So earlier today the All Star teams were announced, the Yankees as always were well represented. Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano were voted in by the fans. CC Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez were both choosen by Joe Girardi to make the club.Mariano Rivera and Phil Hughes were selected by their fellow players. Nick Swisher may also join his teammates, he is up for the final vote for the final roster spot.
One player that deserves to go and was not listen above is Andy Pettitte. At first like many fans, I was outraged to think that Pettitte may not make the team especially since he hasnt gone since 2001 and is having his best season since 2005. But if you look further into it there maybe a good reason why Girardi did not select Pettitte. CC Sabathia was selected but will not be able to compete in the mid summer classic because he is currently scheduled is the Sunday before the All Star game,under the new MLB rules a pitcher who pitches the last day before the break can not throw in the game. So Girardi is really adding CC to the All Star team so he will get recogonized as an All Star in his native California, but will still have the chance to add Andy to the roster as well. Girardi will get two chances to make the right choice of his own lefty pitcher. A side from CC pitching Sunday, Clay Buchholz of the Red Sox is injured, and cant take part. Their are three options that come off the top of my head that Girardi can take and thats Jered Weaver,Andy Pettitte, and Francisco Liriano. 
As for the rest of the bombers to make the game Cano and Jeter will start the game since they were voted in by the fans. Cano is having a monster year and deserves to be at the game, if Cano keeps this pace up he could be in the MVP talks. Jeter isnt having his best season, but has always been a fan favorite and got the vote due to a weak field of Shortstops.
Phil Hughes and CC both have 10 wins and deserve to be recognized for their accomplishments.I was a little more suprised that CC was choosen but as i mentioned earlier I think that it was a way for Girardi to get both Pettitte and CC recognized as All Stars. For Hughes it will be a nice home coming since he grew up not far from Anaheim. Hughes has recently cooled of a little, but after the hot start still deserves to be amongst the best.
Mariano Rivera has reached that platau in his career were he should be allowed to be in the game no matter what. The god father of closers is having another great season and was an easy choice to make yet another apperance in the mid summer classic. Rivera has the respect of the rest of the league, well maybe outside of Jonathan Papelbon who in 2008 felt he should have been the closer instead Mo (Papelbon was not selected this year). Papelbon later said he was misquoted and apologized.The one selection that was unexpected was Alex Rodriguez who was selected by Joe Girardi. A-Rod has been having a nice season but has not showed the power numbers that many fans are use to seeing. What suprised me more about this choice is that Girardi already has Evan Longoria as his starter and Adrian Beltre was voted in by his fellow players, so why add another third baseman ? Along with just a few weeks ago Rodriguez was battling a hip injury on the same hip that was oporated on last season. So why risk the chance of injury and leave A-Rod home to get some rest and not have to deal with any baseball activitys.
Nick Swisher may also join the rest of the pinstriped bunch and is up for the final vote on MLB.com. Swisher is up against tough competetion with favorites, Kevin Youklils and Paul Konerko along with Michael Young and Delmon Young (No relation). A few reasons to vote for Swish is because he already has produced a funny video that has him holding a surf board and wearing beach cloths (Can be found on Yankees.com). Swisher also is like a big kid, you always know hes having a good time while playing the game of baseball and will enjoy himself being selected but if you watch the Yankees you would already know that.The All Star game this year will be held in an American League stadium in Anaheim and while MLB claims that it counts there are still players such as Omar Infante and Evan Meek who make the game because they have to represent a team.The American League has not lost a game since 1996 and look to give the
Moot,
ReplyDeleteI believe that there could have been a few better players from the Pirates that could have helped the National League in the all star game. I would have taken Andrew McCutchen or maybe Ryan Doumit since I think having only two catcher is bologna. Another thing is that the teams should take less relief pitchers and more starters so the teams could have more position players. Just a personal opinion, you should have a blog on your All Star Team or the All Stink Team. Once again, keep up the excellent work.
-Joot