My 2015 American League All Star Team

Continuing my annual look at the best players in baseball, here is my American league squad, which is based largely on past calendar-year splits.

Catcher

Russell Martin

Starter: Russell Martin (TOR: 5.9 WAR)
Reserve: Stephen Vogt (OAK: 3.8 WAR)

It still seems amazing to me that the Pirates were able to sign Martin to a discounted deal just a few years ago when he left the Yankees as a free agent.  He already had demonstrated significant upside in the major leagues at that point, and somehow had been relegated to a has-been pile despite just being 30 years old.  Now, at 32, he is playing at the best level of his career offensively, and his defensive numbers (particularly his framing) are always top-tier.

Stephen Vogt is the newcomer to the list.  He's a pretty interesting player; if the narrative in this post by Eno Sarris is correct, his emergence this year is thanks to a reversion to a more patient approach at the plate that he abandoned in the minor leagues at the behest of his coaches.  It's not like he was playing in some kind of backwards organization either: he came up with the Rays, and is now with the Athletics.  He's sure hitting now, though.

First Base

Starter: Miguel Cabrera (DET: 6.1 WAR)
Reserve: Jose Abreu (CHW: 4.1 WAR)

Miguel Cabrera continues to be a premier player, which is a good thing for Detroit because his 8-year extension doesn't even kick in until next season.

Jose Abreu is the newcomer; at this time last year, we were just starting to realize that he was for real.  Now we know that he's among the best power-hitters in baseball.  He's also the only White Sox position player who has posted more than 0.5 WAR this season (next closest: Geovany Soto with 0.4 WAR as a part-time catcher).

Second Base

Brian Dozier

Starter: Brian Dozier (MIN: 5.0 WAR)
Reserve: Jason Kipnis (CLE: 4.7 WAR)

Dozier nearly claimed the starting job last season, and now has claimed the top ranking honors among all second basemen.  Now in his age-28 season, he just continues to get better.  This season, he has already cleared 3 WAR, and is sporting a .262 ISO.  This edges him over the equally-impressive Jason Kipnis, who seems completely recovered from his struggles of last season and has once again asserted himself as a dominant hitter.  Dozier provides more power, while Kipnis has a .400+ OBP on the season.

Third Base

Starter: Josh Donaldson (TOR: 7.4 WAR)
Reserve: Manny Machado (BAL: 5.2 WAR)

Josh Donaldson is the best third baseman in baseball.  I know Oakland got quantity back for him when they traded him this offseason, and Donaldson was just entering his arbitration years and thus was starting to get expensive.  But given the salary that Oakland took on in their other deals this winter, I still just can't believe they made that deal.

Manny Machado missed a lot of time last season, but is back with a vengence and is still just 22!  As much as I love Todd Frazier, I see Machado as the only legitimate contender for Donaldson's title as best 3B in the game.  Machado, to this point in his career, has been a good hitter-great defender.  This year, he's hitting brilliantly as well.  He's one of the forces behind Baltimore's ascent to the top of the AL East.

Shortstop

Starter: Jose Reyes (TOR: 2.8 WAR)
Reserve: Brad Miller (SEA: 2.5 WAR)

As has been the case for a few years now, the AL crop of shortstops is a pretty thin bunch.  This year is thinner than most.  Jose Reyes clocks in with the top WAR over the past year, and has a history of excellence, so I went with him as the starter.  For the reserve, it was sort of a toss-up.  I tapped Brad Miller, primarily because Seattle needed a representative and he's performed well in limited playing time.  A league-average bat with solid defense at shortstop is a pretty decent player, and he's posted the second-best WAR totals in the league over the past year in just over 400 PA's.

Outfield

Mike Trout

Starters: LF - Alex Gordon (KCR: 5.5 WAR), CF - Mike Trout (LAA: 7.4 WAR), RF - Jose Bautista (TOR: 5.1 WAR)
Reserves: Lorenzo Cain (KCR: 5.5 WAR), J.D. Martinez (DET: 4.9 WAR), Michael Brantley (CLE: 4.6 WAR)

While the gap may have narrowed, I still consider Mike Trout the best player in baseball.  I love Alex Gordon, and I gave Jose Bautista the nod in right field because I trust his bat better than I trust Lorenzo Cain's fielding numbers (though I love Lorenzo Cain too).  I have a special affection for Michael Brantley because he seems like such an interseting player: good power, decent patience, all combined with brilliant contact ability.  There are other players who make contact like Brantley does, but they don't have his power.  He's pretty exciting.

