COAS Picks the MLB All Stars

Truth be told: I haven't paid an overwhelming amount of attention to baseball this year. I've kept up with some in watching the Cubs flounder to another 100-loss season and kind of watching the standings to see where everything is. (It didn't help that I, like pretty much everyone else around Chicago, was caught up in Blackhawks fever, but sometimes a team captures your heart and to quote Duncan Keith, "...you win the Cup. That's the way it goes.")

Anyway, back in November I went on a little spiel about things I wanted to fix in Major League Baseball. Looking back, I realize I left a few things off the list, one of the most important being the All Star Game. Look, I enjoy the Midsummer Classic. It's probably the best All Star Game in the 4 major North American sports. But one of two things need to change: either fan voting needs to go, or the fact that the game decides home field advantage does. Given a choice, I'd prefer to get rid of the home field advantage factor. This allows the possibility of a player from a bad team swinging the outcome of the World Series (granted, this is not too likely to occur, but the possibility is there). As such, it really should go back to an exhibition game.

I do like the ability for fans to vote for who they want to play (at least for starters), so with the deadline for voting coming up late Thursday night, I'm getting my votes in now (all 25 of them, maybe more since I do have multiple emails.)

Without further ado, my starters for the 2013 All Star Game (all stats retrieved June 30 before the start of all games):
American League
1B: Chris Davis (BAL): .333, 30 HR, 79 RBI. For reference, Davis hit 33 homers and 85 RBI's in all of 2012, and prior to this year his best average was .285 in 80 games in 2008. Holy crap. No one else on this list even comes close.
2B: Jason Kipnis (CLE): .299, 12 HR, 51 RBI. I want someone who can do a little of everything. Kipnis has shown average, power, and speed so far (19 steals, tops among regular AL second basemen).
SS: Alexei Ramirez (CWS): .280, 1 HR, 17 RBI. He leads all AL shortstops in steals, and is up there in runs scored. I want a little balance in this lineup. Power can come later, I need a little more speed and average.
3B: Miguel Cabrera (DET): .375, 24 HR, 81 RBI. Is this even up for debate?
C: Joe Mauer (MIN): .325, 8 HR, 26 RBI. He's been hurt some in recent years, but he's back to hitting at his usual rate. The power was never really there, but the man will consistently hit well over .300 year in and year out.
OF1: Mike Trout (LAA): .315, 13 HR, 52 RBI. Add on 20 steals for good measure. The sophomore is not seeing a slump this year and is putting together another quality season in Southern California.
OF2: Adam Jones (BAL): .295, 15 HR, 57 RBI. After Trout, there's a dip in guys that really jump out at me. Jones has had an all around solid year. 9 steals isn't too bad to put a little speed in with a touch of power and average.
OF3: Nelson Cruz (TEX): .268, 20 HR, 60 RBI. Granted that RBI's are misleading, he does lead all AL outfielders in homers and has enough RBI's that I can overlook his average here (though really, .268 isn't terrible).
DH: David Ortiz (BOS): .317, 16 HR, 57 RBI. If you read my earlier post about fixing baseball, you know my disdain for the designated hitter. Alas, it's a position I have to vote for, and I'm going with the guy who continues to put up really good numbers. More important question though: how the hell does David Ortiz have 2 stolen bases?

National League
1B: Paul Goldschmidt (ARI): .309, 19 HR, 67 RBI. This was a call between him and Joey Votto, who has a higher average, but that's about it. Votto will still end up making it, but Goldschmidt gets the starting nod.
2B: Daniel Murphy (NYM): .277, 5 HR, 32 RBI. Not related to a "hometown" vote, just not impressed with the candidates here. Murphy probably has the best all around numbers without being outstanding in any one category.
SS: Jean Segura (MIL): .333, 11 HR, 32 RBI. I saw Segura for the first time back in May, and I'm impressed. He's got some pop on his bat, but more importantly, dude can run. 24 steals so far this season and he's only been caught twice. It's only his first full season, but wow.
3B: David Wright (NYM): .303, 12 HR, 41 RBI. This one is more merit-based than the other Met so far. Wright has been consistently good even after his team's window opened and abruptly shut last decade. His speed and higher average give him the nod over Pedro Alvarez.
C: Buster Posey (SF): .324, 11 HR, 47 RBI. Arguably the best catcher in the game, and his offensive numbers back his case up. Yadier Molina's defense might be better, but I'll take Posey over him.
OF1: Michael Cuddyer (COL): .346, 14 HR, 48 RBI. Cuddy is on my fantasy team, and I'm glad he is. The former Twin is on a 26 game hitting streak as of publishing time and is a big reason why the Rockies are only 2 games back in the division race.
OF2: Carlos Gonzalez (COL): .296, 21 HR, 59 RBI. Here's reason #2. Add his 15 steals to the mix and you have a couple outfielders who can really do some damage.
OF3: Carlos Gomez (MIL): .317, 12 HR, 37 RBI. Go-Go did a little damage with the bat when I was up in Milwaukee as well. This pick required a stylistic choice: do I take a little more power with Carlos Beltran (.301/18/48) or a little less power with some more speed, and opted for that (the fact that Gomez's average is a little higher also helps).
DH (unofficial- not a voted on category): Joey Votto (CIN): .322, 14 HR, 38 RBI. I think I'll take him over Beltran as well. Odds are both will end up in based on the "each team needs a representative" rule.

Proof that this is as unbiased as you can get? No Cubs made the starting lineup (and deservedly so). If I had to pick the Cubs representative, I'd probably take a left handed Carlos Marmol Jeff Samardzija. He's put up good pitching numbers thus far other than his record (which is more indicative that the Cubs are awful than anything else), but I have no say here. Even this starting lineup is only a fraction of a percent, but it's something. Hopefully a little sanity can override people voting party/team lines.