An Entire Roster of Baseball's Best...

Everybody keeps boasting about how the Yankees have nine all stars in their lineup, which is incredibly impressive, believe you, me. Except for one intsy, bitsy, tiny problem. What does that mean? Honestly? Do you know who was an all star this year? Mark Redmond. This isn’t really meant to disparage Redmond, who’s an ok pitcher on a terrible team, just as it isn’t really meant to point out how good or bad the Yankees lineup is, but rather it’s to point out that being an All Star isn’t particularly impressive. Guys are selected as all stars because the fans in their city understand how to stuff electronic ballot boxes and guys are all stars because baseball insists on selecting a player from every team. Sometimes guys are all stars because they’re the best, but not always… If you really want to know which players are the best, touting the all stars isn’t the way to go, instead take a look below at the 25 man roster that you’d salivate over, if only your GM could figure out a way to pencil them into you team’s scorecard. Remember that while it’s extremely important how a player performed this year, this list isn’t just about a guys performance, it’s also about his contract, his age, these are the guys you want for your team, so that you can challenge the Yankees for the next decade; or put more accurately, these are the guys who at some point in the next decade will be beating your team while playing for the Yankees. Finally, we reward players for what they do, not for what others in a similar situation would do better. So, , relief pitchers and bench players are chosen from players who actually fill those roles, i.e. no keeping Vernon Wells on the bench as a defensive replacement, or fielding a bullpen of all closers.

Starters:

C – Joe Mauer, Twins… Brian McCann has had a phenomenal season for the Braves, but one of the reasons nobody is talking about him is Mauer (another, of course, is that the Braves missed the playoffs for the first time since I started watching baseball). The Minnesota backstop is a beast and despite being 23 he does it all: game calling, plate protection, throwing out runners, hitting third in the lineup of a division winner. He does it all, except hit homers and in the next year or two he’ll start drilling those.

1B – Albert Pujols, Cardinals… Ryan Howard has had a great first full season, but lets remember two things here: 1) despite this being his first full season, Howard is actually 26, the same age as Pujols. 2) Phat Al has already been doing this for five years and I’d rather tie my wagon to him than Howard.

2B – Chase Utley, Phillies… Nobody else is even really close. His VORP this year leads all other second basemen by 18 points.

SS – Derek Jeter, Yankees… Jose Reyes might take Jeter’s spot as soon as next year --- he is after all ten years younger, but Jeter was the best hitting shortstop in baseball this year. Whether you like him for his intangibles or for his 79.2 VORP, you have to admit that the Yankee captain is fully deserving.

3B – David Wright, Mets… Perhaps the hardest decision in this whole endeavor (seriously, I rewrote this three times, changing my mind, and then changing it back). I really wanted to choose David Wright and had he continued his first half pace, it would have been an easy choice, but his poor August and five home runs since the all star game allowed Cabrera to lap him in VORP (79.1 to 53.3). Clearly Cabrera is the better hitter and since they’re both 23 probably will continue to be, so why’d I choose Wright? Defense mostly. While Wright will be soon be battling Ryan Zimmerman for gold gloves, I’m not convinced that next year Cabrera wont be back in the outfield, or even at first.

RF – Vladimir Guerrero, Angels… Jermaine Dye has been better, but I cannot discount the previous three years. Vlady is pricey, but he’s a producer, despite never having adequate protection in the lineup. Yes, his range in right is only slightly greater than George Bush’s vocabulary, but he can still make runners pay with that cannon of an arm.

CF – Grady Sizemore, Indians… Here’s a quiz for you kids out there: Which center fielder had the highest VORP this year, a) Vernon Wells, b) Carlos Beltran, c) Andruw Jones, or d) Grady Sizemore? He’s the youngest of the bunch, has the most extra base hits, plays excellent defense (which I admit all four do), and costs the least (by far); Sizemore might actually be the best overall player in baseball and if he isn’t yet, he will be over the next five years.

LF – Matt Holliday, Rockies… His VORP is second in the majors among left fielders. Manny Ramirez is first, but given that the Flakey one makes 19 million more dollars, I’m happy to take the younger, more reliable player.

DH – Travis Hafner, Indians… If he hadn’t gotten hurt and missed September, Plonk might have broken 100 in VORP, something only Barry Bonds has accomplished in the past five years. I love Pujols, but Hafner is the best hitter in baseball.

