted at sunset so much this season, and even in the field Dye continues to be a more than adequate defender.  As one of few White Sox hitters who have been effective across the board of offensive achievements, if Chicago takes their run at a division title into September they'll have a lot to thank their right fielder for.  Also, Jermaine Dye has been 34 since 2003.

Runners-Up:  Nick Markakis, Baltimore Orioles; Johnny Damon, New York Yankees; Maggio Ordonez, Detroit Tigers

Designated Hitter:  Milton Bradley, Texas Rangers
Age:  30
Previous All-Star Selections:  0

I'm not sure anyone in their right minds could have seen this performance coming.  Across the board this is simply a stunning, MVP-style season from a guy who's always been a good player...but he's never shown that he could be this good.  Whatever the case may be, the Rangers picked up another diamond in the rough last winter in Bradley, a guy who many teams steered away from because of his makeup.  If the Rangers do decide to sell at the deadline, they'll likely sell Bradley, who would be the quintessential example of selling high.  Bradley's services may never be as profitable as they are right now--at least as far as a competetive team looking for a blockbuster bat is concerned.

Runner-Up:  Hideki Matsui, New York Yankees

The Batting Order, which courtesy of Baseball Musings' Lineup Analysis tool, says this team could average 6.817 runs per game:

1-Milton Bradley, DH
2-Alex Rodriguez, 3B
3-Kevin Youkilis, 1B
4-Josh Hamilton, OF
5-Ian Kinsler, 2B
6-Jermaine Dye, OF
7-Grady Sizemore, OF
8-Michael Young, SS
9-Joe Mauer, C

Going In, In Brief

Winning two straight against the White Sox has made the Twins (13-14) winners of three out of their last four, which hopefully gives them a nice push into the second month of the season.  Finding some sort of offensive consistency is an issue, averaging just 3.8 runs per game.  Positively though, Joe Mauer, Carlos Gomez and Justin Morneau have been more effective at the plate recently.  Michael Cuddyer is hitting .316/.381/.526 in the five games since his return to the lineup.

Detroit (14-15) is a hot team right now.  They swept the Yankees in New York for the first time since 1966, and are on a bit of a streak having won eight of their last 10 contests.  They boast the American League's highest-scoring offense (5.2 RPG), lead the AL in both OBP (.356) and SLG (.443), and are second in the AL with 33 home runs.  On the plus side, their pitching staff leads all of baseball in walks and carries a relatively hefty 4.85 staff ERA.

Probable Pitchers

Armando Galarraga VS Livan Hernandez
Justin Verlander VS Scott Baker
Kenny Rogers VS Boof Bonser

Opposition Focus

Armando Galarraga:  With three pretty good starts under his belt this year, this 26-year old right hander possesses decent capabilites to strike hitters out while maintaining pretty good control as well.  He's been inducing a lot of ground balls, so pitch selection will be important for an aggressive Minnesota offense.

Justin Verlander:  Verlander's off to a slow start, with higher walk rates and lower strikeout rates than  what we're used to from him.  He's only notched one quality start in six opportunities, and he can have trouble throwing strikes at times, so the (again) aggressive Minnesota bats should be patient and work counts.  Make Verlander prove that he can throw strikes.

Kenny Rogers:  Usually able to hit his spots pretty well, Rogers has walked more guys than he's fanned so far.  Like Verlander he's had trouble catching the strike zone at times, especially against right-handed hitters.  He turns 44 in June, so it's more than possible he's hit the end of what's been a very good run, but those kinds of guys have a tendency to mop up the Twins.  At least it seems like it.  Hopefully Young, Cuddyer, Gomez and Harris can come through for the Twins; starting the game with Monroe in the lineup, and then removing him later, might not be a bad strategy here.

Magglio Ordonez:  He's following up a career-best '07 pretty well; five homers, eight doubles, nearly a 1-to-1 BB:K ratio and a .923 OPS.  Ordonez is proving to be one of the best hitters of the last 10 years, with a career line of .312/.371/.522.  He's 34, and he's still incredible.

Curtis Granderson:  He's baaa-aaack:  .310/.459/.793 in the eight games since his return to Detroit.  The surprising part:  eight walks, four strikeouts.  Even though they've only sent him once (and he was caught), the pitcher will still need to keep a close eye on Granderson.  He reminds me a lot of Alfonso Soriano, both in skill set and physical form; if he can develop more patience and better discipline than Soriano, Granderson is looking at one heck of a good career.

Carlos Guillen:  Lots of line drives (22%), lots of walks (14.3% walk rate), good ISO (.204).  He's a doubles machine so far this season (9), and just another dangerous hitter in the Tiger batting order.  He and Miguel Cabrera have flip-flopped playing third and first the last few games.

Stats