If I Were King...

The fan votes were counted, the managers made their decision, and mass debate has ensued regarding the Baseball All Star Game rosters, with cries of "What about Joey Votto?"

First, let me say that of all the major sports all star games, none compare to baseball's Midsummer Classic. The game is meaningful and exciting. The player introductions before the game are a must-see for baseball fans. And the controversy of player selection is guaranteed.

Here is the criteria for selecting players for each league's roster:

-Fan voting (8 players): Baseball fans vote on the starting position players for the All-Star Game, with ballots distributed at Major League Baseball games before mid-season and on the Internet. The designated hitter for the AL team is also selected in this manner.

-Player voting (16 players): Eight pitchers (five starters and three relievers) and one back-up player for each position are elected by the players, coaches, and managers. If the top vote-getter at a position has also been selected via fan voting, the second-place finisher in this category is selected.

-Manager selection (9 players): The manager of each league's All-Star team will fill his team's roster up to 33 players. The NL manager will also select his team's designated hitter. At this point, it is ensured that every team is represented by at least one player.

-Final vote (1 player): After the list of 33 players for each league is announced, fans vote for one additional player, chosen from a list of 5 players that is compiled by the manager of each league's team and the Commissioner's Office.

-Replacements: All Star managers and the Commissioner's Office replace players who are injured, decline to participate, and pitchers who start the Sunday before the game.

The selections are completely subjective. But I agree with ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd who says there are basically 3 parts to the process: 1) Reputation/Legacy 2) Popularity 3) First half performance (statistics). And that little caveat, every team is represented.

Here's your LINK for the actual All Star selections.

Using the criteria mentioned above, here's how I would fill the teams.

American League
Deserving Starters
C Joe Mauer MIN
1B Miguel Cabrera DET
2B Robinson Cano NYY
SS Derek Jeter NYY
3B Evan Longoria TB
OF Ichiro SEA
OF Josh Hamilton TEX
OF Carl Crawford TB
DH Vladimir Guerrero TX

Pitchers
Cliff Lee SEA
David Price TB
Clay Buchholz BOS
Jon Lester BOS
CC Sabathia NYY
Andy Pettitte NYY
Phil Hughes NYY
Jered Weaver ANA
Mariano Rivera NYY
Joakim Soria KC
Rafael Soriano TB
Andrew Bailey OAK

Reserves
C Joe Buck TOR
1B Justin Morneau MIN
1B Kevin Youkilis BOS
1B Paul Konerko CHW
2B Ty Wigginton BAL
SS Elvis Andrus TEX
3B Adrian Beltre BOS
3B Alex Rodriguez NYY
OF Torii Hunter ANA
OF Jose Bautista TOR
OF Alex Rios CHW
OF Shin-Soo Choo* CLE
DH David Ortiz BOS

National League
Deserving Starters
C Brian McCann ATL
1B Albert Pujols STL
2B Martin Prado ATL
SS Hanley Ramirez FLA
3B David Wright NYM
OF Ryan Braun MIL
OF Andre Ethier LAD
OF Corey Hart MIL
DH Joey Votto CIN

Pitchers
Roy Halladay PHI
Ubaldo Jimenez COL
Josh Johnson FLA
Adam Wainwright STL
Tim Lincecum SF
Mat Latos SD
Yovani Gallardo* MIL
Stephen Strasburg WAS
Billy Wagner ATL
Jonathan Broxton LAD
Heath Bell SD
Brian Wilson SF
Carlos Marmol CHC

Reserves
C Miguel Olivo COL
1B Adrian Gonzalez SD
1B Ryan Howard PHI
2B Chase Utley* PHI
2B Dan Uggla FLA
SS Jose Reyes NYM
SS Rafael Furcal LAD
3B Ryan Zimmerman WAS
OF Matt Holliday STL
OF Andrew McCutchen PIT
OF Carlos Gonzalez COL
OF Michael Bourn HOU

* injured, but deserving

It was especially difficult to select a player from the Athletics, Astros, and Indians. Shin-Soo Choo is injured and won't play, but he leads the Cleveland Indians in every offensive statistic, and since the rest of their team sucks he can be their representative. Michael Bourn leads the NL in stolen bases, so while I wanted to award the spot to Nats outfielder Josh Willingham or Dodgers reliever Hong-Chih Kuo, Bourn is more deserving than Hunter Pence, and there isn't room for any Astros' pitcher like Roy Oswalt. Andrew Bailey made it as a rookie last year for the A's, and I'd rather have a good closer than the 3rd pitcher on a bad team (Cahill).

Utley's spot can be replaced with Brandon Phillips, Gallardo's spot by Chris Carpenter or Kuo, and Choo by David DeJesus. I know there are other replacements that need to, have been, and will be made but those are secondary situations.

It was tough to keep the teams to the limited number of slots, especially the NL. I don't know how Charlie Manuel gets away with Omar Infante, Evan Meek, Arthur Rhodes, and Matt Capps, especially after knucklehead voters selected Yadier Molina and Jayson Heyward to start. I thought Girardi did a great job with the AL.