2009 All Stars Announced

Believe it or not, baseball is half way through its 2009 season. Man time certainly does fly. For those of you in fantasy leagues across the country, or if you are just a rabid baseball fan, you probably spent most of your afternoon gripped to TBS to see the final announcement on this year's All Star roster.

As usual, it includes some who are deserving of the hono aswell as those who are not deserving of the honor. (Met fans, am I referencing two of your players here?)

View

the teams via MLB.com.

Since the game will be held in St. Louis, three Cardinals are going to the game, and all three deserve the honor. Albert Puljos leads all of baseball in home runs, 31, and RBI, 82. He is on a pace to hit 62 homers and drive in 150 runs by the conclusion of the regular season, by far the MVP of the league this year.

Yadier Molina has had a nice season as the Cards catcher, hitting a consistent .278 with 5 homers and 25 RBI. He is one of the toughest catchers in baseball and always hits in the clutch, i.e. Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS vs. the New York Mets.

Ryan Franklin has 20 saves in 21 opportunities for the Cards this year with a sparkling 0.84 ERA. Franklin will likely be the 8th inning set up man to Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez, who has been one of the lone bright spots for the bumbling Metropolitans these days.

Speaking of the Mets. Johan Santana will make the trek to St. Louis carrying a lackluster 9-7 record. But you can't pin all the blame on Santana who suffers plays like Fernando Martinez slipping on banana peels in the outfield.

David Wright and Carlos Beltran also make the team. Beltran would have been deserving if he hadn't gotten injured; he was leading the league in batting average for the first two months of the season. He probably won't participate in this game, so expect someone like Adam Dunn, who has 22 homers this year for the Nationals to get the call to replace Beltran on the roster.

As for David Wright: I mentioned that some who got voted in didn't deserve to go to the game; well, Wright is the epitome of that thought. Wright has only five homers and 42 RBI this year, not even close to leading third baseman in any of those main categories. Couple that with his inability to hit in the clutch this year for the Mets, and you have an overrated All Star in 2009.

Mark Reynolds of the Arizona Diamondbacks should have been selected as the All Star third baseman for the NL; instead, he got totally snubbed. Reynolds has 23 home runs and 58 RBIs this year for the D-Backs. He is on a pace to blast over 40 homers, drive in 110 and score 100 runs. Now that's All Star performance.

As for the AL, three Yankees will make the trip. Mark Teixeria is very much deserving of a chance to play in the game. He has 20 home runs with 61 RBI for the Yankees while batting .278. He has been great in the clutch and brings a hard nosed persona to a club that has been missing an edge for a few years.

Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera will make their annual apperances in the game, if, for nothing else, because of history. Jeter is having a fine season batting .316 with 10 homers and 34 RBI, but Rivera has struggled at times this year with an ERA over two.

One big snub for the AL has to be Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers. Kinsler is a solid second baseman who actually hits for power from a position that usually doesn't generate much power. Kinsler has 19 homers and 51 RBI this year for Rangers with a .500 slugging percentage and a .333 on base percentage. He should have been selected to go as a reserve, if not, as a starter.

Both Kinsler and Reynolds could still make it to the All Star Game, that is if fans choose them to go in the Final Vote ballots.