MLB announces A.L. All-Stars

Major League Baseball has just announced the starters, pitchers and reserves for both leagues for the 2013 MLB All-Star Game, which will be played on Tuesday, July 16th.

Here are the American League starters:

• C: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
• 1B: Chris Davis, Baltimore Orioles
• 2B: Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
• SS: J.J. Hardy, Baltimore Orioles
• 3B: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
• OF: Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles
• OF: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
• OF: Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays
• DH: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox

Here are the AL pitchers:

• * RHP: Clay Buchholz, Boston Red Sox
• LHP: Brett Cecil, Toronto Blue Jays
• ** RHP: Bartolo Colon, Oakland A's
• * RHP: Jesse Crain, Chicago White Sox
• RHP: Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers
• RHP: Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
• RHP: Hisashi Iwakuma, Seattle Mariners
• RHP: Justin Masterson, Cleveland Indians
• RHP: Joe Nathan, Texas Rangers
• ** LHP: Glen Perkins, Minnesota Twins
• RHP: Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees
• LHP: Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox
• RHP: Max Scherzer, Detroit Tigers
• RHP: Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers

* Denotes injured.
** Denotes injury replacement.

Here are the AL reserves:

• C: Jason Castro, Houston Astros
• C: Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals
• 1B: Prince Fielder, Detroit Tigers
• 2B: Jason Kipnis, Cleveland Indians
• 2B: Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox
• 2B: Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay Rays
• SS: Jhonny Peralta: Detroit Tigers
• 3B: Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles
• OF: Nelson Cruz, Texas Rangers
• OF: Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals
• OF: Torii Hunter, Detroit Tigers
• DH: Edwin Encarnacion, Toronto Blue Jays

In addition, there will a final vote for additional AL All-Star and here are the candidates:

• Joaquin Benoit, Detroit Tigers
• Steve Delabar, Toronto Blue Jays
• David Robertson, New York Yankees
• Tanner Scheppers, Texas Rangers
• Koji Uehara, Boston Red Sox

Thoughts?  Snubs?

[Here are the N.L. All-Stars.]

Trifone: A.L. Mid-season Award Winners

Yesterday, we named the National League mid-season award winners -- MVP and Cy Young.  (If you missed it, click here.)

Today, it's the A.L.'s turn.

Mid-season American League Most Valuable Player

Joey Bats is tied for the MLB lead in home runs with 27 and Adam Dunn is a virtual lock for comeback player of the year, with his 25 home run and 61 RBIs year so far.

One guy who is looking more and more like the rookie of the year AND MVP is Mike Trout, who in his first season is leading the league with a .341 average.  Bryce Harper has gotten a lot of hype, and is certainly having a great year, but Trout has been even better.

None of these guys have had a first half like Josh Hamilton.

Hamilton had a few week period that may have been the most incredible stretch in baseball history, including a four-homer game, which was the highlight of the first half of the 2012 season.  Early on, it looked as though Hamilton would challenge for the triple crown, although at this point, his average has dipped a bit.  He is hitting .308, is tied for the league lead with 27 home runs and leads the league in RBIs with 75, and is one of only two players with OPS above 1.000.

Mike Trout would actually be my number two, who has 26 stolen bases to go along with his league-leading average, and his emergence is a huge reason why the Angels have gotten back into it.

Still, even his numbers pale in comparison to Hamilton's, who is the pretty clear choice for mid-season AL MVP.

Mid-season American League Cy Young Winner

The mid-season AL Cy Young winner is the toughest award to give out, and the one that is the most debatable.  There are several good candidates, and it's a good thing there is a second half of the season to be played before we have to actually hand out the award.

By my judgement, coming in at number three for the award is Justin Verlander.  Typically, he's the guy you'd see at the top of the list.  Verlander is having a good, but not great year by his standards.  His 2.58 ERA is good enough for fourth in the league, he is tied for the league lead in strikeouts with 128, leads the league in complete games with five, and has a 9-5 record.  It's tough being Justin Verlander.  He puts up those great numbers, and somehow, we expect a little more.

