Using the Win Shares calculated by the folks at The Hardball Times, here are the players who should be leading the All-Star voting:
AL
c....Mauer, Min. (not among top 5 vote getters)
1b....Teixeira, Tex. (currently #1)
2b....B.Roberts, Balt. (currently #1)
3b....A.Rodriguez, N.Y. (currently #1)
ss....Tejada, Balt. (currently #1)
of....Sheffield, N.Y. (currently #5)
of....Damon, Bos. (currently #4)
of....M.Ramirez, Bos. (currently #1)
dh....D.Ortiz, Bos. (currently #1)
The AL voting is about as good as you are going to get, if MLB is going to let the fans vote. The only big miss is at catcher, but the fans are voting for Varitek, who is no slouch.
I've been voting for Posada, Teixeira, Roberts, A-Rod, Michael Young, Ramirez, Sheffield, Guerrero and Ortiz.
NL
c...Schneider, Was. (not among top 5 vote getters)
1b....D.Lee, Chi. (currently #2)
2b....Kent, L.A. (currently #1)
3b....D.Wright, N.Y. (currently #5)
ss....Eckstein, Stl. (currently #2)
of....Abreu, Phi. (currently #1)
of....B.Giles, S.D. (not among top 15 vote getters)
of....L.Gonzalez, Ari. (not among top 15 vote getters)
The fans on the NL side are not doing as good a job. But Brian Schneider? Who knew? And how about Luis Gonzalez, left for dead in Arizona but still plugging away. Quietly having a great career. Interesting that Padres fans have voted in sufficient numbers to get Ramon Hernandez in the 4th slot at catcher (and he was having a good year before he got hurt), but can't get Brian Giles in the top 15.
I've been voting for Michael Barrett, D.Lee, Kent, Ensberg, Barmes, Abreu, Carlos Lee and Cliff Floyd.
