bdj610’s 2013 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams…The Final Rosters

What should have been posted last Friday was delayed due to outside circumstances. So what better time than now to do post my final rosters for the 2013 All-Star Teams.

After going over stats and arguing with myself as to who deserves to be on the team, I have finally finished completing my 36-man teams. I think I can say with confidence that the players who made my All-Star Teams were worthy of inclusion, not just because many of them are major superstars, but because their statistics were high enough above their peers that made them stand out from the rest.

So, without further ado, here are the players who made my 2013 MLB End of Year All-Star Teams (in alphabetical order by position):

American League First Basemen Chris Davis, Orioles Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays Prince Fielder, Tigers Second Basemen Robinson Cano, Yankees Jason Kipnis, Indians Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox Third Basemen Adrian Beltre, Rangers Miguel Cabrera, Tigers Evan Longoria, Rays Shortstops J. J. Hardy, Orioles Jed Lowrie, Athletics Alexei Ramirez, White Sox Outfielders Chris Carter, Astros Coco Crisp, Athletics Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox Alex Gordon, Royals Torii Hunter, Tigers Adam Jones, Orioles Nick Markakis, Orioles Alex Rios, Rangers Mike Trout, Angels Catchers Joe Mauer, Twins Salvador Perez, Royals Carlos Santana, Indians Designated Hitter David Ortiz, Red Sox Pitchers Bartolo Colon, Athletics Yu Darvish, Rangers Greg Holland, Royals Hisashi Iwakuma, Mariners Jim Johnson, Orioles Matt Moore, Rays Joe Nathan, Rangers Mariano Rivera, Yankees David Robertson, Yankees Max Scherzer, Tigers C. J. Wilson, Angels

National League First Basemen Freddie Freeman, Braves Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks Joey Votto, Reds Second Basemen Matt Carpenter, Cardinals Daniel Murphy, Mets Brandon Phillips, Reds Third Basemen Pedro Alvarez, Pirates David Wright, Mets Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals Shortstops Ian Desmond, Nationals Jean Segura, Brewers Troy Tulowitzki, Royals Outfielders Domonic Brown, Phillies Jay Bruce, Rays Michael Cuddyer, Rockies Carlos Gomez, Brewers Matt Holliday, Cardinals Andrew McCutchen, Pirates Nate Schierholtz, Cubs Will Venable, Padres Jayson Werth, Nationals Catchers Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers Yadier Molina, Cardinals Buster Posey, Giants Designated Hitter Chris Johnson, Braves Pitchers Aroldis Chapman, Reds Tyler Clippard, Nationals Jose Fernandez, Marlins Zack Greinke, Dodgers Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers Craig Kimbrel, Braves Cliff Lee, Phillies Edward Mujica, Cardinals Sergio Romo, Giants Adam Wainwright, Cardinals Jordan Zimmermann, Nationals

Most of the position players were chosen based on statistics comparing the top eight position players in each league (hits, runs, home runs, rbi's, walks, strikeouts, stolen bases, caught stealing, and batting average). In most cases, the players I had chosen earlier due to the one person per team rule made the top three.

In previous years, I tended to show a little more bias to Chicago players (on both sides) in cases where if I thought I could choose them over another person, I would (hey, I'm from Chicago, what can I say). But since I'm now announcing these publicly (compared to doing this privately in my mind), I thought I'd try to be as open minded as I can and pick the proper deserving players. And it hurt, really hurt. I would have loved to add Adam Dunn and Chris Sale to the AL side, and Anthony Rizzo onto the NL side, but just couldn't fit either of the three. There is just one White Sox player on the AL team this year (Ramirez), and one Cub player on the NL side (Schierholtz). Other one-person teams this year include the Astros (Carter), Blue Jays (Encarnacion), Mariners (Iwakuma), Twins (Mauer), Diamondbacks (Goldschmidt), Marlins (Fernandez), and Padres (Venable). The Orioles send five players to the AL squad, while on the NL side, the Cardinals and Nationals each have five players to the team, most in the NL. The Rangers, Tigers, and Reds each send four players onto the All-Star Teams.

Topps' 2014 theme is "The Future is Now." There are 27 players on both rosters making my All-Star Teams for the very first time.

Are there snubs? You bet. On the AL, as mentioned before, the DH spot was an issue, only because I only allow one spot on the roster for it. Adam Lind had his usual great year, and so did Adam Dunn. If I allowed three DH's, both certainly would be listed above. In the catchers spots, the Astros' Jason Castro and the Pirates' Russell Martin could have been added to the teams. Carlos Beltran, Marlon Byrd, Hunter Pence, Jon Jay, Shin-Soo Choo were tough cuts as NL Outfielders. Daniel Nava, Michael Brantley, Brett Gardner, Austin Jackson, and Yoenis Cespedes were among the last cuts made on the AL side.

So ends the presentation for my 2013 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams. Please feel free to comment, debate, tell me that I did a good job, or that I don't know what I'm talking about and should have put in this person for another.

Later on, I will run the simulations, just like I did last off-season, for these teams to see which one is better. I am still working on the simulations for my All-Star Team tournament (which can be found here) to determine which of my All-Star teams are the best of All-Time. It will give me something to do before the 2014 Topps cards come out. Hopefully, this can be accomplished without major headaches.

Let the debates continue.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama