Pretend you are just sitting down in your favorite Fantasy ballpark, you just picked up the best Fantasy hot dog from the Fantasy concession stand, and your Fantasy girlfriend is sitting next to you.
You picked up a Fantasy All-Star ballot on the way to your Fantasy seats and it's time to pick the best Fantasy team in both leagues.
How close are your selections to mine?
Fill out a regular Fantasy lineup, with two catchers, a middle infielder and a corner infielder, along with five outfielders and nine pitchers. I picked six starting pitchers and three relievers, but you can mix it up however you'd like.
You don't have to have a player from every MLB team. That's just not part of reality in our Fantasy world.
All of the stats are through Monday, July 2. The Average Draft Position number is from Head-to-Head mixed league drafts held on CBS SportsLine.
| American League Fantasy All-Stars | ||
| Pos. | Player, team | Stats, Average Draft Position, Comments |
| C1 | Victor Martinez, CLE | .325 BA, 14 HR, 63 RBI, 41 Runs, 0 SB, 2nd C, Owners took Mauer ahead of him and regret is kicking in ... now. |
| C2 | Jorge Posada, NYY | .332-9-45-42-1, 4th C, Has never hit above .300, on pace for career year in contract year. |
| 1B | David Ortiz, BOS | .312-13-49-49-1, 2nd 1B, Not having his best season. 27-14 doubles margin beats out Morneau. |
| 2B | Brian Roberts, BAL | .325-5-25-65 R-26 SB, 3rd 2B, Best Fantasy player on O's, only two other players have more SBs -- both in NL. |
| SS | Orlando Cabrera, LAA | .337-5-48-53-9, 15th SS, 2-1-2 record in five Roto categories vs. Jeter. Very close call. |
| 3B | Alex Rodriguez, NYY | .322-28-80-74-9, 1st 3B, This spot was locked up in April. Manny and Sosa only hitters since 1938 to post 160 RBI. |
| CI | Carlos Guillen, DET | .321-12-59-45-6, 10th SS, Tried to make argument for Morneau over Guillen -- but I can't. 8-HR diff isn't enough. |
| MI | Derek Jeter, NYY | .339-5-41-53-7, 2nd SS, Mr. Yankee has gone hitless in only 11 games this season, speed is back down. |
| OF1 | Magglio Ordonez, DET | .370-13-68-65-2, 28th OF, Best offensive player on best offensive team in majors. Has reached base in all but 9 games. |
| OF2 | Grady Sizemore, CLE | .284-14-45-68-23, 4th OF, Exhibits power and speed at the leadoff position, leads all OFs in H2H points too. |
| OF3 | Vladimir Guerrero, LAA | .328-14-73-45-1, 5th OF, Only power bat in Angels' lineup (25 RBI more than next player), but still gets job done. |
| OF4 | Gary Sheffield, DET | .290-18-52-69-11, 20th OF, Sheff's on pace for 22 steals (most since 1998) and 141 runs scored to blow away career high. |
| OF5 | Ichiro Suzuki, SEA | .367-5-39-56-23, 18th OF, In a contract year, Ichiro is on pace for a career high in RBI (79) and OPS (0.888). |
| DH | Torii Hunter, MIN | .299-17-63-48-11, 24th OF, Speed and RBI push him past Rios, Granderson and Morneau for DH spot. |
| SP1 | Dan Haren, OAK | 10-2, 2.20 ERA, 98 Ks, 0.984 WHIP, 26th SP, His ERA is just too tough. 16 QS leads majors. |
| SP2 | C.C. Sabathia, CLE | 12-2, 3.20, 116, 1.121, 18th SP, The portly lefty racks up wins whenever he's healthy, like now. |
| SP3 | Johan Santana, MIN | 9-6, 2.76, 120, 1.044, 1st SP, 1st-rounder should be doing better, but he's still 2nd in Ks. |
| SP4 | Josh Beckett, BOS | 11-2, 3.38, 83, 1.104, 11th SP, Gets nod over Lackey because of three fewer losses. Allowed 2 ER or fewer in 10 starts. |
| SP5 | John Lackey, LAA | 11-5, 3.04 ERA, 87, 1.189 ADP, Fourth-best AL SP in H2H points. The Vlad of LAA pitchers. Top SP on best AL team. |
