As I did last year, I thought it would be fun to try to assemble my own versions of the two 32-man All-Star team rosters. The only rules here are that the fan vote counts, but the player vote doesn’t, and that each team must be represented. Unfortunately, I got a bit carried away and only had time for the AL roster, still, this should answer your questions about why some seemingly worthy Yankees aren’t in Pittsburgh tonight.

Starters elected by the fans:

1B – David Ortiz
2B – Mark Loretta
SS – Derek Jeter
3B – Alex Rodriguez
C – Ivan Rodriguez
RF – Ichiro Suzuki
CF – Vladimir Guerrero
LF – Manny Ramirez

First thing’s first. Ramirez has begged out of the game, clearing the way for Vernon Wells, who is both a proper center fielder and worthy of starting, so that’s all candy and berries. So reset the outfield:

RF – Ichiro Suzuki
CF – Vernon Wells
LF – Vladimir Guerrero

DL – Manny Ramirez

Next up, let’s get our reps from the worst teams in there to avoid any Mark Redman-style eyesores. From the Royals I’m going with David DeJesus (.310/.404/.477), who both leads the team in VORP and is really the only member of their team with any kind of future. From the Devil Rays I’ll go with Scott Kazmir (3.27, 10-6, 9.73 K/9), again the team leader in VORP and a young player with a bright future (far brighter than DeJesus’s to say the least). Moving up in the standings we need an Oriole. That team is basically Miguel Tejada (.315/.362/.510, 17 HR, 62 RBI) and change and again Tejada is the team leader in VORP (by a lot). Easy choice there. Next are the Indians. Travis Hafner (.322/.461/.650, 25 HR, 74 RBI) leads the major leagues in VORP and was shafted last year, so he’s an easy choice.

Thanks to the fans we have a Mariner and an Angel already. The Rangers are a bit tougher. Gary Matthews Jr. leads the team in VORP, but his .328/.374/.539 screams fluke season from a 31-year-old career disappointment. Then again, the next man in line is Michael Young (.316/.361/.456, 118 H), and we already have a back-up shortstop in Tejada. I think I’ll hold off here and see if I need the outfielder, or if I want to take Young as an “infielder” and consider him a back-up second baseman, his primary position prior to 2004.

For the A’s, Barry Zito (3.29, 8-6) hasn’t been overwhelming this season, but he’s got the name and his team’s top VORP total, so he’s in with Kazmir on my pitching staff. The Twins are easy, in fact I’m going to take Joe Mauer (my choice for starting catcher and first-half AL MVP, .378/.446/.535, 7 SB), Johan Santana (2.95, 9-5, 1.00 WHIP, 9.48 K/9, 5.75 K/BB) and Francisco Liriano (1.83, 10-1, 0.97 WHIP, 10.39 K/9, 4.43 K/BB) right off the bat.

Thanks to Manny’s injury we already have a Blue Jay and the fan vote gave us a Tiger and two each from the Yankees and Red Sox. That just leaves the defending World Champion White Sox. The obvious choice here is Jim Thome (.298/.414/.651, 30 HR, 77 RBI), but we already have Ortiz via the fan vote and Hafner, who’s been better than Thome to begin with. Jose Contreras (3.38, 9-0, 1.18 WHIP) and Bobby Jenks (2.83, 26 SV, 1.11 WHIP, 10.67 K/9, 3.77 K/BB) are good alternates, but I’m not sure who’s most deserving as Contreras is 11th in the AL in VORP among pitchers and Jenks is tenth in VORP among AL relievers (behind the Rangers’ Akinori Otsuka, whom I didn’t even mention above, and only two spots above Ron Villone). Thome, meanwhile is fourth in the majors in VORP. Shoot, gotta take him.

So that gives us:

1B – David Ortiz
2B – Mark Loretta
SS – Derek Jeter
3B – Alex Rodriguez
C – Ivan Rodriguez
RF – Ichiro Suzuki
CF – Vernon Wells
LF – Vladimir Guerrero

1B – Travis Hafner
1B – Jim Thome
SS – Miguel Tejada
C – Joe Mauer
OF – David DeJesus
SP – Johan Santana
SP – Francisco Liriano
SP – Scott Kazmir
SP – Barry Zito

DL – Manny Ramirez

We still need a Texas Ranger, but let’s start filling in the positions. I had voted for Robinson Cano to start at second base and now that he’s injured I can have it both ways by adding him, then replacing him with my next choice which would be either Brian Roberts or Seattle’s Jose Lopez. They’re essentially tied in VORP, but their fielding Rates have headed in opposite directions since my vote post, with Roberts making significant improvements. That, plus his strong showing last year and the fact that I have to give Lopez’s team to help identify him, leads me to pick Roberts here. At third base, Mike Lowell, Joe Crede and Troy Glaus were in a close race behind deserving starter Alex Rodriguez. Since then Lowell has really distinguished himself, in part because of his outstanding fielding.