My number two choice for the mid-season award is Jered Weaver, who is 8-1 with a 1.96 ERA, which leads the league.  Weaver has a sub 1.00 WHIP and is holding opponents to an average of under .200.  Weaver, like Verlander, has become a fixture among the top pitchers in the game, and seems to be a perennial contender to win the Cy Young.

That leaves only White Sox second year starter Chris Sale as my choice for the mid-season AL Cy Young award winner.  Sale is second in the league with an ERA of 2.27 and has 98 K's in 102.2 innings.  He also has a sub 1.00 WHIP and has opponents hitting under .200 for the year against him.  The White Sox are leading the AL Central, a division that everyone had yielded to the Tigers at the beginning of the year, and clearly, Sale and his 10-2 record are a big reason why.

I feel this race is the most subject to change, and by the end of the season, I'm not sure we won't see Verlander come back and win his second consecutive Cy Young.  However, midway through, Sale has the best numbers and currently deserves the award.

[Editor's note: This post is by John Trifone (@JohnnyT0122), who also contributes at our NFL site: Eat, Drink and Sleep Football (see John's archives).]

VIDEO: J.P. Arencibia impersonating Tim Kurkjian

ESPN's Tim Kurkjian has a distinctive voice and Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia does a great job of impersonating it.

In this video, Terry Francona is interviewing Arencibia, who is impersonating Kurkjian analyzing Jose Bautista:



Hilarious.

(Updated) 2012 Fantasy Baseball Preseason Rankings: Top 50 Outfielders

With his 50-game suspension for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs overturned, one thing is clear: it's a positive (no pun intended) to his fantasy value.

Milwaukee left fielder Ryan Braun, last year's N.L. MVP, set career highs in batting average (.332) and stolen bases (33) and came close to career highs in runs scored (109), runs batted in (111) and home runs (33) last year.

While Braun had a career-best season, he's been as consistent as any other player over the past five years since being called up late-May 2007.

Despite playing in only 113 games in his rookie season, here are his career lows: 91 runs scored, 25 home runs, 97 runs batted in and 14 stolen bases. As a career .312 hitter, Braun has hit above .300 in four of five seasons and .320 or better three times.

Based on his first five seasons, here are his average stats per 162 games: 112 runs scored, 36 home runs, 118 runs batted in and 21 stolen bases.

Two reasons for a potential drop-off in production are: (1) the free-agent departure of Prince Fielder and (2) the possible constant questioning by reporters and taunting by fans, especially on the road, about the PED issue wearing thin on Braun.

Going into 2012, Braun is my No. 3 ranked outfielder behind L.A.'s Matt Kemp and Toronto's Jose Bautista, who still has third base eligibility. If Bautista was only outfield eligible, I would rank Braun second among outfielders behind Kemp.

Here are some notes on outfielders:

- Speaking of Kemp, he had a legitimate shot to win the triple crown last year. He finished first in the National League in home runs (39) and runs batted in (126) and third in average (.324). Kemp finished with career highs in home runs, runs batted in, runs scored (115), and stolen bases (40). Only one homer shy of his first 40-40 season, it was the second 30-30 season of Kemp's career.

- Cardinals outfielder Lance Berkman, who had his best season since 2008, finished seventh in N.L. MVP voting last year. In 145 games, Berkman hit .301 with 31 homers and 94 runs batted in. Although he hit for a higher average after the All-Star Break (.315 vs. .290), Berkman hit 24 of his 31 home runs and drove in 63 of his 94 runs before the break.

- Washington's Michael Morse, who has eligibility at first base and outfield, was fantasy bargain in 2011. Not only did he have a great season (.303 with 31 home runs and 95 runs batted in), he was consistent before and after the All-Star game: .306-15-49 (before split) and .299-16-46 (after break). That said, his two worst months were his first (April) and last (September) of the season.

