Thoughts on the NL All-Star Roster

You can find the full NL roster here.

Some thoughts on the NL selections. You could argue that Benjie Molina is having a better season than his brother Yadier but that's a coin flip at best and what the heck - they are keeping it in the family. Orlando Hudson started off hot but has really cooled off. He's probably getting the Tim Wakefield good guy slot.

Was Cincinnati's Francisco Cordero more deserving than teammate Johnny Cueto or did Cuerto get stuck because of the arbitrary ratio of starters to closers? Ryan Franklin's not one of the 10 best pitchers in the NL. Johan Santana made the team based upon past performance but adding him or Ryan Franklin probably cost Milwaukee's Yovani Gallardo a spot on the roster.

An argument could be made that Mark Reynolds and Pablo Sandoval are more deserving than Ryan Zimmerman but Zimmerman is the Nationals sole representative and all three players are very close in value. There some slim pickens for outfield in the NL - isn't there? You could argue Matt Kemp over Hunter Pence but that just points out how thin the position is. That will have to boost Matt Holliday's trade value.

I'm still amused at the fact that the Cubs with their $135 million payroll have to use the "every team gets a representative" rule to get Ted Lilly on the roster.

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Interesting interview with Hunter Pence of the Astros... Dusty Baker will be under the microscope for how much he uses both Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez. It will be interesting to monitor. Maybe it was a fluke that exceptional pitchers like Kerry Wood and Mark Prior just happened through the Cubs at the same time Dusty was managing and that both were predisposed to injuries. It's possible that Baker had little to do with it. That's not the popular opinion right now though - which again gets us back to Dusty being under the microscope with Cueto and Volquez... Dan Johnson was DFA'd by the A's. I always thought that Johnson getting double vision and having trouble hitting the ball because he got suntan lotion in his eyes would have made for a great premise for an episode of Seinfeld... Chien-Ming Wang has not had much succes at Fenway Park. He is 2-3 with a 6.17 ERA in 6 starts. That has me worried since it is guys like that who suddenly pitch a shutout after having trouble over the years...