So the All-Star rosters are out, and there’s really no way anyone can quibble with the AL starting lineup: Tek, Teixeira, Roberts, A-Rod, Tejada, Manny, Damon, Vlad, Ortiz. Which is pretty much what I filled in, save a chronic aversion to voting for A-Rod.
As for the reserves, the egregious omission to me is Travis Hafner (14 HR, .303/.410/.547), who should be at 1B in place of Shea Hillenbrand. But then, what could Tito do? Shea was voted in by the players. Looking at the breakdown, Tito chose: Danys Baez, Bartolo Colon, Justin Duscherer, Bob Wickman, and Ichiro. Of the 4 pitchers and 1 position player he could pick, he had to take 1 player from Tampa, Oakland, Seattle, and Cleveland. Baez and Dusch were pretty much set as their team reps - I suppose he could’ve taken Carl Crawford, but that would’ve meant choosing pitchers from both Cleveland and Seattle.
So it looks like it was between taking a pitcher from Cleveland and a hitter from Seattle, or vice versa, or two pitchers from Cleveland and Seattle. Unfortunately, Seattle has a crap roster in general. So really it was down to Wickman or Cliff Lee (9-3, 3.68 ERA) along with Ichiro, or Guardado (1-1, 20 saves, 1.55 ERA) and Hafner. Or, I suppose, Lee and Guardado, and someone to plug in the gap, which would’ve been Ichiro or Hafner either way (or Hunter, perhaps). And given the team needed more outfielders and already had 4 (!) 1Bs, I guess Wickman-Ichiro was an okay choice. Leaving Hafner off the 30th man ballot, though, was egregious.
Anyway, I want Tito to use Mariano Rivera in long relief. As in, 8 2/3 innings of long relief. That’ll be good for all concerned.