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7/02/2007 08:55:00 AM

AL East: All-Stars and All-Flops

By Alex Belth

The following players from the AL East have made the All-Star team: David Ortiz, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mike Lowell, Brian Roberts, Carl Crawford, Jorge Posada, Alex Rios, Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon. Here are my position-by-position picks for the best and worst the AL East has had to offer so far:

All Stars

C: Jorge Posada
1B: Carlos Pena
2B: B.J. Upton
SS: Derek Jeter
3B: Alex Rodriguez
OF: Manny Ramirez
OF: Carl Crawford
OF: Alex Rios
DH: David Ortiz
SP: Josh Beckett
SP: Erik Bedard
SP: James Shields
Set Up: Hideki Okajima
Closer: Jonathan Paplebon


All Flops

C: Dioner Navarro
1B: Yankees (Doug Mientkiewcz, Miguel Cairo)
2B: Robinson Cano
SS: Julio Lugo
3B: Melvin Mora
OF: Johnny Damon
OF: J.D. Drew
OF: Bobby Abreu
DH: Jason Giambi
SP: Edwin Jackson
SP: Kei Igawa
SP: Jae Seo
Set Up: Kyle Farnsworth
Closer: Chris Ray



  • Two of Boston’s big off-season signings, Julio Lugo and J.D. Drew, have been major disappointments and yet the Red Sox, at 49-31, own the second best record in baseball. Meanwhile, the Yankees are getting great years from Rodriguez, Posada and Jeter, but their record is 37-41, and they are experiencing their worst year under Joe Torre. In fact, with the exception of the Red Sox, the entire division is the epitome of mediocre. The Orioles, and Blue Jays have shown periodic flashes, and the Rays have some nice young players. Otherwise, it has been a dull division, with teams lining up to see who will finish second behind Boston.


  • Frank Thomas hit his 500th career home run last week. Richard Griffin thinks Thomas is a Hall of Famer, as does Dayn Perry. Thomas is currently 18th on the all-time list for OBP and SLG respectively, and 11th for OPS. Then only players who have a higher OPS (OBP+SLG) than Thomas are: Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Todd Helton, Rogers Hornsby, and Manny Ramirez. With the exception of Helton -- a fine hitter, whose numbers have been skewed by playing in an offensive park during an offensive era -- this the cream of the crop we're talking about. Thomas is a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned.


  • A.J. Burnett was placed back on the 15-DL on Sunday.


  • According to The Baltimore Sun, Orioles interim manager, Dave Trembley is just the fifth manager in baseball history to manage a big league team without having any minor or major league playing experience.


  • Melvin Mora was hurt on the final play of Sunday's game, a loss to the Angels.


  • The Onion reports that Curt Schilling will start live blogging from the mound once he returns from the DL.


  • The Yankees are falling apart. Last week, both Andy Pettitte -- who was rocked by the A's on Sunday at the Stadium -- and Jorge Posada questioned the team's intensity. Then, Kyle Farnsworth threw a minor tantrum on Friday night when he was lifted in the eighth inning in place of Mariano Rivera. Joe Torre confronted the relief pitcher after the game. Finally, Scott Proctor set his mitt on fire outside of the Yankee dugout after Saturday's loss. A fitting gesture as New York's season goes up in smoke.

    • Labels:

    posted by SI.com | View comments |  

    Comments:

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    Posted: July 3, 2007 6:14 PM   by ADP
    How can Vernon "126 million dollars" Wells not be on the flop list? He's got an OPS under .750, and an OBP vs right handers of .293. That's worse than JD Drew and he doesn't have the injury excuse like Damon.
    Posted: July 4, 2007 10:51 AM   by Taylor
    How is it you put upton for 2b instead of aaron hill? I understand he plays in Canada, but that's hardly an excuse. This man should win a Gold Glove. There are no better defensive 2b in the AL. Period.
    Posted: July 15, 2007 11:01 PM   by Anonymous
    How do you put Carlos Pena in fronnt of Kevin Youkilis? Pena might have more home runs, but Kevin Youkilis is better in everything else. Also Pena has 4 errors at first base and Youkilis has 0.
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