I love this time of year, if only because it allows for a break in what is a long season and celebrates the game's best players. And what I do, as I have done every year since I really stated following the game, is take out the cards of the players who made each roster and put them in a special binder (my All-Star binder...if you will). I do this because it helps me not only recognize the players who became all-stars that particular year, but during the game, I use it to keep track of who's in the game as it progresses. Yes, I'm a geek.
So without further ado, here are the 2016 MLB All-Star Game rosters as announced on Tuesday night (with 2016 Topps Card # and retail team set # if applicable, for those of you playing along and putting them into your All-Star Binders):
American League Starters
1B-Eric Hosmer, Royals (#9, KCR-2)
2B-Jose Altuve, Astros(#317, HA-7)
3B-Manny Machado, Orioles(#175, BO-1)
SS-Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox (#368, BRS-54)
OF-Mookie Betts, Red Sox (#84, BRS-5)
OF-Jackie Bradley, Jr., Red Sox (#425, BRS-7)
OF-Mike Trout, Angels (#1, A-11)
C-Salvador Perez, Royals (#50, KCR-1)
DH-David Ortiz, Red Sox (#126, BRS-1)
American League Pitchers
P-Marco Estrada, Blue Jays (#466, TBJ-17)
P-Cole Hamels, Rangers (#588, TRA-11)
P-Danny Salazar, Indians (#460, CI-12)
P-Chris Sale, White Sox (#160, CWS-1)
P-Steven Wright, Red Sox
RP-Zach Britton, Orioles (#63, BO-13)
RP-Wade Davis, Royalsº (#307, KCR-13)
RP-Andrew Miller, Yankees (#218, NYY-14)
RP-Dellin Betances, Yankees (#369, NYY-15, selected by MGR)
RP-Brad Brach, Orioles (selected by MGR)
RP-Alex Colome, Rays (selected by MGR)
RP-Will Harris, Astrosª (#331 selected by MGR, replaces Davis)
RP-Kelvin Herrera, Royals (#393, selected by MGR)
RP-Craig Kimbrel, Red Sox (#13 with the Padres, BRS-12, selected by MGR)
American League Reserves
1B-Miguel Cabrera, Tigers(#250, DT-1)
2B-Robinson Cano, Mariners (#268, SM-4)
3B-Josh Donaldson, Blue Jays (#200, TBJ-1)
SS-Francisco Lindor, Indians (#439, CI-1)
OF-Carlos Beltran, Yankees (#567, NYY-10)
OF-Ian Desmond, Rangers
OF-Mark Trumbo, Orioles (#39 with the Mariners, BO-8)
C-Matt Wieters, Orioles
DH-Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays (#89, TBJ-7)
SS-Eduardo Nunez, Twins (#534, MT-12, selected by MGR)
C-Stephen Vogt, Athletics (#506, OA-8, selected by MGR)
American League Final Man Candidates
2B-Ian Kinsler, Tigers (#275, DT-3)
3B-Evan Longoria, Rays (#388, TB-6)
2B-Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox (#246, BRS-4)
OF-Michael Saunders, Blue Jays (#630)
3B-George Springer, Astros (#53, KCR-10)
National League Starters
1B-Anthony Rizzo, Cubs (#327, CC-6)
2B-Ben Zobrist, Cubs(#447, CC-5)
3B-Kris Bryant, Cubs (#350, CC-1)
SS-Addison Russell, Cubs (#562, CC-4)
OF-Yoenis Cespedes, Mets (#407, NYM-17)
OF-Dexter Fowler, Cubs
OF-Bryce Harper, Nationals (#100, WN-1)
C-Buster Posey, Giants (#300, SFG-1)
National League Pitchers
P-Jake Arrieta, Cubs (#264, CC-9)
P-Madison Bumgarner, Giants (#600, SFG-9)
P-Johnny Cueto, Giants (#416, SFG-15)
P-Clayton Kershaw, Dodgersº (#24, LAD-1)
P-Noah Syndergaard, Mets (#43, NYM-11)
RP-Jeurys Familia, Mets (#190, NYM-14)
RP-Kenley Jansen, Dodgers (#458, LAD-13)
RP-Fernando Rodney, Marlins
P-Jose Fernandez, Marlins (#118, MM-10, selected by MGR))
P-Jon Lester, Cubsª (#151, CC-8, selected by MGR, replaces Kershaw)
P-Stephen Strasburg, Nationals (#637, WN-8, selected by MGR)
P-Julio Teheran, Braves (#52, AB-7, selected by MGR))
RP-Marc Melancon, Pirates (#336, PPI-12, selected by MGR)
RP-A. J. Ramos, Marlins (#42, MM-12, selected by MGR)
National League Reserves
1B-Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks (#259, AD-1)
2B-Daniel Murphy, Nationals (#554, WN-5)
3B-Nolan Arenado, Rockies (#12, CRO-1)
SS-Corey Seager, Dodgers (#85, LAD-8)
OF-Adam Duvall, Reds (#584, CR-6)
OF-Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies (#683, CRO-2)
OF-Marcell Ozuna, Marlins (#572, MM-8)
C-Wilson Ramos, Nationals (#658, WN-2)
