skyking162

There are many valid philosophies for picking an All-Star team. I’m picking the most valuable performances by position players from the first half of 2008, because that seems to be the most popular approach. Offense matters, defense matters, and playing time matters. Oh, and those other pesky things like park effects and league differences matter, too. This is not the team that has the best chance of winning the game. For that, I’d eschew 2008 numbers in favor of pre-season projections and pick a lot of great hitters to take all the pinch-hit at-bats. Starters are listed first at each position and are notated with an (S). Here’s my NL team.

Catcher

Joe Mauer (S) — This one’s a no-brainer. If I were manager, he’d play the whole game.
Dioner Navarro — He’s the only other AL catcher with solid offensive numbers in decent playing time and he even plays good defense.
Take Your Pick — There’s nobody else deserving, but it’s probably smart to carry three catchers since they’re the weakest hitters and should be pinch-hit for at some point. Gerald Laird’s .258 GPA is the third-highest for catchers with at least 200 PAs. Yikes.

First Base

Kevin Youkilis (S) — Other than missing a few games to injury, there’s no chink in his argument. He’s outhit all first basemen except Jason Giambi and plays exceptional defense. Youk’s so good in the field that the Red Sox put him at third base for 118 innings while Mike Lowell was out.
Jason Giambi — Yes, he makes the team before Justin Morneau. Morneau has 75 more plate appearances, but Giambi’s OPS+ is 148 compared to 132 for Morneau. Their poor fielding is basically a wash.

Second Base

Brian Roberts (S) — I actually can’t make a case that he’s been better than Ian Kinsler, but I’m also positive Kinsler hasn’t been better, either. (Therefore I might as well be contrarian.) Roberts doesn’t quite stack up offensively — B-Ref’s batting wins has Kinsler leading by a full win. But it’s also not close defensively — Kinsler is about five runs worse than average while Roberts is five runs in the positive direction. That’s a one win edge for Roberts’ fielding. Overall, a wash.
Ian Kinsler — Yup, he’s an offensive beast, posting a better OPS+ than any AL first baseman. Mark Ellis would be my third option here, and would be my write-in option for shortstop.

Shortstop

Nobody (S) — Ugh, the AL has a terrible contingent of shortstops this year, just horrible. Michael Young has a small offensive advantage over Derek Jeter and Jhonny Peralta, but they’re all merely average hitters with gloves that are mediocre at best. Let’s just say that Orlando Cabrera wouldn’t be a crazy choice (he can field) even with a slash line of .266/.319/.363.

Third Base

Alex Rodriguez (S) — ARod’s 2007 OPS+: 177. ARod’s 2008 OPS+: 170.
Evan Longoria — He has, by far, the second-best GPA among AL third basemen qualified for the batting title. Plus, he’s a good fielder. I’d take Carlos Guillen, Mike Lowell, and Adrian Beltre before Joe Crede.

Outfield

Grady Sizemore (S) — I can’t believe the fans don’t appreciate how phenomenal this guy is. He has 22 homeruns already in 2008, takes a walk, and plays a very good center field. Sizemore’s been by far the most valuable outfielder in the American League.
Josh Hamilton (S) — He hasn’t just played center field, but his ability to hold his own there puts him ahead of similarly productive hitters.
JD Drew (S) — There are a plethra of impressive power-hitting corner outfielders in the AL this year, but none can match Drew’s .400+ OBP. That makes him my third starter even though he lags a bit in plate appearances.
BJ Upton — No, I can’t find his power, either. But 377 plate appearances with a .391 OBP is quite valuable. Plus, he’s been a good center fielder so far in 2008. That’s worth two wins over any of the poor-fielding corner guys (Dye, Quentin, Magglio, Manny). If he did have last year’s power, he’d be in Grady Sizemore territory.
Johnny Damon — Let’s compare Damon to the four guys I just mentioned. His slugging percentage matches Magglio and Manny and is only .040 points behind Quentin. His edge in on-base percentage gives him an equal OPS+ to everyone but Dye. But the fielding isn’t even comparable, at least a full win better than all four guys. Dye’s offense almost makes up the difference, but not quite.
Jermaine Dye — He makes it as the sixth outfielder, which is really the second DH.

Let me make a comment about the outfield selections. Many people would be shocked that Carlos Quentin, Magglio Ordonez, and Manny Ramirez aren’t as valuable as BJ Upton and Johnny Damon. (I’d even consider putting Curtis Granderson on the team before them.) There are two reasons. One is that those hitters are good, but not great. There’s a difference between a .370 OBP and a .400 OBP and there’s a difference between a .500 SLG and a .580 SLG. The second reason is fielding. Can you imagine the damage of Manny Ramirez in center field? Ouch! But Upton and Damon don’t just handle the position adequately, they’re assets. (Yes, I know Damon’s playing left, but he’s still fielding like a center fielder.) If you look at the NL outfield, there are more corner sluggers who make the team, like Jason Bay and Matt Holliday. But those guys are out-hitting their AL counterparts (and Holliday can play the field.)

Designated Hitter

Milton Bradley (S) — Another obvious choice. But let’s say Bradley was really an outfielder. Would we have to pick a DH for this spot? Or could we just pick the ninth-best hitter in the AL, whether that’s Ian Kinsler, Jason Giambi, or Tony Pena Jr.?

What do you think? Am I off my rocker?

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