How it ought to be

The Midsummer Classic, baseball's All-Star Game is quickly approaching. Fan voting is well underway and rosters will be announced in the near future.

I follow the American League very closely. If I were responsible for selecting the roster, here's how I would go.

Here are the basic requirements for roster selection:
- 34 players per league (21 hitters, 13 pitchers. I don't know if that is set in stone but that's how it was for both leagues last year).
- Every team must be represented.

Starters in bold.

Catcher: Joe Mauer, A.J. Pierzynski

First Base: Prince Fielder, Paul Konerko

Second Base: Robinson Cano, Jason Kipnis, Ian Kinsler

Third Base: Miguel Cabrera, Edwin Encarnacion, Adrian Beltre

Shortstop: Derek Jeter, Elvis Andrus

Outfield: Josh Hamilton, Curtis Granderson, Jose Bautista, Adam Jones, Mark Trumbo, Mike Trout, Josh Reddick

Designated Hitter: David Ortiz, Billy Butler

Pitchers:
Starter: Jered Weaver, Chris Sale, Justin Verlander, C.C. Sabathia, C.J. Wilson, Jason Hammel, David Price, Felix Hernandez.
Reliever: Jim Johnson, Fernando Rodney, Rafael Soriano, Chris Perez, Joe Nathan.

A few observations:

- I initially had Matt Harrison and Scott Downs in and left out Jered Weaver and Joe Nathan. Weaver missed a month with injury, but came back with a great outing last week. His reduced numbers are the best in the league right now. I switched him for teammate Downs. That left in imbalance with starting pitchers and relievers, so I did a double switch with teammates Harrison and Nathan. Weaver should be the starting pitcher and throw one inning.

- It is very interesting to note that the most popular and considered the best player in baseball Albert Pujols will likely miss the All Star game for the second year in a row. (But American League fans don't care for him anyway.)

- Current fan voting was taken into consideration above and will likely effect (affect?) the eventual roster. As of a week ago, Mike Napoli was the leading vote-getter for catcher, but that seems to be the only significant inconsistency. If Napoli gets in, it would be tough luck for A.J. Pierzynski.

Usually the Red Sox are among the highest represented teams. But regulars Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis (now traded), and Jon Lester have all been bad, and Jacoby Ellsbury, Josh Beckett, and Carl Crawford are all hurt. David Ortiz is having a monster season, leading the team in every offensive stat, and is an easy and obvious choice for starting designated hitter. When you consider that the Red Sox have been in last place the whole year, only sending one player is reasonable.

- The Athletics, Mariners, Royals, and Twins required some special attention for their representation. Joe Mauer was an easy selection and I think he should start. Felix Hernandez is having an off year but so is everyone else on the Mariners (and I don't think Kyle Seager will replace Adrian Beltre at 3rd). Reddick and Butler were pretty obvious selections for their teams.

- Fielder, Sabathia, Cabrera, Ortiz. That's a lot of fat people.

- This roster would yield the following team representation:

Rangers, Yankees, Angels = 5
White Sox, Tigers = 3
Orioles, Rays, Blue Jays, Indians = 2
Red Sox, Twins, Athletics, Mariners, Royals = 1