It is the most ridiculous thing in sports to have the fans vote for the MLB All-Star Game. Fans vote for their favorite players even if they have horrible numbers.
This year has been a prime example thus far of the stupidity of fans.
Big-name players that have been hitting very poorly, with three or four guys way more deserving of an appearance, are not only in first or second for their position, but are miles ahead of everyone else.
As of Monday, the New York Yankees have moved ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the American League East, while the Boston Red Sox (who a month ago were 8 1/2 games back) now currently sit in a virtual tie with Tampa, and are one game back of the Yankees.
Since it’s ladies first, I will start with the Yankees.
They are 17-7 in their last 24 games, and 12-6 in the month of June. Although Mark Texeira continues to struggle at the plate, Robinson Cano has stepped up tremendously. He is leading the team in ever major hitting category.
Cano’s 14 home runs, 49 RBI, 99 hits, and .367 batting average appear to have him a shoo-in for the All-Star game.
Someone not quite living up to his hitting numbers is Alex Rodriguez. He currently is sitting at eight homers, 44 RBI, 67 hits, and a .277 batting average. He will most likely make the All-Star game, but guys like Evan Longoria, Adrian Beltre, and Jose Bautista all are more deserving at this point.
The real reason the Yankees are so good this year has been their pitching, and not even from the guys you’d expect. Phil Hughes and Andy Pettitte have been the two best pitchers on the team thus far, and they have been going deep enough into games that the bullpen has had rest.
Hughes thus far deserves to be an All-Star, and in consideration for the Cy Young Award. He has been awesome, and if Sox and Yanks fans are lucky, we could see him and Jon Lester as a Roger Clemens vs. Pedro Martinez.
All in all, the Yankees are a very deep team that despite some injuries this year, have managed to post the best record in baseball. The key for them is to keep their pitching staff healthy for the season, and they’ll have a huge shot at 100 wins.
Next, the Red Sox.
Everyone thought at the beginning of the year the strength of the Red Sox would be their pitching. Well, with Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka both on DL, that hasn’t been the case this season.
The Sox started horribly, and everyone immediately wrote them off, calling this season a bridge year. Then David Ortiz got hot at the plate, followed by Beltre, Kevin Youkilis, and Victor Martinez, and suddenly the Red Sox were at .500.
Suddenly, the Sox had become a hitting machine, with Big Papi and Youkilis having monster Mays.
This allowed the pitching staff to relax, and since then Lester and Clay Buchholtz have been two of the best pitchers in the American League.
The key player for the Red Sox has been Ortiz. He has brought power back to the lineup of the Sox, creating that three-four threat in the lineup that they needed. He has the most home runs on the team and is on pace for a good season.
The Red Sox have been killed with injuries all season, but have managed to get good production out of their backups and role players. They currently have the best offense in the majors.
Another key for them is to get their starting pitching figured out and a few guys healthy, and the Red Sox will have 100 wins.
Sorry Rays fans, but your guys are dropping. They have no depth, that won’t win you 100 games.
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All the talk before the season started was that the Red Sox pitching would have to be fantastic in order for the Red Sox to win a title. The talk at the end of May was that the Red Sox needed to trade David Ortiz. Both of these have been disproven since, as the Red Sox enter the middle of June with one of the best offenses in the league.
Here are the numbers.
The Sox have scored 340 runs on the season, which as of yesterday puts them ahead of the star-studded New York Yankees for most runs in the Majors. The Red Sox have 603 hits thus far, which is also good for tops in the Majors. They are fifth in batting average, posting a team .274.
The most surprising stat of all, though, would be the power numbers. The Red Sox have hit 81 home runs. That is good enough for second in the bigs.
As shocking as this may be, the Red Sox have the best lineup thus far in the season, but why?
David Ortiz: He has put his name back on the board as a feared home run and RBI machine. He is in a small slump here in June, but he has proven he can get out of it and have monster times.
He is hitting the ball to all parts of the field, and his home runs have been moon shots. He has given the Sox something to fear in their lineup.
Adrian Beltre: We all knew he struggled in Seattle, but for some odd reason no one thought that by moving to a much more hitter-friendly park he would do a lot better.
He is currently hitting .333 with eight home runs and 43 RBI. Those are very good numbers and good enough to be the third-best hitting 3B in the AL ahead of A-Rod.
