Fan Picks
First, let's start with the fan picks. In the AL, you cannot really quarrel with any of the picks. They are all genuine all-stars, and none are obviously reserves. I'm impressed.
In the NL, there are three starters who shouldn't even be at the all-star game: Piazza, Rolen and Beltran. They ought to be Schneider, Ensberg and Giles, none of whom even made the squad.
Reserves
Next, the reserves. In the AL, I would not have selected I-Rod, but I understand why he's there. I don't understand how Hillenbrand made the team. I also think Sweeney is a fairly substantial mistake. He seems to have been selected to get someone from KC, but he's only the 3d best player on that team. Anderson and Suzuki are good players with decent seasons...but there were better choices (including Emil Brown from KC, Sizemore from Clev., Rowand from Chi., etc.)
Biggest AL snubs: Joe Mauer and Brandon Inge.
In the NL, there's only one terrible pick: Cesar Izturis. A good case can be made for everyone else on the squad. I'm not crazy about choosing Castillo, though. Counsell, Biggio, Giles and Utley all would have been better picks.
Biggest NL snubs: Nick Johnson (on DL), Morgan Ensberg, Brian Giles, Craig Counsell and Cliff Floyd.
Pitchers
In the AL, my only quarrel is with Rogers. From a performance perspective, he belongs. As a representative of MLB, he doesn't even belong in a regular season game. Give that spot to Matt Clement.
Baez is a terrible pick as a reliever. Presumably he is picked as Tampa Bay's representative. Would have been much better to take Julio Lugo instead of Izturis, and open this relief spot up for someone else. I like the Duchscherer pick, because he's the closest thing to a middle reliever, although he's now become Oakland's closer.
Biggest AL snubs: Dustin Hermanson
In the NL, all the starters are tremendous. But where the heck are Roy Oswalt and Brandon Webb, the 3rd and 5th best starters in the NL?
As for the relievers, Isringhausen is an awful pick, and there's no excuse for this one. Should have been Billy Wagner, Chris Hammond or Todd Jones.
Biggest NL snubs: Roy Oswalt and Brandon Webb
I'll be voting for Matsui for the final AL roster spot, and Oswalt for the final NL roster spot (though it is a close call over Webb). Brian Giles and Nick Johnson have more Win Shares than any other player who didn't make the squad (in either league), and neither is on the "final 5" ballot.
