Your 2012 All-Star Game Rosters: Seven Rangers Make The Cut

The good face.First of all, some full disclosure: there's a good reason why I've devoted zero virtual ink to the All-Star balloting process over the last 6-8 weeks or however long this has gone on, and that's because I care very little about the contrived hype that the process generates annually and because I've become disillusioned over the number of deserving players who miss the rosters each year for one reason or another. It probably doesn't help that I'm older than I used to be, either; I'd be curious to know what the true correlation between age and level of caring about the All-Star Game is, if only to satiate my own admittedly odd curiosity on this question.

But, yeah, the All-Star Game rosters are out, and, aside from caring about it to the extent that it's nice to see deserving Rangers get some national recognition, we also have to reconcile ourselves with the fact that World Series home-field advantage hinges on the outcome of this game, and that the Rangers, being a championship-caliber ballclub as they are, do sort of have to care about how this game turns out. So, here are your 2012 All-Star rosters and final vote candidates:

American League

C Mike Napoli, TEX (260 PA, 0.4 bWAR, 0.9 fWAR)
1B Prince Fielder, DET (337 PA, 1.2 bWAR, 1.2 fWAR)
2B Robinson Cano, NYY (330 PA, 3.7 bWAR, 3.9 fWAR)
3B Adrian Beltre, TEX (314 PA, 2.4 bWAR, 2.8 fWAR)
SS Derek Jeter, NYY (352 PA, 0.5 bWAR, 0.9 fWAR)
LF Josh Hamilton, TEX (314 PA, 3.3 bWAR, 3.7 fWAR)
CF Curtis Granderson, NYY (350 PA, 1.3 bWAR, 1.4 fWAR)
RF Jose Bautista, TOR (343 PA, 2.4 bWAR, 2.9 fWAR)
DH David Ortiz, BOS (326 PA, 2.3 bWAR, 2.4 fWAR)

LHP Matt Harrison, TEX
LHP David Price, TBR
LHP CC Sabathia, NYY (out for game)
LHp Chris Sale, CHW
LHP C.J. Wilson, LAA (replacement for Sabathia)
RHP Ryan Cook, OAK
RHP Felix Hernandez, SEA
RHP Jim Johnson, BAL
RHP Joe Nathan, TEX
RHP Chris Perez, CLE
RHP Fernando Rodney, TBR
RHP Justin Verlander, DET
RHP Jered Weaver, LAA

C Joe Mauer, MIN (293 PA, 1.9 bWAR, 2.5 fWAR)
C Matt Wieters, BAL (290 PA, 1.7 bWAR, 2.0 fWAR)
1B Paul Konerko, CHW (293 PA, 1.7 bWAR, 2.2 fWAR)
2B Ian Kinsler, TEX (366 PA, 1.1 bWAR, 2.1 fWAR)
3B Miguel Cabrera, DET (346 PA, 2.6 bWAR, 2.7 fWAR)
SS Elvis Andrus, TEX (350 PA, 1.7 bWAR, 2.9 fWAR)
SS Asdrubal Cabrera, CLE (309 PA, 2.6 bWAR, 2.3 fWAR)
OF Adam Jones, BAL (329 PA, 2.4 bWAR, 3.3 fWAR)
OF Mike Trout, LAA (258 PA, 4.1 bWAR, 4.0 fWAR)
OF Mark Trumbo, LAA (281 PA, 2.4 bWAR, 2.7 fWAR)
DH Billy Butler, KCR (310 PA, 1.0 bWAR, 1.3 fWAR)
DH Adam Dunn, CHW (339 PA, 1.0 bWAR, 1.5 fWAR)

Final Vote: RHP Jonathan Broxton, KCR; RHP Yu Darvish, TEX; RHP Ernesto Frieri, LAA; RHP Jason Hammel, BAL; RHP Jake Peavy, CHW

National League

C Buster Posey, SFG (284 PA, 1.8 bWAR, 2.0 fWAR)
1B Joey Votto, CIN (331 PA, 4.3 bWAR, 4.8 fWAR)
2B Dan Uggla, ATL (325 PA, 2.0 bWAR, 2.4 fWAR)
3B Pablo Sandoval, SFG (183 PA, 0.6 bWAR, 1.1 fWAR)
SS Rafael Furcal, STL (337 PA, 1.3 bWAR, 1.5 fWAR)
LF Matt Kemp, LAD (144 PA, 1.5 bWAR, 2.3 fWAR)
CF Carlos Beltran, STL (313 PA, 2.7 bWAR, 2.9 fWAR)
RF Melky Cabrera, SFG (336 PA, 3.2 bWAR, 3.1 fWAR)

LHP Gio Gonzalez, WAS
LHP Cole Hamels, PHI
LHP Clayton Kershaw, LAD
LHP Wade Miley, ARI
RHP Matt Cain, SFG
RHP Aroldis Chapman, CIN
RHP R.A. Dickey, NYM
RHP Joel Hanrahan, PIT
RHP Craig Kimbrel, ATL
RHP Lance Lynn, STL
RHP Jonathan Papelbon, PHI
RHP Stephen Strasburg, WAS
RHP Huston Street, SDP 

