AL All-Star Starters

Here's who the fans have voted in as the starters for the all-star game (as of today - voting ends on June 29th). Let's take a look and see who's deserving and who's A Fraud.

1st - David Ortiz - leading the AL in RBI and a man quickly becoming "the face" of both the Red Sox and maybe MLB. If you want to argue that Ortiz is a DH and the position should go to a fulltime 1B - then teammate Kevin Youkilis is the most deserving based upon performance.

2nd - Robinson Cano - leading Mark Loretta by just 74,000 votes. Jose Lopez of the Mariners may be the most deserving based upon performance but with no clear "star" at the position it will go to either a Yankee or a Red Sox player and honestly - I have no problem with that. I think Loretta may get a late boost from the West Coast as his Padres fans make their voices heard.

3rd - Alex Rodriguez - the fans in Pittsburgh deserve the chance to boo A-Rod too. Lots of good choices - Glaus, Lowell, Chavez or Blalock would all be fine but A-Rod gets the nod based on past performance.

SS - Derek Jeter - I have no argument with this (although I'm sure that fans of Miguel Tejada or Orlando Cabrera probably do).

C - Jason Varitek - Probably should go to Joe Mauer based upon performance.

OF - Vlade Guererro, Manny Ramirez and Ichiro - all deserving. Johnny Damon is 4th in voting but I don't see him overcoming the support Ichiro gets overseas. Vernon Wells is the most deserving of a starting position but is hurt by playing in Toronto.