He is playing like an All-Star right now, and if it were not for Longoria or Bautista he would be in great consideration for an All-Star vote.
Martinez/Varitek: The two-catcher combo has been incredible this year. If you combined their stats, you would get an average of probably around .280 with 15 HR, 46 RBI, and 81 hits.
Martinez struggled through April, and had an ok May, but in the month of June he is hitting .487 with a hit in all but one game thus far.
Meanwhile Tek has seemed to love his new backup roll, because he is hitting better than he has in two years. In 72 at-bats he has seven home runs and 12 RBI. He has filled in very nicely and been very productive for the Sox in his new role.
Kevin Youkilis: Perhaps the most consistent player for the Sox this year has been Youk. He is hitting over .300 with 12 home runs and more than 40 RBI. He has been the leader and the force driving this lineup the entire year.
He is currently on pace for career numbers in a number of categories, and has been a model for everyone.
Collaborative Effort: There have been breakout performances from many people this year, and they have all for the most part been at different times. Pedroia was the star in April and then he got cold in May. That was when Papi stepped up. Then Beltre got hot at the end of May and Papi went into a slump again, so Martinez and Youk got hot.
It is really easy for slumping hitters to get down and try to do too much to break out of it, but when others step up and make plays it puts less pressure on those slumping hitters, and gives them time to get out of it.
All in all, this lineup has surprised everyone. They have had key injuries, but people like Jeremy Hermida and Bill Hall have stepped in and done their part.
With the pitching also getting it together, this team looks dangerous to make a run at the division before the All-Star break.
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The Red Sox were in a huge rut as they started the 2010 year 4-9.
The highly touted pitching staff, which was expected to carry this team, struggled mightly. And the offense didn’t do much at the plate.
There was talk of trading David Ortiz, or just giving up on the year at end of April.
But since the sluggish start, the Sox are the hottest team in baseball. Four players in particular have heavily impacted Boston’s recent successs.
These four contributors deserve all-star votes.
Roy Oswalt has recently expressed to the Houston Astros owner that he wants to be traded. He has come out and said that he would wave his no-trade clause.
He is 32 years old and has never won a championship. This year he finds himself on the team with the worst record in the National League and no signs of competing in the near future.
The Boston Red Sox are currently fourth in their division posting a 22-21 record mainly because of how inconsistent their pitching has been. Their hitting is in the top-five in most major categories this season, which is a surprise to most people.
Currently, they are sixth in average, third in runs, fourth in OBP, second in slugging, and second in OPS in the American League hitter-friendly league.
Their pitching rankings are, however, horrible for the American League. They are 13th in ERA, ninth in BAA, 10th in OPS, and 10th in WHIP. This coming from the team that was built around pitching and defense.
Oswalt is having possibly the best year of his career although his record of 2-6 does not reflect that with how bad of a team he is on.
Brandon Lyon has had a pretty good year as a reliever posting a 4.15 ERA and a BAA of .235. If you look at his numbers, he strangely had better numbers last year in the American League. He also pitched for the Red Sox posting around a 4.00 ERA.
Jonathan Papelbon has been the Red Sox closer for a while now and has just about been as good as it gets. He has 10 saves this year while allowing hitters to just hit .194 against him. He is still young and currently in the prime of his career.
Dice-K has had his ups and downs with the Red Sox. Two years ago he looked awesome, and then was injured last year and going into this year. In his last four starts last year, his ERA was around 2.00, and when he’s healthy can be very good.
My proposed trade is Roy Oswalt and Brandon Lyon to the Red Sox for Jonathan Papelbon and Dice-K.
Why this makes sense for the Red Sox:
The Red Sox are in desperate need of getting a staff together that actually works. They would lose Pap, but he has built a rep around Boston to where people do not like him, also David Bard has been lights-out this year and is ready for the big role.
Adding Oswalt would add another ace to the list and Lyon would put a stable pitcher in the bullpen that is struggling right now.
Why this makes sense for Houston:
It makes Oswalt happy by sending him to a team that can compete for a championship. It also brings in a star in Papelbon who would instantly make an impact in the closers role. It also gives the team a younger player who they can build around.
Dice-K can be a great pitcher when healthy and when he gets healthy soon he will find it easier to pitch in the National League. He could have the potential of winning 18 games again and be a star.
Maybe they can work something out with draft picks in there too or something to seal the deal, but I think this is a deal that both teams would benefit from.
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