National League

Catcher: Miguel Olivo, Colorado Rockies

Going into 2010, Olivo’s career-high in on-base percentage was .263, set in ’06 with the Florida Marlins. His OBP currently sits at .368 and his SLG is also at a career-high .529. His BABIP is about 75 points above his career average but his success isn’t simply luck. He has somehow learned plate discipline as his walk rate of 9.3 percent is more than double his career average of 4.1 percent. Additionally, his ISO is actually lower than it was last year thanks to a 21.8 percent line drive rate, his highest since ’03.

Olivo has also been a defensive stalwart, nailing a whopping 53 percent of base-stealers. The only catcher in Olivo’s statosphere in this area is Yadier Molina, who has caught 51.5 percent.

Back-ups: Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves; Geovany Soto, Chicago Cubs

First Base: Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego Padres

Both Gonzalez and Albert Pujols have an incredible .404 wOBA, but I am going with Gonzalez because he needs some publicity and he has meant more to the Padres than Pujols has to his St. Louis Cardinals. Gonzalez’s 3.2 WAR makes up 29 percent of the Padres’ 11.0 WAR while Pujols’ 2.4 WAR makes up 20.7 percent of the Cardinals’ 11.6 WAR. Gonzalez has more WAR than Pujols due to better defense, but 600 defensive innings isn’t a big sample size for UZR.

Back-ups: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals; Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds

Second Base: Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies

Despite his prolonged slump, Utley still sits atop the WAR leaderboard for second basemen thanks to defense that rarely if ever slumps. FanGraphs credits him with 7.2 defensive runs. Only two other fielders come close to him: David Eckstein and Jeff Baker, and both have hurt their teams offensively. Utley’s .378 wOBA is second only to Kelly Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Few players not only at second base but at any position can combine elite offense with elite defense. Utley is one of those rare players.

Back-ups: Martin Prado, Atlanta Braves; Kelly Johnson, Arizona Diamondbacks

Third Base: Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals

Zim is a lot like Utley at third base: he is an elite offensive threat and he can absolutely pick it at the hot corner. He is far and away the best defender at third base this year according to UZR (small sample size caveat). That is not a fluke as he led qualified third basemen in UZR last year, and come in second in 2008 and ’07 (trailing Pedro Feliz both years). His .383 wOBA is second-best among third basemen behind Scott Rolen‘s .392.

Back-ups: Scott Rolen, Cincinnati Reds; David Wright, New York Mets

Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies (replaced by Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins)

Before getting hit with a pitch that broke his wrist, Tulowitzki had rebounded well from a rough start to the 2010 season. Through his first 38 games, he had hit only one home run and compiled a meager .766 OPS. Between May 20 and June 17, Tulo hit eight homers and his OPS was a sky-high 1.059. He had even swiped four bases in four attempts. Along with his offense, Tulo played above-average defense which helped him climb to the top of the WAR leaderboard for shortstops, even ahead of Hanley Ramirez.

Due to the wrist injury, Tulowitzki will not be able to participate in the All-Star Game festivities, so Han-Ram will take his place.

Back-ups: Juan Uribe, San Francisco Giants; Rafael Furcal, Los Angeles Dodgers

Outfield: Matt Holliday, St. Louis Cardinals; Marlon Byrd, Chicago Cubs; Andres Torres, San Francisco Giants

Holliday has been part of a very productive Cardinal outfield that includes Ryan Ludwick and Colby Rasmus. He is second among qualified National League outfielders in WAR and his .382 wOBA is excellent. Along with his bat, he brings a hint of speed (six stolen bases in seven attempts) and above-average defense.

Marlon Byrd is having by far the best season of his career. Through 69 games, he is on pace for a 6 WAR season and he may have hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo to thank. Byrd worked with Jaramillo when he was with the Texas Rangers from 2007-09 and they reunited in Chicago this season. Between 2002 and ’06, Byrd compiled only one good offensive season thanks in large part to a .360 BABIP. In his three years with the Rangers, Byrd hit 40 home runs and his isolated power jumped to career highs. And, like Holliday, Byrd plays great defense to add to his offensive potency.

Andres Torres may have figured this baseball thing out. Between 1998-2009, Torres racked up nearly 4,400 plate appearances in the Minor Leagues, spending time with affiliates of the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, the Tigers again, the Chicago Cubs and finally the San Francisco Giants. He was called up several times between ’02-05 but was never able to accomplish much. The Giants gave him a shot last year and he made the most of it, hitting for a .379 wOBA and playing great defense in the outfield. He has repeated that in ’10 with the same exact wOBA and similarly great defense.