Starting Pitchers

Corey Kluber (CLE: 7.1 WAR)
Chris Sale (CHW: 6.5 WAR)
David Price (DET: 6.2 WAR)
Dallas Keuchel (HOU: 5.8 WAR)
Sonny Gray (OAK: 5.3 WAR)

There has been a lot of turnover among AL Pitchers in the past year.  Max Scherzer and Jon Lester moved to the NL.  Yu Darvish is injured.  And we've seen the emergence of Corey Kluber, Chris Sale, Dallas Keuchel, and Sonny Gray.  Kluber and Sale are a blast to watch because of their ridiculous strikeout totals.  I've watched several games by each of them this season.  Keuchel is pretty fun because his ground ball rate is so over-the-top compared to most other pitchers, and he combines it with good control and strikeout rates.  Gray I actually have overlooked a bit, and mostly still know him as a promising prospect.  He has almost 400 MLB innings under his belt now, however, and has been fabulous.  I certainly should know him.

Relief Pitchers

Wade Davis

Wade Davis (KCR: 3.4 WAR)
Dellin Betances (NYY: 3.3 WAR)
Andrew Miller (NYY: 2.4 WAR)
Joe Smith (LAA: 2.3 WAR)
Zach Britton (BAL: 2.2 WAR)

I think it's fascinating that three of the top four relievers in the American League over the past year, based on an average of FIP-WAR and RA/9-WAR, are not currently closers on their teams.  Someone has probably already done this, but it would be neat to track how closely the current dip in run scoring is attributable to improvements in relievers compared to starting pitchers.  I'll put that on my to-do list.

Pats on the Head

Tampa Bay Rays: Chris Archer, Starting Pitcher (4.4 WAR)
Chris Archer seems to have taken a step forward from his already-good performance last season, and is now posting ridiculous numbers: 11 k/9, 2 bb/9, 49% GB rate, and a 2.31 ERA (with other component ERA estimators matching that value).  I could have taken elite-fielding CF Kevin Kiermaier, but this is one of those cases where I don't trust fielding numbers enough to take someone who is generating 2.5 WAR by glove alone.  ...  at least, not when their are other viable options.

Boston Red Sox: Mookie Betts, Center Field (4.2 WAR)
After his phenomental half-season debut last year, Betts' 2015 season has been a bit disappointing.  His combination of good hitting and good fielding at a premium position has already been worth 2.3 WAR this year, however, which puts him at the top of the Red Sox leaderboard during the past year.

Texas Rangers: Adrian Beltre, Third Base (4.1 WAR)
Beltre hasn't been very good this year.  He has missed time with injury, and hasn't hit like he did last year (his totals here are entirely bouyed by his brilliant 2014 second half).  I think the bat is likely to come around, however, and he still posts good fielding numbers every year.  His contract has an option for the 2016 season, and it will be interesting to see if the Rangers pick it up.  If not, he seems likely to still get a job if he wants one.  I'll be interested to see how much support he gets for the Hall of Fame once he retires.

Organization Totals

(not including "pat on head" selections)
BAL - 2
CHW - 2
CLE - 3
DET - 3
HOU - 1
KCR - 3
LAA - 2
MIN - 1
NYY - 2
OAK - 2
SEA - 1
TOR - 4

The Blue Jays get the nod for most stars on their squad.  They are currently one game out of first place in the AL East, and I tend to think better things are in store for them down the stretch.  If they can find a left fielder and another starter on the trade market, they would seem poised to make a nice run.  Johnny Cueto might look pretty good in blue, and I'd enjoy watching him carry their team to a pennant.

My 2015 National League All Star Teams

It's time to talk All Star voting once again, and so here are my annual picks for the midsummer classic exhibition extravaganza.  As in prior years, I'm basing my recommendations for the All Star game on past calendar year performance; I don't like the fact that we don't pay attention to second-half statistics when choosing our All Stars.  Fortunately, FanGraphs makes this super-easy to do, thanks to their past-calendar year split.

Below, bold-faced players did not appear on my 2014 teams.

