For the most part, picking the NL team was easier than picking the AL team, but I must say that picking the pitching staff was incredibly difficult.  I ended up having only 4 closers because the 9 starters that I picked were all so close statistically.

For those who haven’t read my other picks, I don’t use the MLB criteria.  This is simply who I believe deserves it the most, regardless of what team the player plays for, how popular he is, how good he looks in a uniform and I also do not mandatorily select one player from each team, although I did pick one from each NL squad.  That was not planned.  By the way, how could the AL select Mark Redman as the Royal’s representitive?  Jamie Quirk is having a better year.  And sure, Redman is a decent player, but what about Method Man?  He has a much "higher" OPS this year.   And now….on to my picks:

Starting Lineup:

SS Jose Reyes, Mets (to think just a few weeks ago I had Hanley Ramirez here, then I had Edgar Renteria, and at one point I think I even had Davey Concepcion in here somehow, but Reyes finally put a consistent streak together to stake his claim as the obvious selection at short)

CF Carlos Beltran, Mets (hard to believe the Royals once had one of the best players in baseball….wait a minute….do the Royals still have a team or have they already been contracted?  I’m actually rooting for this franchise to turn it around, and I think they’re on the right track with the new leadership that’s in place there and with guys like Burgos.  You know what they say….with a name like Ambiorix, it’s gotta be good.)

1B Albert Pujols, Cardinals (I still wince every time I think of what kind of numbers he could’ve had without missing those few games when he pulled his butt.  There’s nothing more to say about this guy, so I’ll just shut up now.)

RF Lance Berkman, Astros (I had Alfonso Soriano in here a few days ago, but Berkman is just having to good of a year to ignore, so even though he plays mostly at first nowdays, and since the higher-ups haven’t gotten it together and let both teams have DH’s in every all-star game, we need a spot for LB, so we put the kid in right.)

3B David Wright, Mets (about a month ago, this was a dead heat with Miguel Cabrera, but he’s done all the right things the last few weeks and seperated himself from the rest of the crowd, which is pretty impressive when you see the kind of numbers that Cabrera, Rolen and Freddy Sanchez have put together this year.)

2B Chase Utley, Phillies

LF Matt Holliday, Rockies (The thing that’s scary about H2 (Holliday and Hawpe) is that they’re starting to hit away from Colorado now, too.)

C Michael Barrett, Cubs (Just edges out Brian McCann and gets bonus points for his Dusty Rhodes elbow on Pierzynski, although they "hugged it out" the other day.  Well, sorta.)

P Bronson Arroyo, Reds (The kid just keeps on getting the job done, and Boston keeps kicking themselves, and Brandon Webb and the Diamondbacks keep wondering what the heck is happening to their season.)

National League Reserves:

Los Angeles Dodgers:

Nomar Garciaparra (has the rest of the world forgotten how awesome this guy can be?  I sure haven’t.)

Pittsburgh Pirates:

Freddy Sanchez (wow.  this guy is the Joe Mauer of the NL right now.  He just keeps getting the hits.  Unfortunately, no one else seems to be on base when he gets them, and everyone forgets how to hit when he’s on base.  But that average is too good to ignore.  Thankfully, the NL didn’t either, as he made the real squad, too.)

Jason Bay (his future’s so bright, he’s gotta wear shades.  Well, it’s Pittsburgh, so it’s not always necessary, but you get my point.)

St. Louis Cardinals:

Scott Rolen (Proud Scotty keep on Rolen.  He’s putting up some really great numbers that just might be a tad bit overshadowed by Phat Albert.  Wreck-o-nize.  He’s a decent fielder, too.  I heard that his hands are made out of gold, but I haven’t gotten confirmation on this yet.)

Florida Marlins:

Miguel Cabrera

Dan Uggla (Great googly moogly, what a season for this kid.  Out of nowhere!  Hope he keeps it up.  Gotta keep rootin’ for those underdogs, and the entire Marlins squad feels like just that.)

Colorado Rockies:

Brad Hawpe

Milwaukee Brewers:

Carlos Lee (it was pretty tough leaving him off the starting squad, too, but those 3 other guys really deserved it.  We love El Caballo, though.  It’s the rest of the Brewers we’re worried about.  Weren’t these guys supposed to be a little better?)