Back-ups: Ryan Ludwick, St. Louis Cardinals; Angel Pagan, New York Mets; Josh Willingham, Washington Nationals; Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates

Starting Pitcher: Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies

Is there any other choice? Despite trailing Roy Halladay and others in ERA retrodictors like xFIP and SIERA, there is no denying Jimenez’s dominance over the first half of the baseball season. Even those of us who use Sabermetrics stand in awe of his 13-1 record and 1.15 ERA through 14 starts.

Back-ups: Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies; Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins; Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals; Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants; Jaime Garcia, St. Louis Cardinals; Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals

Closer: Jonathan Broxton, Los Angeles Dodgers

Broxton has a Cliff Lee-esque 14-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He is averaging one and a half strikeouts per inning and fewer than one walk per nine innings. He has a 0.92 ERA and has converted 15 consecutive saves. There are no closers in baseball that have approached Broxton’s level of dominance.

Back-ups: Billy Wagner, Atlanta Braves; Luke Gregerson, San Diego Padres; Carlos Marmol, Chicago Cubs; Arthur Rhodes; Cincinnati Reds

Representative count: Astros (0); Braves (3); Brewers (0); Cardinals (5); Cubs (3); Diamondbacks (1); Dodgers (2); Giants (3); Marlins (1); Mets (2); Nationals (3); Padres (2); Phillies (2); Pirates (1); Reds (3); Rockies (3)

American League

Catcher: Jorge Posada, New York Yankees

He turns 39 in mid-August but he looks like he has at least ten more years left the way he has been hitting. Posada’s .411 wOBA is eight-best in the American League and best among catchers. He does not thwart the running game well, but none of his competitors are much better — certainly not enough to close the chasm in offense between Posada and the rest.

Back-ups: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins; Victor Martinez, Boston Red Sox

First Base: Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins

Not only has Morneau been by far the best hitter at first base, but he has also been the best fielder. His .452 wOBA is exquisite and his 18.4 UZR/150 is to die for. He has been as valuable as Miguel Cabrera (2.6 WAR) and Paul Konerko (1.7 WAR) combined.

Back-ups: Kevin Youkilis, Boston Red Sox; Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers

Second Base: Robinson Cano, New York Yankees

Who else could it have been? 4.4 WAR, .436 wOBA, and a 10.1 UZR/150. No one else comes close to Cano.

Back-ups: Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox; Orlando Hudson, Minnesota Twins

Third Base: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays

Finally, a close race. It was a toss-up between Longoria and Adrian Beltre. Beltre does not have quite the offensive numbers as Longoria (trails by .010 in wOBA) but has played better defense according to the metrics on FanGraphs (12.9 to 2.2 in UZR/150). Given the uncertainty surrounding defensive data in small sample sizes, the edge went to Longoria.

Back-ups: Adrian Beltre, Boston Red Sox; Michael Young, Texas Rangers

Shortstop: Alex Gonzalez, Toronto Blue Jays

Shortstop in the American League is a very shallow position. Alex Gonzalez leads the pack with a “meh” .347 wOBA.

Back-ups: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees; Marco Scutaro, Boston Red Sox

Outfield: Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays; Alex Rios, Chicago White Sox; Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers

Crawford, with free agency in sight, is having a career year. His on-base and slugging percentages (and subsequently wOBA) are at career highs and he may even shatter his career best in stolen bases set last year (60). Add in his normally excellent defense and you have a hell of a player ready to collect an eight-figure contract during the off-season.

Think the Blue Jays gave up too early on Alex Rios? Like Crawford, he is setting career highs in OBP, SLG, wOBA, and potentially stolen bases as well. He has also played above-average defense and as such will likely set a new high in WAR as well.

Welcome back, Josh Hamilton. He struggled last year with injuries but has rebounded nicely in 2010. His .600 SLG is impressive and is also on pace to set some career highs in HR, SLG, wOBA, and WAR so long as he stays healthy.