Catcher

Buster Posey

Starter: Buster Posey (SFG; 6.6 WAR)
Reserve: Devin Mesoraco (CIN; 3.0 WAR; injured)
Alternate: Francisco Cervelli (PIT; 3.0 WAR)

Buster Posey has been magnificent over the past year, and has been worth approximately twice the value of any other catcher according to FanGraphs calculations.  Not only that, but he also tops Baseball Prospectus's rankings for Framing Runs added this year at 10 runs above average, so he's good at that as well.  He walks almost as much as he strikes out (and he has incredibly low strikeout rates), he hits for good power, and has played 147 games in the past year by manning first base.  There's talk that he might eventually have to move out from behind the plate, but that has to be a difficult proposition given how amazing he is back there.

Francisco Cervelli shocked me, but all of his PA's have happened in the past calendar year.  The last time he had even 300 PA's in a season was 2012 with the Yankees AAA affiliate.  But now that he's both healthy and being given a chance, he's showing himself to be a pretty nice hitter.  Sure, the .400 BABIP will come down, but a solid hitter and a top-tier framer?  The Pirates are looking pretty darn smart.

First Base

Anthony Rizzo (CHC; 5.7 WAR)
Paul Goldschmidt (ARI; 5.3 WAR)

Rizzo is the newcomer (he "merely" earned a pat on the head last year as the Cubs representative), but as the Reds just witnessed first-hand, he has really come into his own in Chicago and might just be the best first baseman in baseball.  He's at the top of the leaderboard, if nothing else.  Rizzo's calling card is his power, but he gets on base thanks to decent walk rates and excellent contact rates.

Second Base

Joe Panik (SFG; 4.0 WAR)
Howie Kendrick (LAD; 4.0 WAR)

Although their overall value pegs out as identical over the past year, Panik gets the nod here over Kendrick because he has done so in fewer PA's, because he's having the better 2015 season, and it's fun to vote for young guys.  I don't remember Panik being much of a prospect as far as ballyhoos go, but he's having himself a terrific start to his career with the Giants.  The 24-year old is hitting for good power this season (mostly doubles), has outstanding contact skills, and holds his own in the infield.

Third Base

Todd Frazier

Todd Frazier (CIN; 5.6 WAR)
Anthony Rendon (WAS; 4.4 WAR)

For the second-straight year, Frazier is my starter in the National League at the hot corner.  I really enjoy watching Frazier in the field; he has good hands, but for me what seems to set him apart is his ability to make such good, strong, accurate throws from almost any position.  Offensively, while he is an aggressive hitter and often seems to lunge at balls low and away, he somehow gets enough barrel on balls to hit them with power when he does so.  Or, at least, he can hit them in the air over the infielders heads.  2015 is, so far, easily the best year of his career.  Two causes: one, a lower strikeout rate, and two, a major drop in his ground ball rate.  Almost everything he hits goes into the air, and he has enough power to do serious damage.

There's a bit of a snub with the reserve here, where I took Anthony Rendon over Josh Harrison.  Harrison actually had slightly more WAR (4.5), but Rendon got his total despite missing time with injury.  And, frankly, he's a guy I really like.  And I picked him last year.  Still, with Harrison being a Princeton High grad, I feel a little bad about.  I ended up taking him as an outfielder below...kind of a stretch, but he has played there.

Shortstop

Jhonny Peralta

Jhonny Peralta (STL: 5.5 WAR)
Brandon Crawford (SFG; 3.5 WAR)

This is a pretty thin position.  Peralta, though, continues to be one of the most interesting players I've seen.  When with the Indians, he was moved off of shortstop due to significant concerns about his ability to field the position.  The Tigers signed him and plugged him back at shortstop, but just about everyone thought this was a foolish move; would he hit enough to make up for his defense?  Not only did he do that, but he actually has become one of the best fielders at his position.  The how is still a bit unclear to me, but a) he very rarely makes mistakes, and b) he seems to be incredibly good at both positioning and reading the ball off the bat (or, maybe, reading the bat before it even hits the ball?). Regardless, he's easily been the best shortstop in baseball over the past year.