C Yadier Molina, STL (281 PA, 2.6 bWAR, 3.2 fWAR)
C Carlos Ruiz, PHI (260 PA, 3.8 bWAR, 4.0 fWAR)
1B Bryan LaHair, CHC (239 PA, 0.9 bWAR, 1.1 fWAR)
2B Jose Altuve, HOU (306 PA, 1.7 bWAR, 1.9 fWAR)
3B David Wright, NYM (325 PA, 4.3 bWAR, 4.5 fWAR)
SS Starlin Castro, CHC (332 PA, 2.8 bWAR, 2.1 fWAR)
SS Ian Desmond, WAS (334 PA, 1.6 bWAR, 2.6 fWAR)
OF Ryan Braun, MIL (315 PA, 3.2 bWAR, 4.0 fWAR)
OF Jay Bruce, CIN (306 PA, 1.6 bWAR, 1.4 fWAR)
OF Carlos Gonzalez, COL (317 PA, 1.4 bWAR, 2.3 fWAR)
OF Andrew McCutchen, PIT (312 PA, 3.5 bWAR, 3.6 fWAR)
OF Giancarlo Stanton, MIA (311 PA, 2.7 bWAR, 2.9 fWAR)

Final Vote: CF Michael Bourn, ATL; 3B David Freese, STL; OF Bryce Harper, WAS; 2B Aaron Hill, ARI; 3B Chipper Jones, ATL

A few thoughts on these selections (and non-selections), in no particular order:

● Yu Darvish was probably being part honest, part sagacious in telling the press that he didn't believe he had pitched like an All-Star thus far this season. The reality is that, yeah, he actually kind of has pitched at an All-Star level (or at least has performed at a clip that you could extrapolate to about four wins above replacement over a full season, which is, I think, All-Star material), but he wants to be dominant, not merely very good, and I think you saw some of that sentiment reflected in what he told the media. Of course, I also think that even if Darvish did feel he had pitched like an All-Star, he certainly wouldn't have made the ravenous American press cognizant of that belief. 

In any event, though, he's part of the American League final vote balloting (all five players on each league's ballot are selected by the All-Star managers, meaning that Ron Washington pretty clearly gamed the system in favor of his pitcher), and I would expect Darvish to get voted in -- in part because of the wholesale ballot box stuffing that is about to ensue, and in part because I think the electorate is, on the whole, going to be more interested in seeing Darvish there -- and obtaining a chance to see him pitch against the best of the best -- than guys like Jake Peavy or Ernesto Frieri or Jason Hammel, even though you could make a legitimate case for any of the three over Darvish (and even though Peavy is, from a numbers standpoint, more deserving of an All-Star roster spot than Darvish). If you're interested in casting a vote for Darvish, go here. 

● The Rangers get seven All-Stars, with a chance at eight if Darvish makes it, and, yeah, that's pretty cool, especially for first-timer Matt Harrison and late-career Tommy John success story Joe Nathan. Mike Napoli got the nod more because of last year's second-half/post-season run than anything he had done thus far this year, although he remains on a 25-homer trajectory in 2012 in spite of the first-half struggles. Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus, and Adrian Beltre are all quite reasonable choices, and Josh Hamilton secured more than 11 million fan votes (an all-time high), so, yeah, there's that. One Rangers beat guy is kicking up some dust about Alcides Escobar possibly being more deserving of the All-Star nod than Andrus, but I'm really not seeing the validity in that argument.

● I vividly recall Melky Cabrera being considered -- fairly or not -- as one of the worst everyday players in baseball a few years back, which probably had a lot to do with him generating only 1-2 wins above replacement in the aggregate during a 2007-10 stretch where he amassed more than 2,000 plate appearances. Today, he's riding the monster BABIP wave to the All-Star Game. 

● One of the CBS baseball columnists -- Scott Miller, I think -- asked earlier on Twitter whether Cabrera beating out Ryan Braun for one of the National League outfield starting spots was driven by the Giants fan base stuffing the ballot boxes, or if it was part fan backlash against Braun for the whole PED controversy. Wouldn't you think that Braun being positioned for the start very late into the process would tell you all you need to know about fans' level of caring about the Braun PED controversy? 

● I don't have the fortitude to go through the "here, let's get angry all about all these All-Star snubs blargh" rigmarole again. So, if you're interested in that scene, I recommend checking out David Schoenfield's post on the matter, or Matthew Pouliot's, or stacking ESPN's recommended All-Star rosters against the actual rosters. You may, however, find that inserting a funnel into your mouth and pouring straight Gentleman Jack whiskey down your gullet would be a more constructive and worthwhile pursuit.

● Ron Washington was quick to point out that his biggest regret about his All-Star selections this year was that he just couldn't find room for A.J. Pierzynski. So, how is Pierzynski handling his exclusion?

while consoling aj on A-S snub, i pointed out napoli is a good hitter. said aj: "yeah, if you consider .230 good.'' (.238)

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) July 1, 2012

Well, that just evokes all kinds of sympathy from me.