In the outfield, Jermaine Dye was shafted by the voters. You might wonder why I didn’t just use Dye as my White Sox representative. I’ll repeat what I said above, Jim Thome is fourth in the major leagues in VORP. Next in line are Grady Sizemore, one of the most exciting young players in the league and . . . well look at that, Gary Matthews Jr. That solves my Rangers problem.

So now we have:

1B – David Ortiz
2B – Mark Loretta
SS – Derek Jeter
3B – Alex Rodriguez
C – Ivan Rodriguez
RF – Ichiro Suzuki
CF – Vernon Wells
LF – Vladimir Guerrero

1B – Travis Hafner
1B – Jim Thome
2B – Brian Roberts
SS – Miguel Tejada
3B – Mike Lowell
C – Joe Mauer
OF – Jermaine Dye
OF – Grady Sizemore
OF – Gary Matthews Jr.
OF – David DeJesus
SP – Johan Santana
SP – Francisco Liriano
SP – Scott Kazmir
SP – Barry Zito

DL – Manny Ramirez, Robinson Cano

That’s 22 spots. I’ve got ten left and I need a bunch of pitchers. Roy Halladay is the top AL starter by VORP and hasn’t made my team yet, so he’s in. That’s five starters. Jonathan Papelbon and B.J. Ryan are the top two AL relievers by both VORP and the brutally awkward Relievers Expected Wins Added (which has the even more confusing acronym WXRL). WXRL, which I can only assume is some Baseball Prospecticon’s favorite radio station, tallies a reliever’s effect upon his team’s Win Probability (also known as Win Expectancy) then compares that to league average. For those unfamiliar with Win Probability, say a visiting team has a two run lead in the bottom of the ninth with the bases empty and one out. At that moment they have a 95.9 percent chance of winning that game. If the pitcher gives up a home run in that situation, reducing his lead to one-run, he drops his team’s Win Expectancy to 90.8 percent, thus he’s docked 5.1 points. If he strikes out the batter in that situation, to put his team one out from a win with a two-run lead, he improves his team’s Win Expectancy to 99.6 percent, thus he’s credited with 3.7 points.

Looking at the top ten AL relievers in both VORP and WXRL, the pitchers appearing on both lists are:

Mariano Rivera, 3rd VORP, 8th WXRL
J.J. Putz, 5th VORP, 5th WXRL
Joel Zumaya, 6th VORP, 7th WXRL
Joe Nathan, 8th VORP, 4th WXRL
Bobby Jenks, 10th VORP, 3rd WXRL

Last year I went with twelve pitchers per team. Taking five relievers and seven starters does the trick. I have five starters and two relievers already. To that I’ll add Rivera, Nathan and Jenks, assuming Zumaya will be back and forcing Putz to prove himself over a full season.

I now need two more starters. The next two guys on the VORP list are Curt Schilling and Justin Verlander. I like the Verlander pick, but Schilling. Ech. John Lackey is second in the league in ERA, but that’s due to a suspect .228 opponent’s average on balls in play (or BIPA, a shorter and catchier version of BABIP, as in, “yo, what’s Moose’s BIPA numba?”). The next man on the ERA list is Mike Mussina, who also leads the league in quality starts (one ahead of Schilling). Moose is also the top man in WHIP who hasn’t made my squad. The top unselected man in terms of defense-independent ERA, however, is Jeremy Bonderman (which is odd as the Tigers lead the majors in defensive efficiency). Bonderman and Lackey both finish between Schilling and Moose in VORP, and Lackey, Bonderman and Mussina, in that order, finish ahead of Schilling in Component ERA (ERA based on component stats, such as hits and walks, rather than actual runs allowed). Dan Haren and C.C. Sabathia are also hanging out on the fringe of this discussion. Schilling, Mussina and Verlander all have ten wins and either three or four losses and Schilling has seven more strikeouts than Mussina in five more innings.

