The latest batch of All-Star voting results are in and the Angels are pretty much nowhere to be found, not that it should be a surprise to anyone. And since it looks like the Halos don’t stand a chance at any position player representation, I can go ahead and vote my mind for the All-Star game, which conveniently fulfills my BBA obligation of doing so.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
C – Alex Avila. Honestly, I had no idea he was having such a great season until I looked through the stats just now.
1B – Adrian Gonzalez. A total no-brainer. He has a .341 average and is generally awesome. Even with discounting points against him for being a Red Sox, he still earns my vote.
2B – Howie Kendrick. Hey, just because the general public isn’t voting for him, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve it. Even with his stint on the DL, his offensive numbers are still pretty much the best amongst AL second baseman and he trails only Ben Zobrist in WAR. Besides, I need to vote for at least one Angel, right?
3B – Adrian Beltre. This vote probably should’ve go to A-Rod, but I just hate him, so no dice. Beltre has been almost as good, so I have no problem letting him steal the vote here. I’d really have no problem with it had Tony Reagins just ponied up and signed him in free agency instead of trading for Vernon Wells… not that I’m still bitter.
SS – Asdrubal Cabrera. He is having the biggest breakout season in the entire league and a major reason the Indians don’t suck. Plus his name is Asdrubal, so he has that going for him.
OF1 – Jose Bautista. The guy has a legit shot at winning a Triple Crown. If you don’t vote for him, you are probably a terrorist.
OF2 – Curtis Granderson. I hate voting for a Yankee, but the dude is mashing and even giving Bautista a run for his money for the homer crown. You may not be a terrorist if you don’t vote for him, but you are at least a communist.
OF3 – Matt Joyce. Not only is he having a great year, but he has absolutely murdered the Angels this year too, so I give him this vote out of mere respect for the ass-whooping he has delivered.
DH – David Ortiz. Alright, who gave Big Papi the time machine? He is supposed to be a washed up fat guy by now, not striking fear into the hearts of pitchers once again.
STARTING PITCHER – Jered Weaver. It was either Weaver or Justin Verlander, but this is an Angel blog, so that broke the tie, even though Weaver doesn’t have a no-hitter on his 2011 resume. Weaver’s 2.06 ERA certainly doesn’t hurt either.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
C – Miguel Montero. Brian McCann might be better, but he might not be. Since this game is in Arizona, you’ve got to show the home crowd some love by voting for one of their own.
1B – Prince Fielder. It feels really weird to not be voting for Albert Pujols here. Instead, my vote goes to Fielder because of his power is just plain scary.
2B – Rickie Weeks. An easy call since he is the only NL 2B hitting for both average and power.
3B – Ryan Roberts. No 3B is really blowing the field away, so Ryan gets the nod due to the home crowd, plus it is always fun to have a utility guy involved in the All-Star Game. In fact, I think it would be awesome if one of these days they had a utility guy play at least one out at every position during the All-Star Game.
SS – Jose Reyes. Reyes or Tulo? Tulo or Reyes? By far the toughest call of this entire process. Since I am but a mere mortal and not capable of such lofty decisions, I defer to WAR, which says Reyes wins.
OF1 – Matt Kemp. See my earlier comment on Bautista and change the name to Kemp.
OF2 – Andrew McCutchen. I confess, Cutch might be my favorite non-Angel player and I harbor deep hopes of him someday patrolling the Anaheim outfield with Trout and Bourjos. Making his vote even sweeter is that for a change a Pirate will be named to the All-Star team and he will actually deserve it.
OF3 – Lance Berkman. Ryan Braun is probably better, but how can you not love the story of the resurgence of the Big Puma?
STARTING PITCHER – Roy Halladay. Really, you could just pick a Phillie pitcher name out of a hat for this slot since Halladay, Lee and Hamels have all been so good. Since Doc is the de facto ace of that amazing staff, he deserves the starting nod.