Outfield

Starters: LF: Giancarlo Stanton (MIA: 5.2 WAR); CF: Andrew McCutchen (PIT: 5.0 WAR), RF: Bryce Harper (WAS: 5.7 WAR)
Reserves: Josh Harrison (PIT: 4.5 WAR), Starling Marte (4.2 WAR), Denard Span (4.0 WAR)

Of Harper's 5.7 WAR over the past 365 days, 4.6 of them have come this season.  He has nearly a full win lead over the next-best player (Josh Donaldson: 3.8 WAR), has an OBP we haven't really seen since Barry Bonds (.479), a 20% walk rate, an equal strikeout rate, and has shown a huge drop in his ground ball rate to help his other-worldly power play up.  I still think Mike Trout is a better ballplayer, but Harper's actually making me question that.  How fun; those two players have always been tied to one another, and now we're seeing both of them making good on their promise.

Starting Pitchers

Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw (LAD: 8.2 WAR)
Max Scherzer (WAS: 6.5 WAR)
Cole Hamels (PHI: 5.6 WAR)
Jacob deGrom (NYM: 5.5 WAR)
Jake Arrieta (CHC: 5.2 WAR)

Here I'm using an average of RA9-WAR (based purely on runs allowed per nine) and normal fWAR (based on FIP) in an effort to recognize that FIP doesn't catch everything that is within a pitcher's skillset.  Clayton Kershaw once again leads the way, and rightly so.  Jake Arrieta and Jacob deGrom were the two surprises for me.  Reigning rookie of the year deGrom has long been throwing well, but I guess I didn't realize how well.  And while I knew that Arietta had a great season last year, I overlooked him this year...likely because the Reds missed him when they faced the Cubs last week.

Relievers

Aroldis Chapman (CIN: 2.4 WAR)
Drew Storen (WAS: 2.3 WAR)
Ken Giles (PHI: 2.2 WAR)
Kenley Jansen (LAD: 2.1 WAR)
Jonathan Papelbon (PHI: 2.1 WAR)

Aroldis Chapman has seemed mortal in recent weeks, but over the past calendar year he has arguably been the best reliever in the league.  It's curious that one team recently rumored to be interested in him is the Washington Nationals, who control the second name on this list.  A Storen-Chapman combination, played to maximize platoon advantage, would be brutal in late innings.  I didn't expect the Phillies' bullpen to rank out so well.  Ken Giles, in particular, is a revelation.  He has been walking a few more this season, but the 24-year old has a 1.49 ERA (and a 2.27 SIERA) in 72 innings between this and last year.  I completely overlooked him in my recent Phillies preview.

Pats on the Head

(players selected as team representatives despite not making the cut above)

Freddie Freeman

Atlanta: Freddie Freeman, 1B (4.7 WAR)
Colorado: Nolan Arenado, 3B (3.7 WAR)
Milwaukee: Carlos Gomez, CF (3.0 WAR)
San Diego: Tyson Ross, SP (3.3 WAR)

Team Totals

ARI - 1
ATL - 0
CHC - 2
CIN - 3
COL - 0
LAD - 3
MIA - 1
MIL - 0
NYM - 1
PHI - 3
PIT - 4
SDP - 0
SFG - 3
STL - 1
WAS - 5
(not including pat-on-head selections)

After placing second in the "Star Counts," the Nationals take the lead this year.  They've had a fairly disappointing season thus far, but I still like them to take their division when it's all said and done.  They're only 1.5 games behind the Mets.

My 2014 All-Star Teams: American League

Yan Gomes has earned my nod for starting
American League catcher.
Photo Credit: Keith Allison

Continuing what I started with the National League....

American League

Bold-faced players did not make my 2013 All Star Team

Catcher

Starter: Yan Gomes, CLE (4.4 WAR)
Reserve: Salvador Perez, KCR (4.6 WAR)

Perez might have the advantage in fWAR, but Gomes is a much better pitch framer than Perez.  That more than makes up any disparity.  I think it's surprising to see him tabbed as the best catcher in the American League, but he's hit well and played fantastic defense, even before considering the framing.  He's also supplanted last year's reserve AL Catcher, Carlos Santana, on the Cleveland Indians.  Perez's offensive prowess, however, still gets him on the all star team.

First Base

Miguel Cabrera, DET (5.6 WAR)
Edwin Encarnacion, TOR (4.8 WAR)

Miguel Cabrera isn't having a great year, by his standards.  But he's still got a .390 wOBA.  And he was freaking amazing last year.  Edwin Encarnacion is a long warm-fuzzy player for me, and it's thrilling to see him doing so well.

