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

The following appears in the Dugout Splinters insert of GameDay for the Tuesday - Thursday series versus the Washington Nationals.

Batten Down the Hatches

This is it.  We're entering that stretch of the season where the teams in the middle of the pack either make a run, fall away or, even worse, tread water.  That's what the Twins did in '07, and all it did was confuse the heck out of everyone.  Looking at the team as it is now, there are more than a few holes that need patching to keep the vessel afloat.

What's Working...

There are a couple of obvious positions that are pretty well afloat, and of course they're the predictable ones:  catcher, first base, second base, closer.  At any one time you could probably pick a pair of starting pitchers that are doing well, maybe even throw in a trio of relievers.  Feeling generous?  Jason Kubel's 10 homers and .758 OPS aren't horrible, so we'll count the designated hitter position as satisfactory, although he's done the best offensively while playing in left field.

What's Not Working...

Pretty much everything else.  There's been a revolving door at third base and shortstop, which has netted the Twins some pretty mediocre defense, three home runs and a .239/.285/.327 line.  While Brian Buscher and Matt Macri have succeeded in limited time this year, it's far too early into that experiment to deem it a successful platoon.  The corner outfield positions haven't provided the power, or run production in general, that we were hoping for.  Both Delmon Young and Michael Cuddyer have stepped up their contributions, but it's a long season, and they both have a long way to go.  In center field, Carlos Gomez is playing good defense, but has only stolen two bases since May 11^th, while getting caught five times in between.  Then there's the pitching staff, which seems to leak runs at a much higher rate than Twins fans are used to.  That includes the bullpen, which is going into its first home series without Juan Rincon.

Unfortunately, with the way this team is set up, there isn't a lot that can be done.  There isn't any position player help to bring up, and Francisco Liriano won't resurface until after the All-Star break...unless Livan Hernandez gets traded or someone gets hurt.  And those are two scenarios in their own rights.  But with only one trade chip (whose stock isn't very high at the moment), it's what-you-see-is-what-you-get with the Twins.  And if we're going to judge the next month and a half by what we've seen so far this season, we might be in for some stormy weather.  Red sky in the morning...

Course and Heading?

If you're into the clues that will tell you where the team will be heading in the coming weeks, there are a couple of things you can be on the lookout for.  First, note which major league pitcher is on the same schedule as Liriano.  Liriano will be a starter when he does return, and he'll have to replace somebody.  Second, make a note of how often Craig Monroe gets playing time.  Denard Span is doing very well in Rochester, and if Monroe continues to struggle at the plate something might happen.  Ron Gardenhire has expressed his desire to get Span onto his bench.  Finally, take careful note of which relief pitchers are being put into high-leverage situations.  Gardenhire manages his bullpen very well when there's a hierarchy, even if it's predictable, so look for him to establish roles.  Matt Guerrier, Jesse Crain and Dennys Reyes have decent numbers, but the results of his choices will also determine the back-end of the bullpen...and that's where the questions lie.

All-Stars:  Who Should Go?

With the game less than a month away, it's a good time to start discussing potential representatives for the All-Star game.  At its best, balloting for the mid-summer classic is a popularity contest.  At it's worst, it can be seen as an exhibition in ignorance.  While Joe Mauer trailed Boston backstop Jason Varitek by less than 41,000 votes on Monday, it was Ivan Rodriguez who came in third place for catchers.  He of the .262/.304/.366 line is somehow beating out great seasons from Dioner Navarro (.327/.363/.446), Gerald Laird (.293/.351/.425) and A.J. Pierzynski (.301/.344/.437).  Does it make sense?  I'm not sure, but I'd love for you to tell me the last time All-Star voting got it right, because I'm clueless.

It's also fair to argue that you'd rather see names you recognize on the roster, which makes complete sense.  Why vote for someone you've never heard of?  But then we're getting into a completely different realm of questions having to deal with why exactly we vote for who we vote for.  If you're voting for I-Rod over Navarro, it can only be because you recognize his name, and so you're voting him in based on the merits of his distinguished career.  But is that how we vote?  Are we voting for guys with great careers?  Or are we voting for guys having great seasons?

So when you're sitting in your seats this month and someone comes by and hands out a fist full of ballots, ask them what we're supposed to be voting on.  Ask your neighbor.  Start a debate.  It's baseball, and that's part of the fun!

