The Final All Stars

Ok so for those of you who don't know how the whole process works for the All Star Game, fans vote on a selection of players they want to see play and the ones with the most votes at each fielding position get the starting job. Now there are also a set of 'reserve' players who get the call when they are highest voted amongst other major league players, then there are the pitchers who are selected specifically by the All Star Team's manager and in most case some or a lot of bias is seen here (managers stacking pitching with their teams pitchers when there are better or more deserving players). Then after all of these selections are made we come down to the 'Final Vote' basically what happens here is the manager of each league selects 5 players that he thinks could make the cut for the All Star Game and then fans over a short period of time vote on it and whoever of the each group has the highest vote count gets the final roster spot on the All Star Game. So let's start off by looking at who we have as our AL and NL Final Vote players

AL: Ok so a bit of an oddity as Jim Leyland thought that to only select relievers, especially when there were a lot of impact players better than say Tanner Scheppers, David Robertson or Joaquin Benoit. (Josh Donaldson for instance?)
Joaquin Benoit, RP, Tigers
Steve Delabar, RP, Blue JaysDavid Robertson, RP, YankeesTanner Scheppers, RP, RangersKoji Uehara, RP, Red Sox

Now there is no reason to go through these guys one at a time because they all are part of the sample position so instead I'll give you my top 2 for this and explain why. So the two I would vote for are Koji Uehara and Steve Delabar, now the reasoning for this is strictly because they have been solid and part of a solid bullpen whereas the Tigers bullpen is a god damn mess and Benoit is no exception to that, the Yankees bullpen hasn't been all that stellar either (Rivera is beginning to show some cracks in his armour), and the Texas bullpen has been above average but not fantastic, much like their starting rotation (excluding Yu Darvish). Whereas Koji Uehara has been bounced around from set up man to 7th inning man to closer and he hasn't faltered a bit in fact he seems to be pitching better in the closer role, which makes him invaluable in any bullpen and then Steve Delabar, while not quite as effective as Uehara (mainly because of walks) he has still managed to keep a very impressive ERA and WHIP, throwing hard in the mid 90's and being an integral part of the Jays bullpen and again like Uehara he's been moved around from being the 7th inning guy, to the set up man to the long man so he also has a lot of value for any team.

NL: Ok so this is a better spread than the AL in terms for position players that deserve a spot. Though what the hell is with having 2 Dodgers players on there, not that they don't deserve a spot on the roster but just seems a bit spiteful as it may separate fans in the voting and in the end neither might get in.
Ian Desmond, SS, Nationals
Freddie Freeman, 1B, Braves
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, Dodgers
Hunter Pence, OF, Giants
Yasiel Puig, OF, Dodgers

Ok so this one is a pretty easy choice for me, though all of the players on this list have been performing pretty well above their usual (with some exception to Hunter Pence as he's been up and down for a while, and his ups aren't that phenomenal). Anyhow my choice for this is Yasiel Puig, now I've seen plenty of people out there bitching about how he doesn't deserve a spot for this reason or that reason and I'd just like to set the record straight. First off the comparison to other players that have been one hit wonders, Puig isn't just a hitter like these come and go players, he's a five tool guy, he hits for power and average, he can run the bases as well as anyone else, he is stellar defensively with a really athletic style and he's got a cannon of an arm for throwing guys out, all of which he has demonstrated time and time again, whereas these comparison players just have a spurt of power and then fade away. Now to top this part off let's compare Puig's stats vs a couple other players' first month in the majors.

Puig: AVG: .440, OBP: .466, SLG: .743, SO: 23, BB: 4, HR: 8, AB: 109
Player A: AVG: .306, OBP: .368, SLG: .514, SO: 28, BB: 11, HR: 4, AB: 120
Player B: AVG: .286, OBP: .372, SLG: .514, SO: 19, BB: 13, HR: 4, AB: 117
Player C: AVG: .274, OBP: .284, SLG: .491, SO: 21, BB: 2, HR: 4, AB: 109.

Now who are those three players? Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. In only slightly more plate appearances they either didn't hit as well as Puig has, struck out more than Puig has or walked less than Puig (and hell I'm a Blue Jays fan). And we gave Harper and Trout All Star Game invites without a question last year despite that they were both what some considered to be over performing rookies, just goes to show you shouldn't judge the man until the years over and you can actually see his full season of work.

-Eric