Second Base

Robinson Cano, SEA (5.8 WAR)
Brian Dozier, MIN (5.0 WAR)

I really wanted to take Dozier over Cano, because I love the underdog.  But Cano has just been too good, with nearly a full win lead over him despite 60 fewer PA's.  Dozier has the power, but Cano is the better hitter.  Still, it's neat to have him on this list.

Third Base

Josh Donaldson, OAK (7.4 WAR)
Adrian Beltre, TEX (5.4 WAR)

I still don't think I've completely grasped how good Josh Donaldson is.  We all expected a pretty big regression this year.  And he has definitely regressed, losing nearly 40 points off his wOBA.  But he's still an above-average hitter and a borderline elite fielder at the hot corner.  Sounds a lot like what Adrian Beltre has been throughout most of his career.

Shortstop

Alexei Ramirez, CHW (3.8 WAR)
Elvis Andrus, TEX (3.7 WAR)

It seems to me that Alexei Ramirez gets very little respect for what he has done.  He's a very aggressive hitter, which probably reduces his nerd love a bit.  But he makes enough contact that he can still get on base at a fair clip, has decent power for a shortstop (even if not what he once had), and posted 3-4 win seasons in three of the prior four seasons, and is on pace for 3 WAR again this year.  He's not great.  But in a crop of AL shortstops that currently has no clear standouts, he might be the best performer over the past year.  Elvis is right there, of course, as is Erick Aybar (not listed).

Outfield

Starters: Mike Trout, LAA (10.7 WAR), Alex Gordon, KCR (6.3 WAR), Jose Bautista, TOR (5.1 WAR)
Reserves: Adam Jones, BAL (5.4 WAR), Jacoby Ellsbury, NYY (4.4 WAR), Yoenis Cespedes, OAK (4.0 WAR)

Mike Trout is the best player in baseball, same as last year.  But man, Alex Gordon rates well.  Most of that is fielding, but he ranked 2nd in the AL last year as well.  I gave Bautista the nod over Jones for the last starting spot, mostly because I love the OBP machine he has become...and Trout can cover center field.

Designated Hitter

Starter: Edwin Encarnacion, TOR (158 wRC+, +2 BsR)
Reserve: Victor Martinez, DET (158 wRC+, -8 BsR)

Edwin is our reserve first baseman, but I'm giving him the nod here over Victor Martinez as the best available offensive player who hasn't yet earned a starting job.  Edwin's had a pretty improbable career.  I always thought he would be a good hitter, but I never anticipated that he'd produce the kind of power he has.  The move from third base has been a major boon to his value.  He's quite fortunately hit well enough--easily well enough--to justify the position shift, and he's only a few clicks below average over there.

Starting Pitchers

Felix Hernandez, SEA (7.2 WAR)
David Price, TBR (6.6 WAR)
Yu Darvish, TEX (5.7 WAR)
Max Scherzer, DET (5.8 WAR)
Jon Lester, BOS (6.4 WAR)

King Felix is just so good.  I remember a time when we (or I, at least) was worried he might be starting to slip.  Nope!  He's 28 years old, in his 10th season, and has compiled 46 fWAR in his career already.  Hall of fame, right?

Relievers

Koji Uehara, BOS (3.4 WAR)
Greg Holland, KCR (3.0 WAR)
Sean Doolittle, OAK (2.7 WAR)
David Robertson, NYA (2.1 WAR)
Fernando Rodney, SEA (2.2 WAR)

Koji!  Also of note, I think, is Sean Doolittle, who has been especially ridiculous for the A's this year (13 k/9, 0.5 bb/9...that's lol'able).

Pats on the Head

Dallas Keuchel, HOU, SP (3.3 WAR)

It was between Keuchel and Jose Altuve.  As much as I love Altuve, Keuchel has been a revelation this year: he's become this unreal ground-ball machine (63% GB%) who walks no one (2.3 bb/9), while getting respectable strikeout rates.  While I try to avoid overreacting to small samples, Keuchel's xFIP wasn't that far off from where it is this year.  It's just that this season, he's getting much better results.  I'd love to see him make the team, even if he's a far cry from the track recover of the other starting pitchers.