Washington Nationals:

Alphonso Soriano (this guy could be the biggest mid-season pickup of all-time.  Overpay him if you have to, to get him on your team.  He might be that missing puzzle piece behind the couch that makes your championship dreams come true.)

Philadelphia Phillies:

Ryan Howard (another team that has way too much talent to be playing this poorly.)

Atlanta Braves:

Brian McCann (one of the few bright spots in a very disappointing season for the Atlanta Braves aka the Nature Boy Ric Flair’s of the National League.)

Pitching Staff:

Starters:

Brandon Webb, D-Backs (Just a few short weeks ago I predicted this guy as an easy Cy Young frontrunner and the D-Backs as my pick for the NL West.  The team just gave you this feeling like they were magical.  Kind of like when you listen to Ronnie James Dio.  But now the feeling they’ve been giving me is hard to explain, and this is a family website, so I’ll just refrain for now, thank you.)

Tom Glavine, Mets

Carlos Zambrano, Cubs (the Brian McCann/Brandon Webb of the Cubs.)

Pedro Martinez, Mets (he was one of the ones that almost got left off the list, but I personally can’t ignore someone who has been this consistently good for this long.  Wow.  Just wow.)

Brad Penny, Dodgers

Jason Schmidt, Giants (he’s got a sort of Roger Clemens complex this year.  Putting up astonishing numbers but not getting the run support or wins that you’d normally see from such a season.)

Chris Young, Padres (this guy is starting to look special, and if the Padres can fix the rest of their team–see the entire offense–and find out what’s wrong with Jake Peavy, then this team could pose some serious troubles out West.)

Chris Carpenter, Cardinals (almost left him off, because somebody had to be left off, but I deleted a closer instead.  I think I made the right choice.)

Closers:

Tom Gordon, Phillies (no Flash in the pan)

Trevor Hoffman, Padres (much like Dustin, arguably, he gets better with age.)

Billy Wagner, Mets (has done a fine job in the big city.  Big ups.)

Brian Fuentes, Rockies (one of the unsung heroes in the entire league.  With his performance the last 2 seasons, he deserves a lot more credit, recognition and fanfare.   And hopefully, for him, a bigger paycheck.)

National League snubs (in order of snubbiness?)

Roy Oswalt, ‘Stros (just too many pitchers having better seasons.  Doesn’t take away from how good his has been.)

Jason Isringhausen, Cards (putting up the numbers, but way too inconsistent.  I replaced him with Carpenter, so don’t hate me, Cards fans)

Josh Johnson, Marlins (the Francisco Liriano, or perhaps Justin Verlander, of the National League)

David Eckstein, Cards (I’m guilty of what everyone else is guilty of:  Not giving props to him because of weak power numbers.  At least I admit it.)

Aaron Harang, Reds (another big reason for the Reds surprising season.  Just way too much talent above him on the stat sheets.)

Garret Atkins, Rockies (a very good season, but with Cabrera, Rolen, Wright and Sanchez, there was no way I could fit him on the team)

Edgar Renteria, Braves (the other positions had too many options and the ability of Freddy Sanchez to play all infield positions made it unnecessary to have a second shortstop on the squad.)

Ken Griffey Jr., Reds (he’s one of my all-time favorites, so it was hard to leave him off, but there were a handful of outfielders with better seasons so far.)

Andruw Jones, Braves (having the problem he’s had most of his career:  Chronic inconsistency)

Chris Capuano, Brewers

Derrick Lowe, Dodgers

Pedro Feliz, Giants (seems to get all his numbers in bunches.  needs to do it more consistently to be considered for something of this caliber.)

Bobby Abreu, Phillies (his lack of homers this year hurt his cause.  Big time.)

Jhonny Estrada, D-Backs

Carlos Delgado, Mets (needs a higher average to be considered above the other options.)

Jacques Jones, Cubs (started off too slowly)

Prince Fielder, Brewers (has struggled as of late, but has a long career ahead of him.)

Hanley Ramirez, Marlins (has played himself out of a possible spot on the squad that was once a possible starting spot in the last month or so.  Still an impressive rookie campaign, though.)

Chad Cordero, Nationals (gotta love the hat.)

Todd Coffey, Reds (another unsung hero.  Has basically held the Cincinnati bullpen together almost single-handedly throughout nearly the entire year.)

I hope you enjoyed my picks and my insight.  If you have any disagreements, omissions or other comments, please don’t hesitate to post them.  Thank you and enjoy the all-star game!