Back-ups: Vernon Wells, Toronto Blue Jays; Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners; Magglio Ordonez, Detroit Tigers; Shin-Soo Choo, Cleveland Indians; Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay Rays

Starting Pitcher: Cliff Lee, Seattle Mariners

Lee barely edged out Francisco Liriano of the Minnesota Twins. His ERA is about a half-run better despite having a nearly identical SIERA (2.94 to 2.95). Along with three complete games and one shut-out, Lee’s strikeout-to-walk ratio is a godly 17-to-1.

Back-ups: Francisco Liriano, Minnesota Twins; Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox; Ricky Romero, Toronto Blue Jays; Colby Lewis, Texas Rangers

Closer: Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees

Who else?

Back-ups: Rafael Soriano, Tampa Bay Rays; Neftali Feliz, Texas Rangers; Andrew Bailey, Oakland Athletics; Jose Valverde, Detroit Tigers

Representative count: Angels (1); Athletics (1); Blue Jays (3); Indians (1); Mariners (2); Orioles (0); Rangers (4); Rays (4); Red Sox (6); Royals (0); Tigers (3); Twins (4); White Sox (1); Yankees (4)

Of the 34 All-Stars, 17 come from the AL East. No surprise, since that division is home to the top-three best teams in the league.

Feel free to comment below with your All-Star rosters or your thoughts on my rosters.

Here’s my favorite question from the set:

Question 7: How much of the “Philly fan” reputation is deserved?

None. You can’t make rash generalizations about groups of people. There are bad apples in every bushel. For instance, several years ago, a couple fans in Oakland threw cherry bombs and injured a young boy. The Royals’ first base coach, Tom Gamboa, was stabbed during a baseball game in Chicago against the White Sox. There is nothing inherent to living in Philadelphia that makes one significantly more vicious at sporting events.

At every Phillies game I’ve gone to, the fans have been very civil.

Click here for my half of the questioning at The Faster Times.

. . .

1. Chase Utley is pretty well-regarded as the best player on the Phillies. Does New York realize this or is Utley underappreciated outside of Philadelphia?

Met fans know he’s great, but they love to hate him (although not as much as they hate the Flying Hawaiian!) Yankee fans haven’t really paid as much attention to Utley (although some New Yorkers do remember what Utley cursed at last year’s All-Star Game after getting booed!)

2. With the way balls fly out in right field at Yankee Stadium, do you have any apprehension about seeing Utley, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, and Matt Stairs?

When the Phillies came to town in May, the balls were indeed flying out of the park. But it’s calmed down a bunch since then, for whatever reason (weather, better pitching, etc.) However, it is still a bit of a concern. After all, the Phillies hit like an AL East, not an NL East, team.

3. What are your thoughts on the match-up of former Cleveland Indians staffmates C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee? Do you see it being a close one, or is there a weakness of either that will be exploited?

Aside from wondering what Cleveland fans are thinking over seeing their guys face each other, it’s hard to say. The Yanks have a bit more familiarity with Lee than the Phillies do with Sabathia, and even beat him once this year. Plus, CC’s pitching at home. (Slight) advantage to CC.

4. Going back to underappreciation, who has been the biggest Yankees contributor who has flown under the radar?

Dave Robertson. He’s been great in the bullpen this season, with the highest strikeout rate in the league – 13.4 Ks per 9 innings. He helped the Yankees stay in the game in their two playoff walkoff wins, and got the wins in both games. And if Joe Girardi had just left him in to do his thing in Game 3, the Yanks might have won that game in
extra innings as well.

5. The Sabermetric fielding statistics have painted Ryan Howard as a better fielder this year than Mark Teixeira. In fact, they paint Tex as a below-average fielder. As someone who has watched Tex, what is your reaction to that?

I don’t want to sound all Joe Morgan here, but I find that hard to fathom. Teixeira was like Stretch Armstrong at first this year – especially in the playoffs – with the ability to make close plays and get runners out. It’s part of the reason fans haven’t gone too crazy when he hasn’t hit much this October – because he’s saved a ton of runs.

6. Sticking with defense, what has Derek Jeter done to improve his? In the off-season and in spring training, Ryan Howard worked with Sam Perlozzo on his defense, and that has been a very worthwhile investment. Did Jeter do anything different?

Yes, he did. Jeter reportedly changed his workout routine – and changed personal trainers – before this season to improve his mobility and range. And it’s really paid off – Jeter is looking better than he has in years.

7. What’s it going to take to stop John Sterling from coming up with those awful, awful isms about your Yankees? A “Tex message”? Really?

