COAS Picks the 2017 MLB All Stars

I'm taking a brief break from the MLB Tournament of Champions to bring you a tradition that I've undertaken the last few years: voting for the MLB All Star Game.

We're finally back to the All Star Game being just an exhibition that doesn't determine home field advantage in the World Series, so all is right with the game again. Unfortunately, the daily voting limit remains in place and I'm unable to get all of my votes in because I wait until the end of the voting window, I won't be able to max them out.

Like I said last year, as much as I'd like to vote spam for the Cubs, I can't do it. I want to vote the deserving players into the game, and that's what my goal with this is.

COAS Picks the 2016 MLB All Stars

As is my custom, it is the end of June, MLB All Star Game ballots are due, and I need to exercise my right as a sports fan!

I kind of abused a similar system earlier this year and was one of the idiots who repeatedly voted for John Scott to get into the NHL All Star Game. That's more of a for-fun thing though. The MLB All Star Game, for reasons I still don't totally understand, still determines home field advantage in the World Series.

Since this is the case, I take my voting for these honors very seriously. As much as I want to spam vote Cubs, I can't in good conscience do that. The All Star Game should be a showcase of the best talent Major League Baseball has to offer.

I always want to wait on casting my ballots until right before the deadline, though MLB tweaked the rules this year and imposed a daily vote limit. This means I won't cap out on my 35 allotted votes, but I'll be close. Below are my picks for this year's Midsummer Classic in San Diego.

American League
1B- Miguel Cabrera, DET
2B- Ian Kinsler, DET
SS- Xander Bogaerts, BOS
3B- Manny Machado, BAL
C- Salvador Perez, KC
DH- David Ortiz, BOS
OF- Mookie Betts, BOS
OF- Mike Trout, LAA
OF- Mark Trumbo, BAL

Most of these were pretty straightforward. Miggy and Ian Kinsler are putting up some fantastic numbers in Detroit, Xander Bogaerts has been ridiculous, Manny Machado is a homer machine, as is Mark Trumbo, Mike Trout is obvious, and Mookie Betts is the best of the rest of the outfielders. David Ortiz, especially in his last year, is a no-brainer. Catcher was a little trickier because there aren't really any outstanding picks, but Salvy is the obvious pick of this bunch.

National League
1B- Anthony Rizzo, CHC
2B- Ben Zobrist, CHC
SS- Corey Seager, LAD
3B- Kris Bryant, CHC
C- Wilson Ramos, WAS
DH*- Nolan Arenado, COL
OF- Dexter Fowler, CHC
OF- Yoenis Cespedes, NYM
OF- Marcell Ozuna, MIA

Major League Baseball needs to revamp the fan voting and since they allow a DH vote for the AL, they need to allow an automatic write-in for someone in the NL to be the DH. I actually swapped Nolan Arenado for Kris Bryant on the Tuesday before the deadline after Kris Bryant did things to baseballs no one has ever done before. It's a fairly Cub-heavy lineup, which is a little biased, but who of the Cubs on this list, other than Arenado for Bryant, can you justifiably argue? Maybe Paul Goldschmidt or Wil Myers for Rizzo, but Rizzo has a legit argument. You could also easily put Daniel Murphy ahead of Ben Zobrist and I wouldn't complain, though Zo was scorching hot in May to get here. I don't know that you can argue many outfielders ahead of Fowler; Ryan Braun, Carlos Gonzalez, or Starling Marte might be justifiable choices. Bryce Harper's average is too low for me though. Elsewhere, as much as I'd love to keep up the David Ross write-in campaign going, Wilson Ramos has had a phenomenal year. Really, as long as the guy who spits on umpires who is inexplicably deified by idiot Cardinals fans doesn't win, I'm good. I can't in good conscience vote for Addison Russell to be in the game. Corey Seager has been phenomenal for the Dodgers and gets my vote. The other two outfield spots go to Yoenis Cespedes, who has been excellent for the Mets again, and Marcell Ozuna, who's having a breakout year in Miami.

