Wednesday, May 6, 2009

All Star Breakdown: AL Third Base

MLB: APR 18 White Sox at Rays

All-Star voting is apparently already underway... which is confusing since it's only a month into the season. Nonetheless, here are some thoughts on who will be the AL starters.

The Usual Suspects

Alex Rodriquez: You know who this is, you know why he deserves it.
PRO: He's A-Rod, considered one of the greatest hitters of all time.
PRO: He's a Yankee.
CON: He's a Yankee.
PRO: Always an all-star, always an MVP candidate.
CON: He's injured currently.
CON: Steroids allegations.

Mike Lowell:
PRO: A consistent contributer.
PRO: He's a Red Sox player.
CON: He's a Red Sox player.
PRO: Having a good start to the year offensively for the second-place Sox.

Scott Rolen:
PRO: Superior defensively.
CON: Has been good at bat, but not great.
CON: He plays for the Jays, never a good thing to get voted in.
PRO: Multi-time all-star

Michael Young:
PRO: Having a great start to the season.
PRO: Multi-time all-star
PRO: Looks good defensively this year
CON: New to the third base position

The Upstarts

Evan Longoria:
PRO: Fantastic hitter.
PRO: Great fielder.
PRO: Plays for the Rays, who went to the world series.
PRO: Known by Red Sox and Yankee fans, so will gain some anti-A-Rod votes etc.
PRO: Complete exposure in the baseball world (see: World Series, RoY)

Brandon Inge:
PRO: Having a great start of the year.
PRO: Plays in vote-heavy Detroit
CON: Has a reputation for being a utility player.

Verdict

In every AL All-Star race, the New York and Boston candidates always have a leg up. One consequence of early voting this year is that Rodriguez is starting out with a big disadvantage, plus this whole steroid thing. Evan Longoria's start, plus name recognition, means he probably should start and hopefully will.

Predicted starter: Evan Longoria
Should be starter: Evan Longoria
Bench: Michael Young, Alex Rodriguez