Bench:

C – Josh Bard, Padres… One of the biggest reasons for the Red Sox’s collapse this season was panicking after Bard failed to catch Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball. They shipped him off to San Diego for Doug Mirabelli, where Bard flourished as Mike Piazza’s back-up.

Inf. – Mark DeRosa, Rangers… DeRosa ended up getting over 500 at bats with the Rangers this year, by playing the Chone Figgins utility role. He obviously played over and above his ability, but having a guy who can field every position on the field is a nice luxury.

Inf. – Omar Infante, Tigers… Infante plays all the infield positions and hits above average. The Tigers greatest mistake this year, was trading for the useless Neifi Perez after 2B Placido Polanco was injured. Infante deserved those at bats.

OF – Reed Johnson, Blue Jays… Johnson is good with the glove and can play any of the three outfield spots, but he’s also a gritty hitter who works at bats, runs the bases and plays hard. Benefited when the injury to Alex Rios opened a regular spot for him, but by next year he will likely return to the bench, or a platoon role.

OF – David Delluci, Phillies… Not a terribly good fielder, but Delluci is a dangerous left handed hitter – which every bench needs. The Phillies season really took off when they

Starters:

Johan Santana, Twins… Won the CY Young two years ago and should have won last year, but was robbed because voters are too caught up about wins. Fortunately that wont be a problem this year, despite a late September blip, Santana has tied for the Major league lead in wins, and leads the majors in strikeouts and ERA. That’s what the old folks like to call the pitching triple crown.

Francisco Liriano, Twins… The Twins one-two was so good I thought, yeah ok, slice me off a piece o’that pie. Sure, I’d feel better about this if I didn’t have a sneaking suspicion that Liriano will miss next year with Tommy John surgery, but until he went down he was awesome, simply awesome. Among the baby pitchers, Verlander was great, Weaver exhilarating, and Florida’s quintuplets remarkable, but Liriano untouchable.

Chien-Ming Wang, Yankees… In a rotation stocked with geriatrics Randy Johnson and Mike Mussina, and high priced busts Jarret Wright and Carl Pavano, it’s Wang who pitched well enough during the regular season to get the ball for game one of the playoffs. His strikeout rate is anemic and I’d expect that it’ll have to get better for him to have long term success, but this year he masterfully used his fielders and won 19 games.

Ervin Santana, Angels… Santana lacks consistency, but he’s got great stuff. If he masters spotting his pitches and gets a better understanding of the art of pitching, then watch out. Until then, he’s more than adequate as a teams fourth starter.

Jered Weaver, Angels… Teams go into every season with a fifth starter decided upon, but more often than not, that guy is quickly demoted though inefficiency or injury. Good teams have somebody in the minors to whom they can turn to help the club. After joining the team at the end of May, Weaver proceeded to rip off nine straight wins. He finished 11-2, 2.56, not bad for a mid-season call up.

Relievers:

Joel Zumaya, Tigers… Any reliever discussion has to begin with the Tigers big flame throwing righty who has electrified the Majors by repeatedly hitting 102 on the radar gun. Despite his precocious age, Zumaya dominated pitchers for an entire year.

Cla Meredith, Padres… Do you remember earlier when I discussed the terrible Red Sox trade for Mirabelli? Well guess who else went West with Bard. So, while the Boston pen hemorrhaged runs, Meredith has put together a 5-1 record with a 1.07 ERA.

Scott Shields, Angels… Shields remains a work horse, with three straight seasons of more than 90 relief innings. His arm never gets tired and he continues to be the preeminent set-up man in baseball.

Scott Proctor, Yankees… Joe Torre likes to find a pitcher or two and then ride him hard, this year Proctor is the man and he’s responded by throwing over 100 solid innings for the Yankees, no small feat for a player his age.

Denny Reyes, Twins… Want to know how the Twins went from seven games under .500 to 21 over? Pitching, pitching, and pitching. Santana is the star, Liriano the precocious talent, Joe Nathan the finisher, but Reyes has been the best of a very good bunch at bridging the gap between the ones and the other.

Mariano Rivera, Yankees… The aforementioned Nathan will soon be the best closer in baseball (and he is currently the best bargain), and rookie Jonathan Papelbon might have had the best season among closers before getting shut down in September, but Rivera remains the king and until he shows signs of slipping, he’s my closer.