COAS Casts a 2015 All Star Ballot

It's late June in another baseball season, Major League Baseball's All Star Game is right around the corner. With ballots coming due in a couple days, I need to vote. And I can actually do it closer to the deadline this year.

Major League Baseball has one of the more intriguing All Star Games, and also probably the most controversial. A ton of Kansas City Royals make up the American League team, something that has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. My take: this system is set up to be abused like this. I personally don't like it, as my votes go for who I think deserves to go, but I don't begrudge people for ballot stuffing to get players on their favorite teams in.

Obviously, I will still take full advantage of being able to vote 35 times, but I'm voting in an honest fashion. The players I think deserve to make it get my vote. Simple as that. Let's get to it.

American League
1B: Miguel Cabrera (DET)
2B: Jose Altuve (HOU)
SS: Jose Iglesias (DET)
3B: Manny Machado (BAL)
C: Brian McCann (NYY)
DH: Nelson Cruz (SEA)
OF: Mike Trout (LAA)
OF: Yoenis Cespedes (DET)
OF: Brett Gardner (NYY)

Most of these picks were fairly obvious. Miggy is having another good year, Manny Machado has had a monster first half, as have Brian McCann and Nelson Cruz, and Mike Trout is Mike Trout. Jose Altuve was pretty obvious too, though from there it was tricky. Jose Iglesias doesn't have much pop, but is hitting well. Then at the back, Cespedes and Gardner both have good all around numbers and make for a well rounded lineup.

National League
1B: Paul Goldschmidt (ARI)
2B: Dee Gordon (MIA)
SS: Jhonny Peralta (STL)
3B: Nolan Arenado (COL)
C: Buster Posey (SF)
DH*: Anthony Rizzo (CHC)
OF: Bryce Harper (WAS)
OF: Norichika Aoki (SF)
OF: Andrew McCutchen (PIT)

Important note: the NL doesn't have a voting spot for a DH for obvious reasons, hence the asterisk. Since it's not an official vote, I'm allowing myself one homer vote for a Cub. Final side note: the designated hitter is for sissies. Anyway, Rizzo is in at DH because he shouldn't start at first over Goldschmidt, who has been amazing. Bryce Harper was the other automatic one before I even looked at numbers. From there, Nolan Arenado and Buster Posey were obvious choices, Dee Gordon felt like an "Eh, it'll work" vote at a shallow second base pool, Jhonny Peralta beat out Troy Tulowitzki, and I felt that Aoki and McCutchen were the best all around guys. I would have voted for Stanton, but as he's injured, it's a wasted vote.

The Official 2015 Confessions of a Sportscaster All Star Ballot

All of these were voted for 35 times, then another 70 times under my two other emails because why not. Most of these guys will probably not start. Odds are most, if not all, will end up playing in the All Star Game, however. That's good enough for me.

My hope still is that we have the seven Royals starting the All Star Game to force a change of some sort in the All Star Game format. I like the All Star voting; it gives the fans a choice of who they want to see play. If we keep that though, then the Game needs to go back to being an exhibition, and strictly so. No more home field advantage in the World Series. It was an interesting idea, but it allows players on teams who won't sniff the playoffs to impact the playoffs. I don't like that. Take it back to an exhibition and we're good.

COAS Picks the 2014 MLB All Stars

It may be a little early for this, but I'm going to be on a writing leave in about a week for a while. You know, getting married is kind of a big deal. Balloting for the MLB All Star Game is open until July 3rd and last year I waited until right before the deadline to make my selections, but given that I will be preoccupied, I'm voting early.

Of the four major sports, I'd say baseball has the best All Star Game. You get to see the best players in the game on the field, and they're all trying. That said, the fact that the All Star Game decides home field advantage for the World Series is a joke. Either decide by better overall record, or for a possibly better barometer, use their records against common opponents or something. But that's a post for another time.

