My American League All-Stars

Yesterday I unveiled who I think should be selected to this year's National League All-Star team.  Today, it's the American League's turn. 

But first I have to rant a little bit.  Everyone who posts comments on MLB.com message boards complaining about the number of Yankees and Red Sox leading the voting or how the fans shouldn't pick the starters, please do us all a favor and stop it!  The game is for the fans, thus the fan vote.  If they were to take the fan vote away, you wouldn't like that either, so just shut up.  (In fact the way they do it now with the fans picking the starters and the players picking some reserves and pitchers before the manager picks the rest of the team might be the best system they've ever used.)  And the Yankees and Red Sox are popular.  Sorry your team isn't.  But, this just in, along with the Phillies, the Yankees and Red Sox are two of the three best teams in baseball.  They're both going to have a lot of All-Stars anyway, starting or not.  Do I think five starters from one team is excessive?  Yes.  But that's not really my point.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, it's time to unveil my selections.  I followed the same rules that I used yesterday for the National League.  I'm not picking a replacement for Jeter at shortstop, though.  Even though he's still on the DL, the All-Star Game isn't for another two weeks, so there's still a chance he'll play.

Starting Lineup
C: Russell Martin, Yankees
1B: Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox
2B: Robinson Cano, Yankees
SS: Derek Jeter, Yankees
3B: Alex Rodrigues, Yankees
OF: Jose Bautista, Blue Jays; Curtis Granderson, Yankees; Josh Hamilton, Rangers
DH: David Ortiz, Red Sox

I can say with pride that I haven't cast a single vote for the incredibly overrated Jose Bautista (seriously, why is it so hard to figure out that the guy can only hit fastballs?) or, as per personal policy, any member of the Boston Red Sux.  Nor have I voted exclusively Yankees for those of you who think I'm just a homer.  (I'll have you know that I vote for Ichiro on every ballot I fill out.)

Pitchers: Starters-Jake Arrieta, Orioles; Josh Beckett, Red Sox; Jon Lester, Red Sox; Justin Verlander, Tigers; Jered Weaver, Angels; CC Sabathia, Yankees; Gio Gonzalez, Athletics; Felix Hernandez, Mariners; James Shields, Rays; Relievers-Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox; Carlos Perez, Indians; Joakim Soria, Royals; Mariano Rivera, Yankees
Catcher: Alex Avila, Tigers
1st Base: Mark Teixeira, Yankees
2nd Base: Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox
Shortstop: Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians (if Jeter can't play, the injury replacement would be Jhonny Peralta, Tigers)
3rd Base: Adrian Beltre, Rangers
Outfield: Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox; Carlos Quentin, White Sox; Michael Cuddyer, Twins; Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners
DH: Victor Martinez, Tigers; Michael Young, Rangers

Final Vote: Adam Jones (OF), Orioles; Paul Konerko (1B), White Sox; Alex Gordon (OF), Royals; Ben Zobrist (2B), Rays; Nelson Cruz (OF), Rangers

And here's the lineup that's going to go out and secure World Series home field:
Jeter-SS, Granderson-CF, Bautista-RF, Gonzalez-1B, Rodriguez-3B, Hamilton-LF, Ortiz-DH, Cano-2B, Martin-C, Beckett-P

There are a ton of guys who could've made the cut but didn't, especially pitchers (Max Scherzer, Alexi Ogando, Michael Pineda, Josh Tomlin), but I think I was fair in my assessment.  There are only so many spots to go around, and you've got to have someone from every team (I'm in the minority as a supporter of that rule).  Yes, 15 of the 33 players are Yankees and Red Sox.  That's what happens when two teams are far and away better than the rest.  To the people who don't like that, I have one word for you.  Tough!