AL East All-Stars

In a season where the Rays have emerged as a title contender, relegating the once-powerful Yankees to third place, the Red Sox have the division lead at the break. It should be a tight race, as New York probably will not go away quietly. Boston should get Ortiz back soon, and the major question will be can Tampa stay in the race? Toronto and Baltimore have looked good in stretches, but look for both of them to fold in the second half.....Without further ado, the AL East All-Stars.

Starters:

C- Dionar Navarro, Tampa Bay. (.310, 4 HR, 35 RBI, 76 Hits, 25 R)
1B- Kevin Youkilis, Boston ( .314, 15 HR, 63 RBI, 103 Hits, 56 R)
2B- Dustin Pedroia, Boston (.314, 9 HR, 47 RBI, 124 Hits, 67 R, 9 SB)
3B- Alex Rodriquez, New York (.312, 19 HR, 53 RBI, 87 Hits, 53 R, 13 SB)
SS- Derek Jeter, New York ( .284, 5 HR, 42 RBI, 100 Hits, 52 R, 5 SB)
OF- Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay ( .270, 8 HR, 47 RBI, 99 Hits, 62 R, 23 SB)
OF- Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston ( .269, 5 HR, 27 RBI, 87 Hits, 60 R, 35 SB)
OF- J.D.Drew, Boston( .302, 17 HR, 55 RBI, 84 Hits, 63 R)
DH- Aubrey Huff, Baltimore( .284, 18 HR, 59 RBI, 99 Hits, 53 R)

Six of the nine position players made the actual Mid-Season classic. Navarro has hit over .300 all season, seemingly coming out of nowhere. Youkilis and Pedroia have been hit machines for the BoSox. Arod has still hit 19 HR's despite injuries, as he barely gets the nod over potential rookie of the year Evan Longoria. Jeter has had sort of a down year, but the other SS's in the division are pretty weak. Ellsbury leads the league in steals, while Drew has been huge with Ortiz out with an injury. Carl Crawford finally gets to play for a winning team, and if he hits for a higher average in the second half, Tampa Bay will be dangerous. One suprise here is Huffzilla, who has been a steady run producer in Bmore.

SP- Roy Halladay, Toronto (11-6, 2.71 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 121 K's, 7 CG)
SP- Jon Lester, Boston ( 7-3, 3.38 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 82 K's, 2 SHO)
SP- James Shields, Tampa Bay( 7-6, 3.83 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 100 K's, 3 CG)
SP- Mike Mussina, New York ( 11-6, 3.61 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 68 K's)
SP- Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay (7-5, 3.04 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 91 K's)
RP- Mariano Rivera, New York ( 4 Wins, 23 Saves, 50 K's, 1.06 ERA, 0.64 WHIP)
RP- Jonathan Papelbon, Boston ( 3 Wins, 28 Saves, 51 K's, 2.43 ERA, 0.96 WHIP)
RP- George Sherril, Baltimore ( 2 Wins, 28 Saves, 43 K's, 4.08 ERA, 1.41 WHIP)

Halladay is a warrior, and is truly a throwback with 7 complete games in an era where pitchers simply do not go deep into games anymore. Lester pitched a classic no-hitter against the Royals, and apparently I'm pretty stupid for dropping him from my fantasy team. Mussina has been a suprise in the Big Apple, and Kazmir and Shields have been studs for Tampa Bay. Shields pitches a lot better than he fights, as evidenced by this clip:

There are some very good closers in the division, as Rivera and Papelbon are among baseball's best. Sherrill has faded a little, but still is at the top of the league in saves.

Bench:
Ramon Hernandez, C, Baltimore
Jason Giambi, 1B, New York
Brian Roberts, 2B, Baltimore
Jason Bartlett,SS, Tampa Bay
Evan Longoria, 3B, Tampa Bay
B.J. Upton, OF, Tampa Bay
Johnny Damon, OF, New York
Manny Ramirez, OF, Boston
Daisuke Matzuzaka, SP, Boston
Josh Beckett, SP, Boston
Dan Wheeler, RP, Tampa Bay
B.J.Ryan, RP, Toronto
Shaun Marcum, SP, Toronto
Jesse Litsch, SP, Toronto
Scott Downs, RP, Toronto

This is where it gets a little difficult, specificly with the quotas of each team getting a certain number of team members. All of Toronto's East all-stars are pitchers, as they have generated little to no offense. Litsch and Marcum have had solid years behind Halladay in the rotation. Beckett has not been as good as last year, but should pick it up in the second half. Wheeler has been very good for the Rays as the main set-up man.

Up next, the AL Central All-Stars, where I will try to table my hatred for the White Sox and be as objective as possible.