Team Summary

(not including the pat on the head)

BAL: 1
BOS: 2
CHW: 1
CLE: 1
DET: 3
KCR: 3
LAA: 1
MIN: 1
NYY: 2
OAK: 3
SEA: 3
TBR: 1
TEX: 3
TOR: 2

My 2014 All-Star Teams: National League

Todd Frazier gets my nod as the starting
National League third baseman.
Photo Credit: Andrew Mascharka

As I've been publishing annually for many years now, here are my picks for the 2014 All-Star team.  While I get the opposing view, I prefer that All-Star teams be composed of the best players in baseball...not just those who have had the best first three months.  That said, while in the past I've used projections, I've softened a bit and how prefer to use the past calendar year performances.  This, I feel, is a nice compromise between avoiding ultra small samples and recognizing new, exciting young players.  And, of course, I'm holding out the option go with my own whims.  So, without further adieu:

National League

Bold-faced players did not appear on my 2013 teams.

Catcher
Starter: Jonathan Lucroy, MIL (6.2 WAR)
Reserve: Yadier Molina, STL (3.8 WAR)

For all the fanfare about Molina as a possible MVP candidate one of these years, Jonathan Lucroy has more than a 2-WAR lead on him over the past calendar year.  Two. WAR.  That's insane.  Both are excellent pitch framers as well.


First Base
Starter: Freddie Freeman, ATL (5.6 WAR)
Reserve: Paul Goldschmidt, ARI (6.0 WAR)

Despite Goldschmidt's marginal lead in WAR, I'm giving Freeman the nod here because he's been so terrific both this and last year...while Goldschmidt has struggled a bit this year.  Freeman is a player that I always underestimated, but he's sure looking worth his extension this past offseason.  He has posted nearly equal offensive numbers to Goldschmidt's over the past 365 days, while at the same time playing in a weaker offensive environment in Atlanta.


Second Base
Starter: Matt Carpenter, STL (6.4 WAR)
Reserve: Chase Utley, PHI (4.6 WAR)

I know that Carpenter has moved over to his "native" 3B this season, but I'm giving him the nod at second base for arguably homer-ic reasons that you'll see in a moment.  You could make a great case for Chase Utley, who is still an excellent player and a long-time crush.  But I'm giving it to Carpenter, who has just been so amazing over the past year...and because I want to give third base to someone with more WAR than Chase Utley.


Third Base
Starter: Todd Frazier, CIN (4.8 WAR)
Reserve: Anthony Rendon, WAS (3.5 WAR)

Todd Frazier has had a terrific season this year, but the secret seems to be that he also had a very good season last year.  His batting average was low last year (luck dragons?), but his other numbers--while a step down from 2012--were still pretty solid, and resulted in dead-on league average production (100 wRC+).  For the reserve, I'm passing over Juan Uribe (4.5 WAR in limited play) because I'm a little skeptical of the +20 fielding rating.  Instead going with young stud Anthony Rendon, who has been terrific this season after a solid rookie campaign last year.


Shortstop
Starter: Troy Tulowitzki, COL (6.7 WAR)
Reserve: Hanley Ramirez, LAD (5.7 WAR)

Hanley had an amazing second half last year, and has been pretty good this year.  But nothing compares to what Troy Tulowtizki has done over his past 145 games...during which he's been healthy!  Tulo is the bestest.



Outfield
Starters: Andrew McCutchen, PIT (8.4 WAR--wow), Carlos Gomez, MIL (6.6 WAR), and Giancarlo Stanton, MIA (5.7 WAR)
Reserves: Hunter Pence, SFG (5.6 WAR), Yasiel Puig, LAD (5.5 WAR), and Jayson Werth, WAS (5.4 WAR)

The player with the second-most WAR in all of baseball is Andrew McCutchen.  I knew he'd been amazing, but I had no idea that he was second only to His Greatness.  I've written about my love of Carlos Gomez, and and I gave Giancarlo Stanton the nod over Hunter Pence because I love Giancarlo a lot more the Pence.  But I'm nevertheless incredibly impressed that Pence is where he is.  Puig seems pretty likely to crack the starting lineup by next season, but deserves to be here.  The last player, Werth, gets the nod over Jayson Heyward because I trust Werth's negative defensive rating less than I trust Heyward's positive rating.  Werth is player who often has popped up in this exercise over the past, but rarely gets much consideration for the actual team.


Starting Pitching
Clayton Kershaw, LAD (6.7 WAR)
Adam Wainwright, STL (5.1 WAR)
Stephen Strasburg, WAS (4.0 WAR)
Zack Greinke, LAD (3.9 WAR)
Jordan Zimmermann, WAS (3.7 WAR)

Kershaw should not be a surprise, nor really should any of the names on this list.  The biggest "snub" that visitors of this blog are likely to notice is Johnny Cueto, who clocks in at 2.9 WAR over the past calendar year.  This is the "cost" to opting to include the second half of last year's data in these rankings, but I think it's the right call.  Otherwise, where is the recognition of second-half performances?  Just my opinion.


