Every year, the fans miss a few players — and the reason for that usually circles back to New York’s overwhelming fan base. You could even blame mainstream media for not giving enough credit to some of these snubs, but for some players the fans just get it wrong.
Yankees who deserved to make the team (and likely will):
1. Mark Teixeira — Adrian Gonzalez (.352, 16 HR, 71 RBI) is the sure bet starter, but Teixeira (.243, 25 HR, 63 RBI) continues to pump out homers.
2. Robinson Cano — Not a whole lot of competition here for Cano (.289, 14 HR, 51 RBI).
3. Alex Rodriguez — There is a surplus of stellar third basemen in the AL, but A-Rod (.299, 13 HR, 51 RBI) is having the best year among Adrian Beltre (.259, 14 HR, 57 RBI), Kevin Youkilis (.269, 11 HR, 55 RBI) and Evan Longoria (.249, 10 HR, 36 RBI).
4. Curtis Granderson — He leads all outfielders in RBI and is only three homers behind Jose Bautista (.326, 24 HR, 52 RBI), who is my pick to win this year’s Home Run Derby (if David Ortiz picks him).
Yankees who likely will start but weren’t deserving:
1. Russell Martin — Alex Avila (.303, 10 HR, 56 RBI) of the Tigers is having a better season than Martin (.230, 10 HR, 34 RBI) on all fronts, but he’ll likely make it as a backup.
2. Derek Jeter — This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Among qualified AL shortstops, Jeter (.260, 2 HR, 20 RBI) ranks in the bottom half of all Triple Crown categories. Asdrubal Cabrera (.296, 13 HR, 47 RBI) is my pick to start. Cabrera should make it as a backup, but Jhonny Peralta (.313, 13 HR, 47 RBI) will get snubbed.
Conclusion:
So the Yankees likely will have six starters around the diamond, two of whom are undeserving, and then I bet two of their pitchers make it: CC Sabathia & Mariano Rivera.
Oh, I can’t resist writing about the All-Star Game without linking back to my argument for why the Midsummer Classic just doesn’t make any sense.