ON THE HILL  

Tuesday:  Livan Hernandez  (6-4, 5.84 ERA)

• ¨ 2008: 89.1 IP, 136 H, 28 K, 15 BB, 13 HR
• ¨ 2007: 11-11, 4.93 ERA, 204.1 IP, 247 H, 34 HR
• ¨ Fastball, changeup, curveball, slider
• ¨ Hernandez hasn't gone longer than six innings OR allowed fewer than five runs since May 17^th.
• ¨ Don't let the ERA splits fool you (4.67 home, 7.00 away); the only real difference in the Dome is that he gets more ground ball outs. He's still being hit just as hard, and opponents are still reaching base just as often.
• ¨ That's the thing with Livan-it's not just how often he gets hit, but HOW he gets hit.
• ¨ The Twins need him to have a good start if they want to get back any trade value.

Wednesday:  Kevin Slowey  (3-6, 4.70 ERA)

• ¨ 2008: 51.2 IP, 52 H, 35 K, 7 BB, 9 HR
• ¨ 2007: 4-1, 4.73 ERA, 66.2 IP, 82 H, 47 K, 11 BB, 16 HR
• ¨ Fastball, changeup, curveball, slider
• ¨ After a brief bump in the road on June 8^th, Slowey got back on track in his last start, going eight innings and allowing just a pair of runs.
• ¨ Slowey was actually "stronger" as his last outing went along-his first fastball was clocked at 89, his final one clocked at 93.

Thursday:  Glen Perkins  (2-2, 4.57 ERA)

• ¨ 2008: 45.1 IP, 59 H, 27 K, 12 BB, 8 HR
• ¨ 2007: 0-0, 3.14 ERA, 28.2 IP, 23 H, 20 K, 12 BB
• ¨ Fastball, changeup, curve/slurve
• ¨ Perkins notched his first quality starts in four chances his last time out, lasting six innings in Milwaukee.
• ¨ He doesn't get many ground balls, and hitters square up well on his stuff, but if he can keep the ball in the park and the defense keeps the miscues to a minimum, he'll mitigate the damage.
• ¨ While he doesn't throw the breaking ball(s) as often as his fastball/changeup combo, they're vitally important to his success. He'll need to throw them for strikes.

After posting the other day that Mauer was leading the league in batting average, I began to wonder how the Twins were shaping up by position throughout the American League.  But this time I'm more interested in seeing performance metrics, as opposed to achievement metrics.

These numbers were accurate yesterday, but I wasn't able to post this last night.  I used the catcher with the most plate appearances for each club...so sadly, there's no Jorge Posada.

The Unlucky Award:  Ramon Hernandez

In spite of making excellent contact this year, Hernandez has run into some horrendous luck.  In spite of hitting more than his share of line-drives, and coming in below league average in ground balls (both good things), his BABIP is a miserable .212...when it should be closer to .370.  Additionally, he's got a little power, pretty good for a catcher and doesn't strike out a lot.  Hernandez has had a good season peripherally, but it's not showing up in his numbers.  He deserves better than .207/.244/.339.

The Lucky Award:  Jason Varitek

Varitek has had a lot of bounces go his way so far this year.  By all means, he does have a few things legitimately working for him:  the ability to hit the ball out of the park, good walk rate, slightly above average ground-ball ratio, lots of fly balls which aren't quite as easy to turn into outs as ground balls.  But along with the power comes the (by far) highest strikeout rate among American League catchers, which could be called a push.  It's the low line-drive percentage that raises a red flag for me, because it means that if Varitek were to lose his power stroke, he'd run into some serious productivity issues.  Walks would drop because pitchers wouldn't be worrying about the long ball, and if you can't hit the ball squarely it makes it a whole lot easier for the defense to put you away.  Right now, in spite of the second lowest live-drive percentage among AL catchers, he still boasts a solid .348 BABIP.  It should be closer to .240.

Finally:  Joe Mauer

Not much on this chart should surprise us.  Joe is a good hitter and makes solid contact?  Check.  No home runs?  Duh.  Takes a lot of walks, doesn't strike out much, hits ground balls with regularity?  Check, check, check, check.  If there's one thing that does seem out of place, it's the surprising amount of infield fly balls he's popped up.  Those turn into easy outs.

Basically what looking at Mauer's chart tells me is that there is, indeed, nothing to worry about.  There's nothing wrong with a 25-year old, no matter what position, that possesses these kind of peripherals.  Sure we'd all like to see some home runs, but he's so solid all-around that it's a moot point.  He hits the ball hard, has excellent control of the strike zone, is the owner of some of the league's best plate discipline and his line is reflective of all this:  .333/.404/.413.  If every man in your lineup could hit like that, it wouldn't matter that there were no home runs.

But that's not going to happen, which is why lineups have balance.  Hopefully the rest of the lineup can find their own roles soon.