MLB 2014 All Star Game Rosters and Fantasy All Stars

On Sunday night, the rosters for the 2014 All Star game in Minnesota were announced, and from now until the game is played, we will read about players who were snubbed, players who shouldn't be on the All Star roster, or which players will be voted in.

Since this is a fantasy website, I will publish my thoughts on the fantasy All Star team in each league. Some of my fantasy all stars are the same as the one voted in, but not in all cases. I will get into that below, but before I do that, here is a run down of the announced All Star starters for both leagues:

All Star roster thoughts

Well, the American League has several players who should not have been voted in including Matt Wieters, Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano. Wieters is out for the season with Tommy John surgery, and probably won't be back till at least this time next season.

The voters voted in Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter  as the AL starting shortstop in his last season in baseball. I like that they did that for such a great player, but he doesn't deserve to start the All Star game. Jeter is hitting .273-.323-.328 with 2 home runs, 29 runs scored, 23 RBI and 6 stolen bases in his 338 pate appearances. That is not All Star worthy, but is excellent for a 40 year old. Guys who are more deserving are Alexei Ramirez and Erick Aybar.

Although Robinson Cano is having a better season than I expected, I think Ian Kinsler is having the better season.

Cano: .320-.381-.443, 6 HRs, 47 Runs, 51 RBI, 7 SB

Kinsler: .302-.339-.480, 11 HRs, 60 runs, 45 RBI, 9 SB

Twins second baseman Brian Dozier also has a good case for the second base spot as he has hit .234-.342-.416 with 16 home runs, 63 runs scored, 39 RBI and 15 stolen bases thus far, and is on pace for a 30 home run, 30 stolen base season.

In the Natonal League, I have to say I am surprised to see Aramis Ramirez as the NL starter at third base. Third base used to be a strong position, but with David Wright not hitting well, guys like Todd Frazier and Anthony Rendon are probably more deserving than Aramis.

Yadier Molina is the best all around catcher in the game, so I can see why fans voted him in, but I have other ideas on who the NL starting catcher should be, which I will get into below.

FanGraphs fWAR All Stars

Before I listed my fantasy All Star team, I felt it would be a good exercise to provide the fWAR (FanGraphs) leaders at each position, for each league.

I have to say that the leaders in fWAR, for each league, are probably more deserving than the players the fans voted in.

Ray's fantasy All Stars

Here are my fantasy all stars based on their performance in the five hitting categories: batting average, home runs, runs scored, RBI and stolen bases.

American League

My AL All Stars include Royals catcher Salvador Perez over Matt Wieters, Ian Kinsler over Robinson Cano, Alexei Ramirez over Derek Jeter and Nelson Cruz over Adam Jones.

Perez is deserving since Wieters is out for the season, and will start for Wieters.

I could see Edwin Encarnacion pushing Miguel Cabrera for the first base nod as well. Here are their stats through Sunday, July 6th:

Cabrera: .308-.367-.535, 14 HRs, 54 runs, 68 RBI, 0 SB

Encarnacion: .277-.368-.591, 26 HR, 57 runs, 70 RBI, 2 SB

Yeah, he's better in four of the five categories, the only exception being batting average. Then again, Miggy is the best hitter in the game.

Some fans, maybe many, probably are unhappy that Orioles outfielder Nelson Cruz is on the All Star roster since he was suspended for PED use last season. Here is how I see it. Cruz was suspended for PEDs and was on his way to having his best season of his career before the suspension. This season, he IS having the best season of his career, hitting .290-.356-.582 with 27 home runs, 53 runs and 71 RBI. All with no help from PEDs that we are aware of. Good for him.

National League

Maybe it's because he is a personal favorite of mine, but I like Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco over Jonathan Lucroy only slightly. Both are hitting over .300 this season, but Mesoraco is hitting for more power this season. It's a slight lean to Mesoraco over Lucroy, but can't say I would argue too much if others prefer Lucroy over Mesoraco.

I went with Dodgers second baseman Dee Gordon over Chase Utley, as he is hitting for a better average, getting on base more, scoring more runs than Utley, and is the MLB leader in stolen bases.

I went with Reds third baseman Todd Frazier at third base as he is having a nice bounce back season, and is on his way to a career year. He is hitting .291-.355-.500 with 17 home runs, 54 runs scored, 47 RBI and 13 stolen bases. Who saw the double digit stolen bases from Frazier this season?

Finally, I went with Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton over Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, even though Puig is one of my favorite players in the game. Stanton is leading all NL outfielders in fWAR, and is having a career year of his own, hitting over .300 with 21 home runs, 61 runs scored, 62 RBI and 8 stolen bases.