Since the reality is that the game decides so much, having the fans vote on the starting lineup makes the starters something of a joke. I take this vote seriously though, and only intend to vote for the guys who deserve to start. Below you will see the starting lineups I voted for 75 times (you get 25 votes per email address, and I'm using the three I have. Sue me.) Stats included with the line are in average/homers/RBI's format and assumed to be the stat lines after all action on June 14th since the voting was conducted on June 15th.

American League
1B: Miguel Cabrera (DET)- .325/12/55
2B: Robinson Cano (SEA)- .331/3/36
SS: Alexei Ramirez (CHW)- .309/7/36
3B: Josh Donaldson (OAK)- .250/17/50
C: Kurt Suzuki (MIN)- .305/2/29
DH: Victor Martinez (DET)- .329/17/43
OF: Jose Bautista (TOR)- .311/15/46
OF: Mike Trout (LAA)- .299/13/49
OF: Michael Brantley (CLE)- .319/10/44

Miggy is the obvious choice for first base, with all due respect to the damage Jose Abreu has done on the South Side. Second is a little tougher, but Cano has done fairly well in his new digs. Derek Jeter will end up starting at short based on sentimentality, which would be fine were this just an exhibition game, but Alexei deserves the start based on numbers. Josh Donaldson has the worst average of my starting lineup, but he's been mashing, so it's fine. Catcher was tough, but Suzuki has done a decent amount of damage for the Twins so I'm in. In the outfield, Bautista and Trout were the no-brainers, and I opted for Brantley over Adam Jones of the Orioles. I almost didn't vote for a DH out of principle (the designated hitter is for sissies), but since I have to, I can't argue against V-Mart's eye-popping numbers.

National League
1B: Paul Goldschmidt (ARI)- .309/14/50
2B: Neil Walker (PIT)- .280/11/35
SS: Troy Tulowitzki (COL)- .355/17/43
3B: Todd Frazier (CIN)- .272/14/35
C: Evan Gattis (ATL)- .293/15/35
DH*: Giancarlo Stanton (MIA)- .302/18/54
OF: Carlos Gomez (MIL)- .310/12/38
OF: Andrew McCutchen (PIT)- .323/11/41
OF: Yasiel Puig (LAD)- .318/11/40

Goldschmidt is the best choice at first, though I did consider Anthony Rizzo. Second base is a little shallow, but I think Neil Walker had the best, most balanced numbers. Tulo is having a monster year, so he's a no brainer at short. Third base was kind of tough too, but Todd Frazier has had a good year, so he's in there. Evan Gattis is hitting really well behind the plate, so he gets the nod there. With the outfield, I cheated a little bit. Stanton was a for-sure pick, as was Puig. I omitted Puig last year based on lack of service time, but that's not an excuse this time. I was torn between McCutchen and Gomez for the third outfielder. Ultimately I decided to cheat; Stanton will be the unofficial DH since the game is being played at an American League park, and the other three outfielders got my vote. Considering Stanton is second among NL outfielders at last update, I think he'll be fine, and all four of these guys will make the team one way or another anyway.

The Official COAS All Star Ballot

Proof of my lack of bias here: no Cubs are starting. Let's be honest, none of them deserve it. They'll get at least one rep obviously, though there might be a shot at a couple. Rizzo might be a backup at first, and I think Jeff Samardzija, even though he's come back to Earth a little bit, could get a nod as one of the pitchers. That's probably it for them, though. On the South Side, I already gave Alexei the starting nod even though Jeter will win. Ramirez will probably still make the team though. Chris Sale will be a pitcher almost definitely. Jose Abreu has a shot, and while I'm considering asking where the love for Paul Konerko is, he's done nothing this year to deserve making the team. Too bad, I actually have a lot of respect for Paulie.

On this Father's Day, enjoy spending time with your dad. To those of you readers who are dads, especially mine, thank you for everything that you do. Enjoy this day, you deserve it.

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):