As promised in an earlier blog, I will now offer how I would set up the all star teams if:
1) Fan voting only got you a roster spot, not a starting spot
2) Rosters are set to be competitive first, reward good 1st half play second
3) All teams must still be represented
As we all know, the voting for each league went like:
NL: Molina, Pujols, Utley, Ramirez, Wright, Braun, Ethier, Heyward
AL: Mauer, Morneau, Cano, Jeter, Longoria, Hamilton, Ichiro, Crawford, Vlad
Utley is most definitely out of the game, maybe Morneau. Heyward appears to be in, so we'll play it like he and Justin are in.
I'm going to cap the rosters at 30 instead of 34. I'm going to play it like a real game, so I don't need the four extras. So that's 21 more AL and 22 more NL after the starters. This allows 2-deep at the 9 positions (including DH) and 12 pitchers.
I would add the following to the AL roster (bold means they are on actual team)
C: Victor Martinez (.289/9/38) to be replaced by John Buck (.273/13/31)
1B: Miguel Cabrera (.346/21/74)
2B: Dustin Pedroia (.292/12/41) to be replaced by Ian Kinsler (.312/3/29)
SS: Elvis Andrus (.284/23SB)
3B: Adrian Beltre (.332/13/55)
OF: Nick Markakis (.308/5/30)
OF: Alex Rios (.306/14/47)
OF: Torii Hunter (.301/15/62)
DH: Kevin Youkilis (.294/18/57)
And for the NL:
C: Miguel Olivo (.317/11/41)
1B: Joey Votto (.315/22/60)
2B: Martin Prado (.332/10/39) (replaces Chase Utley)
2B: Kelly Johnson (.273/14/43)
SS: Rafael Furcal (.335/48R/15SB)
3B: Scott Rolen (.292/17/57)
OF: Carlos Gonzalez (.312/16/57)
OF: Matt Kemp (.264/16/50)
OF: Corey Hart (.280/20/63)
DH: Ryan Howard (.299/17/65)
DH: Adam Dunn (.285/22/58)
As for pitchers, 12 each team
AL:
SP: John Lester (2.78, 11W, 124K)
SP: David Price (2.42, 12W)
SP: Cliff Lee (2.34, 8W, 5CG, 6BB)
SP: Jered Weaver (2.97, 8W, 130K)
SP: Andy Pettitte (2.70, 11W)
SP: CC Sabathia (3.19, 11W)
SP: Fausto Carmona (3.64, 8W)
RP: Mariano Rivera (1.05, 20Sv) replaced by JJ Putz (1.64 ERA)
RP: Rafael Soriano (1.65, 23Sv)
RP: Jose Valverde (0.95, 18Sv)
RP: Joakim Soria (2.34, 25Sv)
RP: Andrew Bailey (1.75, 17Sv)
NL:
SP: Adam Wainwright (2.11, 13W, 127K)
SP: Josh Johnson (1.70 ERA, 9W, 123K)
SP: Ubaldo Jimenez (2.20, 15W, 113K)
SP: Roy Halladay (2.33, 10W, 119K)
SP: Mat Latos (2.45, 10W)
SP: Roy Oswalt (3.08, 112K)
RP: Jonathan Broxton (2.11, 19Sv)
RP: Billy Wagner (1.24, 20Sv)
RP: Heath Bell (1.72, 23Sv)
RP: Carlos Marmol (1.99, 16Sv)
RP: Brian Wilson (1.98, 22Sv)
RP: Evan Meek (1.11)
Italics is someone who only made it to get to one representative (I had to remove someone more qualified).
For each league, here's who I left off who was in, and who I included but was left off. In some cases, I just wouldn't go 3 deep at a position or the shorter rosters was a factor.