He’ll never stop – he gets too much fun out of saying them – and creating them. I’m picturing Sterling up late at night in his hotel room, pen and paper in hand, letting the muse strike him while he comes up with gems like “Robbie Cano, don’tcha know” or  “Hinske with your best shot.” I get it, though – every time a new hitter joins the
Yankees, I do a post trying to come up with what the Sterling call will be. Invariably, what he comes up with is even cornier than what I could have predicted!

8. I have often thought of Brett Myers  and A.J. Burnett as being cut from the same cloth. On some days, when they have their stuff, they are completely and utterly dominant. On other days, they are as pedestrian of Adam Eaton. Has it been at all frustrating watching Burnett, who actually had a decent year?

To use a Michael Kayism, A.J. is like the little girl with the curl. When he’s good, he’s very good, but when he’s bad, he’s horrid. I do think he’s better when Jose Molina catches him, because Molina is a calming influence. But when Burnett is really bad, even having his own personal catcher doesn’t help.

9. The Yankees have over $166 million tied up in 12 players in 2010. Do you see 2009 being a “you gotta do it” year, or do you think that if the Yankees lose the World Series, they can try again next year?

Nah, they gotta win now (and, of course, try to repeat next year.) The Yankees haven’t won a World Series since Bill Clinton was president – it’s time. Win or lose, I don’t expect the team to change must next year, though.

10. The media has raved about the atmosphere of the Yankees’ clubhouse changing with the acquisitions of Burnett and Nick Swisher. Do you think that has had any tangible effect on the Yankees, or is it just a matter of the team being made up by a bunch of really good baseball players?

I do believe in the chemistry thing. For too long this decade, the Yankees were the dynasty guys, and everybody else, and they seemed held hostage by the so-called “Yankee way,” where everybody had to be bland and boring. But this year, Joe Girardi placed a high priority not only on getting the team on the same page – he had the Yanks miss a spring training day to go play pool together – but in letting these guys be themselves, and letting new players have a say in the club.

This is a special team, with the 17 walkoff wins and the fun atmosphere. Yes, they have a huge payroll, and a ton of talent, but they also have good chemistry. And I think that’s part of the reason they’ve been so successful – because they have each others’ backs. In previous years, one bad playoff game would kill them for the rest of the series. Now, they’re able to turn the page easily, thanks to having faith in each other. They really are a likeable bunch.

. . .

Thanks to Lisa for painting a clearer picture of the Bad Guys for us. Personally, I cracked a smile when she said, “The Yankees haven’t won a World Series since Bill Clinton was president”. That smile grows even wider when you consider that the Mets haven’t won since Ronald Reagan was President. Although, I am conflicted by the fact that the Phillies  technically haven’t won since George W. Bush was President.

Oh, you thought I was going to pick Joe Mauer. He’s a justifiable candidate, of course, but there’s a more deserving player out there who will be overshadowed [...]

In the last twenty years, only six pitchers have finished a season in which they made at least 25 starts with an ERA+ over 200. Greinke is one of those six. The other five: Pedro Martinez (1997, ‘99, 2001-03), Greg Maddux (1994-95), Roger Clemens (1990, ‘97, 2005), Kevin Brown (1996), and Rich Harden (2008).

Looking at WAR, we can narrow our field of eight down to six. The Phillies’ J.A. Happ and the Rockies’ Dexter Fowler are the only candidates with a WAR total under 2. Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates and Randy Wells of the Cubs are the only two with a WAR total above 3. The middle four — Tommy Hanson, Garrett Jones, Chris Coghlan, and Casey McGehee — are separated by fewer than three-tenths of a point of WAR, between 2.33 and 2.60 (accounting for base running).

One of the current projects of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance is award balloting, done in a style similar to that of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Every “area” will have votes cast by its blogger representatives. From the Philadelphia region, myself and the crew at Fire Eric Bruntlett will be voting on all of the awards. Regions with more representatives will have the votes split up, with some voting for MVP, others for Cy Young, and so on. It’s a great and intriguing project, so make sure to stop by the BBA website for the final tallies.

By the way, if you haven’t checked it out, stop by the Baseball Bloggers Alliance website. We’ll be doing end-of-season award voting next week. Crashburn Alley and Fire Eric Bruntlett represent the Phillies and we’ll be voting on all of the awards. Be sure to stop by for our takes on the MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, and other awards.