Aw nyertz, I gotta go with Schilling. Moose’s .254 BIPA is less sustainable than Schilling’s .282, and Schillings 15 walks in 127 1/3 innings just can’t be messed with. That’s a 7.67 K/BB ratio. Sick.

Okay, that’s eight of my last ten spots. Let’s add an extra catcher for logistical reasons and because Pudge was such a ridiculous choice by the fans. Victor Martinez is the best hitting catcher available, but his inability to throw out runners is absolutely crippling. Michael Napoli’s been gangbusters for the Angels, but his major league career consists of 170 plate appearances and PECOTA suggests he’s playing even farther over his head than you might expect. Which brings us to Jorge Posada, my man.

Finally, the best hitter not to make my team is been Jason Giambi, but I already have three first-basemen. That eliminates Paul Konerko as well. Carl Crawford and Alexis Rios have had worthy seasons in the outfield, but I already have seven outfielders. What I need most is another middle-infielder and above Konerko, Crawford and Rios on the VORP list is Carlos Guillen (.298/.379/.497, 12 SB), appropriately another member of the team with the league’s best record.

So my final roster:

1B – David Ortiz (Bos)
2B – Mark Loretta (Bos)
SS – Derek Jeter (NYY)
3B – Alex Rodriguez (NYY)
C – Ivan Rodriguez (Det)
RF – Ichiro Suzuki (Sea)
CF – Vernon Wells (Tor)
LF – Vladimir Guerrero (Ana)

1B – Travis Hafner (Cle)
1B – Jim Thome (Chi)
2B – Brian Roberts (Bal)
SS – Miguel Tejada (Bal)
SS – Carlos Guillen (Det)
3B – Mike Lowell (Bos)
C – Joe Mauer (Min)
C – Jorge Posada (NYY)
OF – Jermaine Dye (Chi)
OF – Grady Sizemore (Cle)
OF – Gary Matthews Jr. (Tex)
OF – David DeJesus (KC)

SP – Roy Halladay (Tor)
SP – Johan Santana (Min)
SP – Francisco Liriano (Min)
SP – Barry Zito (Oak)
SP – Curt Schilling (Bos)
SP – Justin Verlander (Det)
SP – Scott Kazmir (TB)
RP – Jonathan Papelbon (Bos)
RP – B.J. Ryan (Tor)
RP – Mariano Rivera (NYY)
RP – Joe Nathan (Min)
RP – Bobby Jenks (Chi)

DL – Manny Ramirez, Robinson Cano

On second thought, dump Kazmir and give me Carl Crawford (.319/.359/.521, 32 SB) as the Ray’s rep.

So let’s compare my roster to the actual roster.

We agree on Mauer, Thome, Cano, Tejada, Dye, Matthews, Sizemore, Wells, Halladay, Jenks, Liriano, Papelbon, Rivera, Ryan, Santana and Zito (though it’s worth pointing out that Liriano only made it because Jose Contreras begged out because he pitched on Sunday).

Here’s where we differ. In place of Schilling and Verlander, Ozzie Guillen took his own Mark Buehrle and misbegotten Royals rep Mark Redman. Awful. In place of Nathan, the players voted in Kenny Rogers, who due to rest issues will actually start tonight. Notice that Rodgers never came up in the above discussion, but two other Tiger starters who didn’t make the actual AL roster did. In place of Hafner, Guillen took his own Paul Konerko. Offensive. In place of Roberts as Cano’s replacement, the AL has Jose Lopez. In place of Carlos Guillen and Mike Lowell, the players elected Michael Young and Troy Glaus. I can deal with those three. The Players also voted in Kazmir and Alexis Rios ahead of Crawford and when Rios was unable to play due to injury, Magglio Ordonez was the replacement chosen. Kazmir and Rios I’m fine with, Mags, again, didn’t even cross my radar. The final vote gave fans a chance to elect Hafner, Liriano (who wound up going anyway) or Verlander, but they passed over all of them, instead choosing A.J. Pierzynski, who was listed along with fellow catcher Ramon Hernandez with Jorge Posada nowhere to be found. Between Pudge and A.J. it’s as if they chose the AL catchers out of a hat. At least Mauer will be there, though he was such an obvious choice that even having to say that bothers me.