Relievers
Craig Kimbrel, ATL (2.9 WAR)
Aroldis Chapman, CIN (2.1 WAR)
Steve Cishek, MIA (2.5 WAR)
Kenley Jansen, LAD (2.3 WAR)
Tony Watson, PIT (2.0 WAR)

I'm giving Chapman a bump because of playing time and homerism.  But wow, I had no idea that Steve Cishek was doing what he's been doing.  It's a nice (refreshing?) indication of how far removed I am from fantasy baseball that I didn't even realize that he was Miami's closer.  He's been amazing, though, and on par with these other guys.  Tony Watson narrowly got the nod over his fellow Pirate Mark Melancon, but I went with Watson because his numbers are (very slightly) better, and it's nice to have another lefty.

Pats on the Head 

(token team representative that didn't make the real cut)
Daniel Murphy, 2B, NYM (4.4 WAR)
Andrew Cashner, SP, SDP (3.1 WAR)
Anthony Rizzo, 1B, CHC (2.8 WAR)

Were it not for my movement of Carpenter to 2B to get Frazier a job, Murphy would have gotten the reserve 2B job.  The others are good, quality players, who might be even better in the future.  But they're not really in the same conversation as the guys who did make the cut.

Team Summary

ARI: 1
ATL: 2
CHC: 0
CIN: 2
COL: 1
LAD: 5
MIA: 2
MIL: 1
NYM: 0
PHI: 1
PIT: 2
SDP: 0
SFG: 1
STL: 3
WAS: 4
(not including the pat-on-the-head selections)


(next up: the American League)

My 2013 All-Star Teams

Presented without much in the way of comments, here are my personal picks for the 2013 All-Star team.  I think the actual team rosters are 34 players or thereabouts, but I'm just going to do a starter and reserve at each position.  For pitchers, I'll do a full 5-man rotation and a 5-man bullpen.  That's 26 players.  And then I'll add in a team representative for any team that doesn't get a guy on the team.

I'm generally making use of past 365-day splits.  I still think that looking at 3-month splits is silly and uninteresting, no matter what Dave Cameron (and pretty much everyone else) says.  In the past I've used projections, but calendar-year splits still allow for me to highlight surprise performances while still getting decentish true-talent measures.  I think it's a good compromise.  On top of that, I also allow my personal biases and whims bump players around...'cause it's my list.

National League

C: Buster Posey, Yadier Molina
1B: Joey Votto, Paul Goldschmidt
2B: Chase Utley (for old times' sake, plus he's deserving), Matt effing Carpenter
3B: David Wright, Chase Headley
SS: Ian Desmond, Everth Cabrera (nod to J-Rol and Troy-Tul)
OF: Carlos Gomez (CF), Andrew McCutcheon (RF), Ryan Braun (LF), with reserves Starling Marte, Bryce Harper, Carlos Gonzelez

Starting Pitchers
Adam Wainwright, Clayton Kershaw, Matt Harvey, Cliff Lee, Homer Bailey (with a nod to Mat Latos)

Relievers
Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman, Jason Grilli, Mark Melancon, Jonathan Papelbon

Pats on the Head (token team representative that didn't make the real cut)
Jeff Samardzija (CHC)
Giancarlo Stanton (MIA) (nod to Jose Fernandez)

 

American League

C: Joe Mauer, Carlos Santana
1B: Chris Davis, Edwin Encarnacion
2B: Robinson Cano, Dustin Pedroia
3B: Miguel Cabrera, Josh Donaldson (nod to Adrian Beltre)
SS: Jose Reyes, Jhonny Peralta
OF: Mike Trout (CF), Alex Gordon (LF), Ben Zobrist (RF), with reserves Jacoby Ellsbury, Desmond Jennings, Torii Hunter

Starting Pitchers
Max Scherzer, King Felix, Yu Darvish, Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez

Relievers
Greg Holland, Jesse Crain, Koji Uehara, Joe Nathan, Grant Balfour

Pats on the Head
Jason Castro (HOU)

Holy crap, Detroit!