1B-Wil Myers, Padres (#625, SDP-4, selected by MGR)
3B-Matt Carpenter, Cardinals (#616, SLC-5, selected by MGR)
OF-Odubel Herrera, Phillies (#68, PP-8, selected by MGR)
C-Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers (#344, MB-1, selected by MGR)
National League Final Man Candidates
1B-Brandon Belt, Giants (#424, SFG-2)
OF-Ryan Braun, Brewers (#298, MB-2)
SP-Jake Lamb, Diamondbacks (#288, AD-5)
OF-Starling Marte, Pirates (#83, PPI-7)
SS-Trevor Story, Rockies
º Injured, will not participate
ª Named as replacement
The rosters once again will consist of 34 active players. Each team is already at 34 players and we haven't even gotten the final man voting in yet. Why is that?
Wade Davis of the Royals is on the DL. So manager Ned Yost added Astros closer Will Harris to the AL bullpen. That was announced off the bat (pun intended).
On the National League side, Clayton Kershaw was just placed on the DL, meaning a replacement needed to be named. After finding this article on ESPN's website, I think it's safe to say that Lester was named as his replacement.
Without clicking the article, Terry Collins initially had nine "manager choices," including finding representatives for six teams (Braves, Brewers, Cardinals Padres, Phillies, Pirates). After naming players from each of those teams (Teheran, Lucroy, Carpenter, Myers - would have been Rodney had he not been traded last week -, Herrera, and Melancon), the other three players he picked were Strasburg, Fernandez, and Ramos. This leaves Lester as the only possible choice as the replacement.
Including the players on the Final Man balloting, eight players do not have cards in the eponymous Topps set or any of the retail sets. Those players include pitchers Brad Brach, Alex Colome, Steven Wright, infielder Ian Desmond, and catcher Matt "No-Topps-Cards...Yet" Wieters on the AL side, and pitcher Fernando Rodney, outfielder Dexter Fowler, and shortstop Trevor Story from the NL. Each should have cards in the expanded Update series. In the meantime, every other player has a card that at least features them on their current team as long as you count the retail sets.
As it seems to be the case these past few years, there is a lot of youth on both rosters, as well as a ton of first-time All-Stars to boot (about 26 at last count, 13 on each side). Of the 17 elected starters, twelve of them are 26 years old...or YOUNGER!!! If you look at the Final Man Nominees, all ten candidates are hitters.
Chicago is extremely well represented this year with eight players between both teams, including the entire infield for the Cubs (Rizzo, Zobrist, Bryant, Russell). Look, I know the Cubs have been (up until these last two weeks) very dominant. And while this doesn't top the eight Cubs that represented the team in 2008, the fact that more than half of the starting lineup are Cubs makes me happy. I voted...once. That was it. I know you could vote more than that, but how is that fair? Boston has six players punching their tickets to San Diego, and a possible 7th if Pedroia wins the Final Man.
Rumors have it that Bumgarner is scheduled to start on Sunday. The rule is in effect that if any of them are in line to pitch that day, they will have to be replaced. And today, Marco Estrada of the Blue Jays landed on the DL. This is just the beginning. If history is an indicator, expect both active rosters to dramatically change by the time July 12 comes. As always, I'll make sure to help you add cards to your All-Star binders by providing card numbers for the players added onto the All-Star teams.
Let's hear the answers to these questions:
Who do you think should have been chosen that wasn't (not even for the Final Man ballot)?
Of the players selected, who shouldn't be going to the game?
Were the guys you wanted from your team chosen?
If not, then who should have represented your team?
Let the debates begin.
Sincerely,
JayBee Anama
Wow that's a lot of Cubs
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