All-Star Game 'Final Vote' Picks

Ian Kinsler and Pablo Sandoval.

The AL race is much more interesting, as Kinsler and Carlos Peña would be slam-dunk All-Stars in any other year, Figgins is having a hell of a year out in Anaheim, and as I write this Inge is in the lead...I mean, there are a lot of very good players in baseball, and the MLB front offices routinely do a good job of identifying worthy candidates for the Final Vote. I will say that Figgins is probably the most exciting player of the five to watch, and I would love to see him go. Peña leads the AL in home runs and is hitting for a ton of power, but his glove is way down this year, and anyways he never had a shot because there is no way the fans are voting a .230 hitter in on the Final Vote. I'm selecting Kinsler because he probably should be starting at 2B anyways, has a better glove than any of the other four, and I don't like that RedSoxNation managed to steal away the starting spot from him at the last second.

Matt Kemp and Sandoval are the only real choices in the NL. I was going to vote for Kemp, but then I was reminded that he bats 7th or 8th most games. Even if Kemp was hugely better (which he isn't), I don't know that you can say a guy out of the 8-hole, no matter what his numbers, is having as much of an impact as a guy who bats 3rd and hits .330.

Vote early and vote often!