- Last year, Tampa Bay's B.J. Upton was one homer and one RBI shy of the career highs he set in 2007. While Upton had a four-year low in steals (36) to go along with his 23 homers and 81 runs batted in, he has hit .243 or less in each of the past three seasons.

- Cleveland's Shin-Soo Choo, who missed half of last season due to his thumb injury, is healthy heading into 2012 and is looking to bounce back after a down season. Before last year, Choo had back-to-back seasons with .300 average, 20-plus homers and 20-plus steals. Choo provides plenty of upside as a bounce-back candidate.

- Atlanta's Jason Heyward has the potential to deliver a big return for fantasy owners in 2012. Heyward, who turns only 23 in August, had a shoulder injury that slowed him down last year, but he should be healthy to start the season. Heyward saw his average drop from .277 to .227 and his RBIs drop from 72 to 42 last year.

- Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki has seen his batting average decline from .352 in 2009 to .315 in 2010 to a career-low .272 in 2011. In fact, it was the first time in Ichiro's career that he hit below .300. Suzuki has stolen 40-plus bases in back-to-back seasons, but he's now 37 years old (i.e., eventually he will slow down) and he will hit third in the batting order, which will reduce his base-stealing opportunities some.

- As a former second-overall pick, Kansas City's Alex Gordon was a bit of disappointment based on his potential. In his first four seasons, Gordon hit .260 or lower, 16 homers or less and drove in 60 runs or less every season. Last year, Gordon had a breakout season setting career highs across the board: .303 average, 101 runs scored, 23 homers, 87 runs batted in and 17 stolen bases.

Here are our top 50 outfielders for the 2012 season:

1. Matt Kemp, Dodgers
2. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays
3. Ryan Braun, Brewers
4. Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies
5. Justin Upton, Diamondbacks
6. Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox
7. Curtis Granderson, Yankees
8. Andrew McCutchen, Pirates
9. Josh Hamilton, Rangers
10. Nelson Cruz, Rangers
11. Mike Stanton, Marlins
12. Desmond Jennings, Rays
13. Matt Holliday, Cardinals
14. Hunter Pence, Phillies
15. Jay Bruce, Reds
16. Alex Gordon, Royals
17. Michael Morse, Nationals
18. Shin-Soo Choo, Indians
19. Carl Crawford, Red Sox
20. Ben Zobrist, Rays
21. Shane Victorino, Phillies
22. B.J. Upton, Rays
23. Michael Bourn, Braves
24. Drew Stubbs, Reds
25. Jason Heyward, Braves
26. Corey Hart, Brewers
27. Adam Jones, Orioles
28. Lance Berkman, Cardinals
29. Brett Gardner, Yankees
30. Howard Kendrick, Angels
31. Nick Markakis, Orioles
32. Andre Ethier, Dodgers
33. Jayson Werth, Nationals
34. Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners
35. Chris Young, Diamondbacks
36. Carlos Beltran, Cardinals
37. Michael Cuddyer, Rockies
38. Logan Morrison, Marlins
39. Melky Cabrera, Giants
40. Delmon Young, Tigers
41. Nick Swisher, Yankees
42. Peter Bourjos, Angels
43. Cameron Maybin, Padres
44. Jeff Franceour, Royals
45. Torii Hunter, Angels
46. Martin Prado, Braves
47. Matt Joyce, Rays
48. Emilio Bonifacio, Marlins
49. Alex Rios, White Sox
50. Jose Tabata, Pirates

Other Positions: C - 1B - 2B - 3B - SS - OF - SP - RP

To keep track of our updates, follow us on Twitter @EDSBaseball and/or LIKE us on Facebook.

Ryan Braun wins appeal, 50-game suspension overturned

A couple of months ago, it was announced that Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun would be suspended for 50 games for violating the league's policy against performance-enhancing drugs.

Today Braun, the 2011 N.L. MVP, became the first player to win an appeal of a PED suspension, which means he will be able to play Opening Day and the remaining 161 games this season.