AL:
Players I added:
Markakis (better Oriole than Wigginton, Brett Gardner would have been there)
Rios (Better stats than some of the removed below)
Weaver (better stats than some of the removed below)
Bailey (better Athletic than Cahill)
Putz (Top 6 AL RP)
Players I excluded:
Ty Wigginton (.253 avg)
Alex Rodriguez (3rd best 3B)
Jose Bautista (.240 avg)
Nick Swisher (not top 6 AL OF)
Vernon Wells (not top 6 AL OF)
David Ortiz (not top 3 DH)
Clay Buchholz (not Top 6 SP)
Trevor Cahill (token Athletic, see Bailey above)
Neftali Feliz (not top 5 RP)
Phil Hughes (not a Top 6 SP)
Matt Thornton (not even best set up guy on his team)
NL:
Players I added:
Olivo: (better stats than McCann)
Johnson (needed a D-back)
Furcal (nobody seems to realize what a great year he's having)
Gonzalez (stats are unbelievable)
Kemp (good stats)
Latos (Top 6 starter)
Oswalt (needed an Astro, replaced Kershaw)
Wagner (best closer in the NL, his exclusion is a joke)
Marmol (Stats are worthy and fills the Cubs spot)
Players I excluded:
Matt Capps (I got my National from Dunn)
Chris Carpenter (Not a Top 6 NL SP)
Yovani Gallardo (Not a Top 6 NL SP)
Tim Hudson (Not a Top 6 NL SP)
Tim Lincecum (Not a Top 6 NL SP)
Arthur Rhodes (Not a Top 6 NL RP)
Brian McCann (Olivo better)
Adrian Gonzalez (5th best 1B)
Brandon Phillips (had to take Kelly Johnson)
Jose Reyes (3rd best SS)
Troy Tulowitzki (3rd best SS)
Omar Infante (doesn't even start for his team)
Michael Bourn (I got my Astro from Oswalt)
Marlon Byrd (7th best OF)
Matt Holliday (7th best OF)
Chris Young (I got my Diamondback from Johnson)
An ERA over 3.00 is garbage in the NL, Oswalt only in b/c he's the closest Astro.
So for the AL, I got 5 added, 11 removed. For the NL 10 added 17 removed. I actually think half of the NL 34 man roster shouldn't make a 30 man roster.
It's not quite even on numbers b/c of injuries, there are actually more than 34 in each league.
But now for the fun part, taking a 30 man roster, crafting a lineup and pitching plans. Remember, I'm not bound to fan votes for starters.
AL:
Suzuki RF
Crawford LF
Cabrera 1B
Hamilton CF
Guerrero DH
Cano 2B
Beltre 3B
Mauer C
Jeter SS
Top 4 off the bench: Morneau, Youkilis, Hunter, Longoria
Pitching:
1st Inn: Lee
3rd Inn: Price
5th Inn: Sabathia
7th Inn: Soria
8th Inn: Soriano
9th Inn: Valverde
Misc: Bailey, Putz, Weaver to put out fires if someone struggles
NL:
Ramirez SS
Wright 3B
Votto DH
Pujols 1B
Ethier RF
Gonzalez CF
Braun LF
Prado 2B
Olivo C
Top 4 off the bench: Dunn, Furcal, Rolen, Kemp
Pitching
1st Inn: Jimenez
3rd Inn: Johnson
5th Inn: Halladay
7th Inn: Marmol
8th Inn: Broxton
9th Inn: Wagner
Misc: Wainwright, Wilson, Bell to put out fires if someone struggles
The above disregards who doesn't have rest. Each SP goes two innings. I only use the bench when it makes sense, pinch run with Furcal, go righty/lefty later in the game. Dunn for power if needed, Youkilis for a gritty AB, etc. Lots of singlet players don't play (Oswalt, Meek, Bailey, Latos, Carmona) because they're not one of the best players in their league. But they're at the disposal of the manager if needed.
Unfortunately we'll see what I dislike...fan vote for starters, firewagon changes to make sure everyone plays and at the end there will be the worst players on the rosters facing the best closers.
What do you attribute to the AL team being closer to who you think should be there than the NL team. Is it something about the AL, luck, or are fans of the leagues somehow different?
ReplyDeleteThis post is simply too pragmatic. You should be ashamed of yourself! Considering the AL resembles the team it should much more so than the NL, I guess we can expect another AL win tonight.
ReplyDelete@Jake
ReplyDeleteSpoken like someone who has no first hand knowledge of athletic competition. Just sayin'.
I'm not sure what I attribute the difference to be? Managers have such little say, given the mandatory one player per team and fan and player votes. Obviously (and ironically), you have Girardi picking A-Rod as his last player instead of Omar Infante, you tell me who is going to help the team win more (okay, neither).
ReplyDeleteI would have said that every year I look at the rosters and the AL resembles ridiculously good players (Ortiz, Morneau, A-Rod, Posada, Ichiro) while the NL resembles hot players of the moment (Dan Uggla, Corey Hart, JJ Hardy, Molina (any of them), Fukodome). Seemed the same this year (as McCarver drooled over the AL lineup as the best ever). But fate seemed to switch dugouts this year.
I have thought that two parts stand out as to why the AL has won more. Ichiro (ridiculous leadoff hitter, the NL just doesn't have one, has led off with C Russ Martin before I think) And bullpen The AL bullpen is always Nathan, Papelbon, Rivera. The NL is something like Lidge, Hoffman, and Doug Jones. And sure enough, guess which team wins the 9th.
Maybe that's it, none of those 3 were in the AL bullpen this year (Valverde was terrifying) and the NL went with some hard throwers, mixing in the seasoned Wainwright to boot. And sure enough...