| SP6 | Justin Verlander, DET | 9-3, 3.18, 90, 1.167, 13th SP, No-hitter vaults him past the Bedard, Halladay and Matsuzaka. |
| RP1 | J.J. Putz, SEA | 23 saves, 0.92 ERA, 43 Ks, 0.590 WHIP, 11th RP, His sub-1.00 ERA and insane WHIP gives him nod over K-Rod. |
| RP2 | Francisco Rodriguez, LAA | 24, 2.27, 49 Ks, 1.149, 1st RP, Most saves in AL, as well as most strikeouts in majors among full-time closers. |
| RP3 | Jonathan Papelbon, BOS | 19, 1.50, 42, 0.867, 8th RP, Many of the drafts this spring probably came before Pap moved back to his closer's role. |
Random AL thoughts
Only three catchers have double-digits in homers: Martinez (14), David Ross (13) and John Buck (14). Strangely, Buck has only 28 RBI ... Ian Kinsler exploded in April (9 HR, 22 RBI), imploded in May (.174 BA), then broke his foot in June ... Curtis Granderson barely missed making the team, but his 15 triples made the decision excruciating ... Even though Joe Borowski ranks tied for third in the majors with 24 saves, I refuse to give him an All-Star nod since he has allowed earned runs in 10 of his appearances -- many of which weren't save opportunities to begin with. His high ERA is droppinig, but it's still on the wrong side of 5.00. (Thanks to those readers that pointed out my egregious error, saying that Joe-Bo can't create his own save opportunities, which is, of course, impossible. If there were a Fantasy Writer's All-Star Game, I'd be watching it from home after that mistake.)
Highest H2H points hitters to NOT make the squad: Alex Rios, Curtis Granderson, Justin Morneau, Carl Crawford, Travis Hafner, Kevin Youkilis and Michael Cuddyer.
Honorable mentions among pitchers: Erik Bedard, Joe Blanton, Kelvim Escobar, Roy Halladay, Bobby Jenks, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Al Reyes and James Shields.
Notably absent: Joe Mauer, Manny Ramirez, Felix Hernandez, Julio Lugo, Bobby Abreu, Mariano Rivera, Joe Nathan and Chris Ray.
| National League Fantasy All-Stars | ||
| Pos. | Player, team | Stats, Average Draft Position, Comments |
| C | Russell Martin, LAD | .297 BA, 9 HR, 53 RBI, 46 Runs, 15 SB, 9th C, On pace for 29 SBs, overtaking V-Mart for 1st C taken in '08 Roto drafts. |
| C | Bengie Molina, SF | .289-8-44-18-0, 22nd C, 1st year in P-friendly NL and SF. Who'da thunk he'd be on pace for career highs? |
| 1B | Prince Fielder, MIL | .278-27-66-59-0, 15th 1B, Leads all 1B in H2H points by far, only one other 1B has at least 20 HR. |
| 2B | Chase Utley, PHI | .322-15-66-59-6, 1st 2B, SBs dropping, but on pace for unreal 130 RBI -- rare air for 2B. |
| SS | Jose Reyes, NYM | .316-4-34-57-40, 1st, Leads majors in steals, but Ramirez, Renteria and Rollins are on his H2H tail |
| 3B | Miguel Cabrera, FLA | .330-17-57-49-0, 2nd 3B, Wright's 18 SB are awesome, but a 40-pt BA diff gives the Venezuelan the edge here. |
| CI | David Wright, NYM | .290-14-44-46-18, 3rd 3B, Started slowly, has improved batting average in each month. 18 SBs by a 3B is amazing. |
| MI | Hanley Ramirez, FLA | .319-11-29-65-25, 6th SS, Has moved around lineup, back to leadoff for now. Barely squeezes by Rollins. |
| OF1 | Matt Holliday, COL | .347-14-65-50-3, 12th OF, Leads NL in hits and batting average. Ninth in majors in H2H hitter's points. |
| OF2 | Carlos Lee, HOU | .296-16-70-45-5, 9th OF, Despite being on a mediocre offense so far, Lee is knocking in a ton of runs. |