According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Braun won the appeal "not so much on contesting the result of the test but the testing process itself."

Per Haudricourt, here's part of the statement from MLB: " ... While we have always respected that process, Major League Baseball vehemently disagrees with the decision rendered today by arbitrator Shyam Das.”

With the ruling, we have moved Braun up to No. 3 in our fantasy outfielder rankings behind only Matt Kemp and Jose Bautista.

Not only did Braun set career highs in batting average (.332) and stolen bases (33) last year, but he was one of only four players to finish with a 30-30 season. Braun is five-category stud as he has driven in 100-plus runs for four straight seasons and scored 100-plus runs for three straight seasons.

(Updated) 2012 Fantasy Baseball Preseason Rankings: Top 25 Third Basemen

After missing 20 games in 2010, Miami's Hanley Ramirez missed many more games (70) last year and was one of the biggest disappointments in all of fantasy baseball.

Not only did Ramirez miss almost half of the season, but he struggled when he was on the field. HanRam hit a career-low .243 and it was the first time since 2006 that he hit below .300. Several months into the season (June 20th), Ramirez was hitting only .200.

Now there is plenty of change in Miami.

The team is no longer called the Florida Marlins, Ozzie Guillen is the team's new manager and the addition of free-agent shortstop Jose Reyes means that Ramirez will shift to third.

Believed to not be thrilled about the move, Ramirez has recently said the right things about the transition.

“I never said I’m not going to do it,” Ramirez said, per Tom D'Angelo of the Palm Beach Post. “I’m just happy to be here, be back in the spring with my guys, my teammates, everybody’s happy. That’s what we need. We got to stay together through the year. We’re looking good. This is the best team I have been in six years with the Marlins.”

Although he's not initially eligible at third base, Ramirez will be eligible at both shortstop and third base by the middle of April.

Here are some notes on third basemen:

- Despite being walked 100-plus times in each of the past two seasons, Toronto's Jose Bautista has hit 97 home runs during that span and has led the majors in the statistic each season. In fact, there have been only four 40-homer seasons over the past two years and Bautista has two of them. Over the past two seasons, Bautista also has 100-plus runs, 100-plus RBIs and nine steals each season.

- Arizona's Ryan Roberts, who is eligible at second as well as third base, fell just shy of a 20-15 season. Roberts finished the season with 19 home runs and 18 stolen bases, both of which were career highs. Roberts also set career highs in runs scored (86) and runs batted in (65).

- Although he missed almost 30 games and hit a career-low .244, Tampa's Evan Longoria hit 31 home runs, only two shy of his career best set in 2009. Longoria finished last season much better than he started it. Over the past two months, he hit 17 home runs and drove in 46 runs in 55 games.

- Mets third baseman David Wright hit a career-low .255 last year and played his fewest games (102) since his rookie campaign. After five straight seasons hitting .300 or better, Wright has had back-to-back sub-.300 batting averages. Since the Mets moved to Citi Field three seasons ago, Wright has hit a total of only 55 home runs, which works out to one homer in every 27.5 at-bats. While the numbers are bad at Citi Field (32.4 at-bats per HR), they're not great on the road (24.2/HR) during that span either.

- San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval played in only 117 games last year, but he still managed to hit 23 homers, only two shy of the career high he set back in 2009, and drove in 70 runs. After the All-Star break, KungFu Panda hit .325 with 15 home runs and 41 runs batted in over 67 games. Not only is Sandoval eligible at third base, but he is first base eligible as well.

- With Baltimore's Mark Reynolds, you know exactly what you're getting. He's going to simultaneously help you (home runs) and hurt you (batting average). Since 2008, only four players have hit more home runs than Reynolds (141): Albert Pujols (163), Ryan Howard (157), Prince Fielder (150) and Mark Teixeira (144). However, no player has struck out more than Reynolds (834) during that span.

- In his 43 games last year, Toronto's Brett Lawrie gave fantasy owners a sample of what he can do -- hit for power and average and steal bases. The former first-round pick (2008) hit .293 with nine home runs, 25 runs batted in and seven steals.

- Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has not played more than 138 games in any of the past four seasons and played his fewest (99 games) last year since 1995. It was also the first time that A-Rod failed to reach 30 home runs or 100 runs batted in since 1995. Considering he turns 37 in July, it's risky to bank on Rodriguez staying healthy enough to reach 140 games for the first time since 2007.

Here are our top 25 third basemen for the 2012 season:

1. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays
2. Evan Longoria, Rays
3. David Wright, Mets
4. Adrian Beltre, Rangers
5. Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals
6. Brett Lawrie, Blue Jays
7. Pablo Sandoval, Giants
8. Alex Rodriguez, Yankees
9. Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox
10. Michael Young, Rangers
11. Aramis Ramirez, Brewers
12. David Freese, Cardinals
13. Ryan Roberts, Diamondbacks
14. Mark Reynolds, Orioles
15. Martin Prado, Braves
16. Mike Moustakas, Royals
17. Lonnie Chisenhall, Indians
18. Pedro Alvarez, Pirates
19. Emilio Bonifacio, Marlins
20. Chase Headley, Padres
21. Chipper Jones, Braves
22. Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays
23. Daniel Murphy, Mets
24. Danny Valencia, Twins
25. Placido Polanco, Phillies

Other Positions: C - 1B - 2B - 3B - SS - OF - SP - RP

To keep track of our updates, follow us on Twitter @EDSBaseball and/or LIKE us on Facebook.

Jose Bautista hits two more homers, ahead of last year's pace

Not many, if any, expected Toronto outfielder Jose Bautista to repeat his baseball-leading and breakout performance of 54 home runs in 2010.

In fact, here's what I wrote about Bautista in March in fantasy baseball outfielder rankings: "Although there's virtually no chance that he duplicates his 54-homer performance from 2010, Bautista could hit 35 or so homers with 100 runs batted in. Even better, he also has position eligibility at third base."

Although we are only 45 games into the season, it appears that I could be (very) wrong.

Despite missing eight games this season, Bautista belted his 17th and 18th home runs through 37 games played.

That means, Bautista is on pace for 64.8 home runs if he continues to hit 18 per every 45 games. Of course, it seems highly improbable that he'll maintain anything close to that pace.

But, then again, Bautista has hit 82 home runs since September 2009.

With 18 home runs in 132 at-bats, he's hitting a home run per 7.33 at-bats. Last year, he hit one in every 10.54 at-bats, on average.

Jose Bautista out until Friday due to family matter

Tonight the Toronto Blue Jays were without right fielder Jose Bautista, who was excused due to a family matter.

"He has been excused from the club to attend to a family matter," [manager John] Farrell said, per Gregor Chisolm of MLB.com. "We do expect him back to rejoin the club when we open up in L.A. If for some unforeseen reason that were to change, hopefully he gets back to us sooner, but he is dealing with a family matter at this point."

With Bautista out tonight, Jayson Nix started at third base with Edwin Encarnacion moving to designated hitter. Juan Rivera was in right field.

Encarnacion, who has already made three errors this season, is expected to be "back at third base," according to Farrell.

Blue Jays, Bautista agree to five-year extension

The Toronto Blue Jays and outfielder Jose Bautista have agreed to a five-year contract extension worth $64 million.

Bautista, who would have become a free agent after the 2011 season, is signed through 2015, but the Jays have a club option at $14 million for 2016.

“It came down to how far above [Braves second baseman Dan] Uggla we’d be,” [Blue Jays general manager Alex] Anthopoulos said, per The Toronto Star. “We felt Dan Uggla was a focal point, but it took time to work things out. The consistency of Uggla speaks for itself. The upside of Jose’s season is that Uggla never had a season like that.”

Last year, Bautista led the majors with 54 home runs and finished third in the American League in runs batted in with 124. Before 2010, Bautista never hit more than 16 home runs in a season (2006).