All-Star Roster Thoughts: AL Edition

Following up on the NL All-Star thoughts, here are some comments on the American League selections.

-The biggest uproar has been over Jered Weaver not making the team, and people have a valid argument. Having a record of 8-3 with a 2.82 ERA usually makes a player a shoo-in for a trip to the Midsummer Classic, but Weaver somehow missed the cut. He even missed the final vote. This is inexplicable. Every year there are bad snubs, such as Joey Votto this year in the NL, but he can still get there, Weaver just got absolutely shafted. An injury replacement is the only way he gets to pitch in his home ballpark for the All-Star Game this year.


-The AL roster was much better overall in terms of the selections made than was the NL, the only real question is Justin Morneau starting over Miguel Cabrera, but other than Jeff Weaver, the snubs are not that evident in the AL.

-The Tigers' Brennan Boesch did seem fully deserving of an outfield spot, but he did spend the first three weeks of the season in the minors. Since he has come into the league though, he has been on a tear. He is hitting .344 with 12 homers and over 40 RBI's. The kid is for real. He will get there that is for sure, but this year he had a good case to make for being invited to Anaheim. What a future he has.

-The Orioles representative is Ty Wigginton. He is a good player who is having a good season, but Nick Markakis might be having a better season. Wiggington had the torrid start, but he has cooled off.

-Vladimir Guerrero is a wonderful player who has had a terrific season. After being with the Angels for many seasons, it will be a nice homecoming of sorts for him as a starter at DH for the American League. He is really having a great season in Texas.

-Jose Bautista. He has a .236 batting average, while his 21 homers are a great number at this point of the season, that average should not be in the All-Star game when you have players like Boesch and Kevin Youkilis out there who are having great seasons all-around opposed to in just one statistical category.

-Adrian Beltre will be making his first All-Star appearance, and similarly to the selection of Arthur Rhodes, he waited a while to get here so that is nice to get there for a good player.

-Elvis Andrus and Neftali Feliz are both All-Stars, and both were pieces of the trade between the Braves and Rangers for Mark Teixeira. The Rangers made out like bandits in that deal clearly. Feliz was almost an after-thought in the trade.

-Phil Hughes, Trevor Cahill, Clay Buchholz, David Price and Jon Lester are all there for the first time. The AL pitching staff is young, but the youth is going to have the chance to show what it has for the game down the road in this game.