| OF3 | Eric Byrnes, ARI | .315-13-46-51-15, 56th OF, Another contract-year player, hit safely in 24 of 27 games in June. |
| OF4 | Adam Dunn, CIN | .263-23-54-54-7, 14th OF, Nearly on pace for career season across the board. Might move elsewhere in trade though. |
| OF5 | Ken Griffey Jr., CIN | .292-22-53-45-2, 43rd OF, Junior's presence bumps out Bonds, Beltran and Soriano from consideration. |
| UTI | Jimmy Rollins, PHI | .285-14-49-67-15, 4th SS, MI-eligibility puts him past Pujols, Soriano and Uggla. Ten triples lead NL. |
| SP1 | Jake Peavy, SD | 9-2, 2.09 ERA, 119 Ks, 1.054, 6th SP, Peavy's rebounded from rough '06 with possible Cy Young season. Maddux's tutelage helps. |
| SP2 | Brad Penny, LAD | 10-1, 2.00, 77, 1.118, 38th SP, Hamels has way more strikeouts, but just one loss for Penny and sub-2.00 ERA rules. |
| SP3 | Cole Hamels, PHI | 9-4, 3.87 ERA, 116, 1.218, 31st SP, Along with Verlander, the top sophs of '07. Only Peavy has more Ks in NL. |
| SP4 | John Maine, NYM | 9-4, 2.74, 84, 1.147, 84th SP, The O's traded Maine for Benson? Don't laugh. You drafted 83 SPs before him. |
| SP5 | Brandon Webb, ARI | 8-6, 3.27, 104, 1.290, 7th SP, Only Peavy and Hamels have more H2H points. The sinkerballer is on a career-high pace of 200 Ks. |
| SP6 | Ben Sheets, MIL | 10-3, 3.19, 81, 1.155, 12th SP, Barely beats out Lowe here. Very similar numbers, but four fewer losses clinched it. |
| RP1 | Francisco Cordero, MIL | 27 Saves, 2.91 ERA, 47 Ks, 1.059 WHIP, 19th RP, Leads majors in saves, while keeping his Ks up and WHIP down. |
| RP2 | Jose Valverde, ARI | 26, 2.70, 37, 1.080, 29th RP, Was he actually in a battle for the job with Jorge Julio at one point last year? |
| RP3 | Takashi Saito, LAD | 22, 1.38, 42, 0.713, 14th RP, Hoffman has a couple more saves, but Saito has twice the Ks and a better ERA -- and 3 walks. |
Random NL thoughts
SS and 3B were among the toughest decisions. David Wright will likely start over Cabrera in many other writers' All-Star squads, and I can't argue ... the class of outfielders that couldn't make the team is impressive. Barry Bonds, Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Beltran and even the Flyin' Hawaiian Shane Victorino ... Bonds is the current major-league leader in OPS, but we ran out of roster spots for the future all-time HR leader. I won't lose sleep over it ... It's obvious that the best value pick of the first half would have to be Byrnes, who likely went undrafted in thousands of leagues ... Dan Uggla can't make this team because of Utley and the explosion of talent at SS.
Highest H2H points hitters to NOT make the squad: Uggla, Albert Pujols, Soriano, Beltran, Victorino, Edgar Renteria, Brandon Phillips, Bonds, Lance Berkman, Adrian Gonzalez, J.J. Hardy, Derrek Lee and Hunter Pence.
Honorable mentions among pitchers: Aaron Harang, Trevor Hoffman, Derek Lowe, John Smoltz, Billy Wagner, Chris R. Young and Carlos Zambrano.
Notably absent: Ryan Howard, Aramis Ramirez, Jason Bay, Andruw Jones, Roy Oswalt, Dontrelle Willis, Barry Zito, Chad Cordero and Brett Myers.
Feel free to send me a question or a comment. Here are a few that you can just clip and paste. "Are you insane?" ... "What are you thinking?" ... "You're an idiot -- but can you tell me if I should make this trade?" ... "I have a beautiful sister that likes Fantasy dorks, want her number?" ... Send your comments, hate mail, credit card numbers and beautiful sister's phone numbers to me by clicking on my Columnist page and sending a note through the feedback form.
