All-Star Selections

Here's who I think should be named to the 2011 All-Star teams.

Catcher: AL - Alex Avila, Detroit Tigers (though a case could be made for his teammate Victor Martinez but Victor plays more DH/1st); NL - Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves

1st Base: AL - Adrian Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox; NL - Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers

2nd Base: AL - Robinson Cano, New York Yankees; NL - Richie Weeks, Milwaukee Brewers

Shortstop: AL - Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland Indians; NL - Jose Reyes, New York Mets

3rd Base: AL - Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees; NL - Aramis Ramirez, Chicago Cubs (very thin position in the NL)

Outfield: AL - Curtis Granderson, New York Yankees, Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays, Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston Red Sox; NL - Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers, Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers, Lance Berkman, St. Louis Cardinals

DH: AL - Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers; NL - Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds

Starting Pitcher: AL- Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers, Jered Weaver, Los Angels Angels; NL - Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies, Jair Jurrjens, Atlanta Braves

Closers: AL - Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees, Sergio Santos, Chicago White Sox; NL - Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta Braves, Drew Storen, Washington Nationals

Derek Jeter will be voted in as starter at short for the AL but Asdrubal Cabrera should still make the team. Same is true at AL DH where David Ortiz (much more deserving at this position that Jeter is at his) will get voted in but hopefully the deserving Cabrera will be on the team. If Jacoby Ellsbury does not win the voting then he could lose his spot to a numbers game as each team needs a representative.

In the NL - I'm guessing that Jose Reyes hamstring problem from yesterday make make short moot with Troy Tulowitzki either being voted the starter or named the starter at short. At 3rd - Placido Polanco from the Phillies will probably get voted in while I went with Ramirez partly because the case is so close for so many players I took a Cub since they did not have many other options for an All-Star selection.

Looking at my AL selections, only Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Minnesota, Kansas City, Seattle and Oakland don't have representatives. If Josh Hamilton gets voted in (or named team representative) then the Rangers are all set. If not then starters CJ Wilson and Alexi Ogando are both worthy of being named. Also wouldn't be surprised if Adrian Beltre was named to back-up 3rd base. James Shields should be the Tampa Bay representative, JJ Hardy deserves to be the Orioles representative but I wouldn't be surprised if Matt Weiters is named because catching is so thin in the AL. Michael Cuddyer is the only one to put up decent numbers for the Twins but like Baltimore I wouldn't be surprised if Joe Mauer gets the nod because the AL needs catcher depth. Alex Gordon has to be the Royals representative, rookie Michael Pineda is the best choice for the Mariners and Gio Gonzalez is the best choice for the A's.

For the NL the following teams still need a guy; Florida, Pittsburgh, Houston, San Francisco, Arizona, and San Diego. For Florida, Josh Johnson was the best pitcher in the NL before getting hurt while Gaby Sanchez should be the second choice but 1st base is loaded in the NL. The Pirates surprisingly have a number of deserving players including Andrew McCutchen, Joel Hanrahan, and Jeff Karstens. Hunter Pence will be the Astros player. Tim Lincecum or Brian Wilson (maybe both) will represent the Giants. Likewise both Juston Upton and Ian Kennedy from the Diamondbacks deserve a spot. Heath Bell will likely get the nod for the Padres but I wonder if he gets traded in between the naming and playing of the game.