Picking The All-Stars and a Home Run Derby

It is 2017 and names like Logan Morrison, Justin Smoak and Trey Mancini are tearing up the league with surprising power. I loooooove (extra o's for emphasis on sarcasm) that the non-MLB Network sports shows can't have a single discussion without skepticism. Either the balls are juiced or the players found new drugs. We are now 30+ years into the PED-era and instead of just admitting that baseball is too niche a sport for ESPN or NBCSports to pay real money for anymore, that the sport has somehow disintegrated due to the constant struggle for more. Whether it be more runs, more homers, more strikeouts or more suspensions, who the hell cares? It's not as inherently dangerous as football and pays better than basketball and it's impossible not to enjoy baseball when you see Aaron Judge, Francisco Lindor, Cody Bellinger, Eric Thames and Kenley Jansen succeeding in such disparate, incredible ways. If I found out that something "unnatural" made all of these players crazy great 15 years from now, it's not going to take away from the fun I or most other baseball fans are having watching this season of baseball. It's a game, not politics. 80-year old Bills fans still reminisce of the days of O.J. Simpson.

Taking a glance at the standings, it is impossible to separate reality from fluke runs of greatness or hopelessness. The few things we can determine so far are that the Nationals are running away with the NL East whether Trea Turner's wrists are in place or not, the Astros are very good and the Mets, Phillies, Giants, Padres and Athletics stink. Other than those few truths, the entire league is up for grabs while the local markets continue to thrive with THE baseball-dominant month of July ahead. It has been a weird season and things will only get weirder with the trade deadline and All-Star festivities around the corner. Speaking of which... Here is the final All-Star voting update with my picks for reserves and pitchers.

Current American League Starting Lineup (based on actual leaders of most recent voting update)
Catcher - Salvador Perez (KC)
1st Baseman - Eric Hosmer (KC)
2nd Baseman - Jose Altuve (HOU), Robinson Cano (SEA)
3rd Baseman - Miguel Sano (MIN)
Shortstop - Carlos Correa (HOU)
Outfielders - Aaron Judge (NYY), Mike Trout (LAA) & George Springer (HOU)
Designated Hitter - Nelson Cruz (SEA)


Current National League Starting Lineup
Catcher - Buster Posey (SF)
First Baseman - Ryan Zimmerman (WAS)
Second Baseman - Daniel Murphy (WAS)
Third Baseman - Kris Bryant (CHC)
Shortstop - Zack Cozart (CIN)
Outfielders - Bryce Harper (WAS), Charlie Blackmon (COL), Marcell Ozuna (MIA)

Who SHOULD be the AL All-Star Reserves & Pitchers
C - Gary Sanchez (NYY)
1B - Justin Smoak (TOR) and Yonder Alonso (OAK)
2B - Starlin Castro (NYY)
3B - Jose Ramirez (CLE) and Mike Moustakas (KC)
SS - Elvis Andrus (TEX), Xander Bogaerts (BOS)
OF - Corey Dickerson (TB), Avisail Garcia (CWS) and Mookie Betts (BOS)

Pitching Staff - BOLD indicates game's likely starter
Dellin Betances (NYY) 4th appearance
Brad Brach (BAL) 2nd appearance
Yu Darvish (TEX) 4th appearance
Michael Fulmer (DET) 1st appearance
Craig Kimbrel (BOS) 6th appearance
Corey Kluber (CLE) 2nd appearance
Lance McCullers Jr. (HOU) 1st appearance
Andrew Miller (CLE) 2nd appearance
Roberto Osuna (TOR) 1st appearance 
Chris Sale (BOS) 6th appearance
Ervin Santana (MIN) 2nd appearance
Luis Severino (NYY) 1st appearance
Jason Vargas (KC) 1st appearance

Who SHOULD be the NL All-Star Reserves & Pitchers
C - Yadier Molina (STL), Yasmani Grandal (LAD)
1B - Paul Goldschmidt (ARI), Joey Votto (CIN) and Wil Myers (SD)
2B - Brandon Phillips (ATL)
3B - Nolan Arenado (COL) and Justin Turner (LAD)
SS - Corey Seager (LAD)
OF - Cody Bellinger (LAD), Giancarlo Stanton (MIA) and Adam Duvall (CIN)


Pitching Staff - BOLD indicates game's likely starter

Jacob deGrom (NYM) 2nd appearance

Zack Greinke (ARI) 4th appearance

Greg Holland (COL) 3rd appearance

Kenley Jansen (LAD) 2nd appearance 

Clayton Kershaw (LAD) 7th appearance

Corey Knebel (MIL) 1st appearance 

Carlos Martinez (STL) 2nd appearance

Pat Neshek (PHI) 2nd appearance

Robbie Ray (ARI) 1st appearance

Felipe Rivero (PIT) 1st appearance

Max Scherzer (WAS) 5th appearance

Stephen Strasburg (WAS) 3rd appearance

Alex Wood (LAD) 1st appearance

Here are my guesses as to who will be the final five left up to fan voting for the final roster spots!
American League
Kansas City Royals OF Lorenzo Cain
Cleveland Indians SS Francisco Lindor
Baltimore Orioles 2B Jonathan Schoop 
Seattle Mariners SS Jean Segura 
Detroit Tigers OF Justin Upton
National League
St. Louis Cardinals 3B Jedd Gyorko
Atlanta Braves OF Matt Kemp
Arizona Diamondbacks 3B Jake Lamb
Arizona Diamondbacks SS/OF Chris Owings
Milwaukee Brewers 3B Travis Shaw

ESPN
Matt Kemp will be dismayed to find his All-Star fate still undetermined.

Those are my unbiased, fairly educated picks for the upcoming MLB All-Star roster announcement show (ESPN, July 2nd @ 7 PM ET). Of course, the game's managers might still favor the All-Star potential of players like Anthony Rizzo, Francisco Lindor and Miguel Cabrera but, they just aren't off to hot enough starts to crack my rosters. Hopefully, they all soar to their usual heights in the second half of the 2017 season as they are some of the most enjoyable faces of the sport to watch on a regular basis.

Also enjoyable is the Home Run Derby. This year's takes place in Miami and Giancarlo Stanton absolutely must defend his crown amongst a field of eight competitors in a power-heavy season. This year's crowd feels especially fun with plenty of fresh faces.

Here are the 8 names that would make a perfect Home Run Derby in 2017...

Marlins OF Giancarlo Stanton

Yankees OF Aaron Judge

Dodgers 1B/OF Cody Bellinger

Twins 3B Miguel Sano

Brewers 1B Eric Thames

Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo

Nationals OF Bryce Harper

Astros SS Carlos Correa  

I'm pumped just looking at that list of names and casual fans should be as well. There's no way that this field of players along with the promise of no more BACKBACKBACK Chris Berman should be enough for baseball to keep people's attention on a Miami-based baseball game for the first time in years.

Good luck to those making their vacation plans around All-Star week and may the exit velocities on home runs wow us all.