Phightins

W-L is pretty irrelevant, especially for a guy on a [expletive]ty team. He isn't having THAT bad of a season. Not an all-star if he's on a team with more deserving guys, but I have seen way worse guys get in on that "every team must be accounted for" thing. But yes, that rule needs to be done away with...

Very. You couldn't tell by most of my posts from the past 2 weeks? Haha. If we sweep Atlanta this week I may regain some hope.

LOLHanley

Infante is awesome, don't get me wrong. I love players like that. But he is not an all-star.

This isn't a Howard vs. Votto thing, IMO. Ryan Howard has borderline-allstar worthy numbers, and since his team was in the World Series and his manager had a say in the roster, he gets to go. The real shame is that Votto does not make the roster, but Jason Heyward and Omar Infante do. Other blatant roster errors in the NL include Jose Reyes being Troy Tulowitzki's replacement instead of Rafael Furcal, who is having a far better season. Also, the two NL catchers should be Brian McCann and Miguel Olivo. Yadier Molina should not be going this year. For the record, I am a huge Yadier Molina fan and think that his defense and game-calling is allstar worthy in itself, but considering that Olivo has significantly better offensive numbers, he should be going since fans are not tuning in to see defense.

Ryan Howard not doing HR derby this year.

Welp, it is July 4th, and I think it is safe to say that the season rides on this series with the Braves. Tomorrow: Derek Lowe @ Roy Halladay Tuesday: Jair Jurrjens @ Cole Hamels Wednesday: Kris Medlen @ Jamie Moyer

It has been a joke for years, dude. People only realize this when their guys get snubbed, I guess. So many things wrong with the ASG, though. Eliminating the "every team needs to be represented" rule and the "utility player" rule would be good places to start. The latter will never happen though, the league wants to give the casual fans in every market a reason to tune in.

Jose Contreras has an ERA over 8 in his last 12 games. Ouch. Honestly Durbin and Madson being out might be a bigger deal than Utley and Polanco being out (well, maybe not, but it's closer than people are saying).

Frankly, what is happening with this team is unbelievable.

No. They need guys to accept invitations. Some guys don't like participating in the HR derby, so it depends on who wants to do it.

I know. But just based on pure numbers, he really isn't having an impressive year. At least compared to some of the guys he beat out for a roster spot.

I have had the same stance about the ASG all along, as you can see in my endless debates with Fish. It really should not count for anything, because it is a joke exhibition. If anyone doesn't deserve to be there, it is Jason Heyward.

Get over it. It happens almost every year. And FYI, what exactly would you define as the "nature of the ASG"? When has it ever been completely fair, or determined by performance? The answer is never. And if it will make you feel better, I will trade you Villaescusa .

I am not making excuses, I am giving you reasons. There are 3 of them. 1) That utility player rule. 2) The "every team must be represented" rule 3) Charlie having the ability to bring his own guys if he so desires. Happens every year.

Another thing people need to remember. There is a new rule this year requiring the managers to select one "utility" spot, which is why Omar Infante is on the team. You'd have to think Charlie probably takes Votto if he didn't have to take Infante. But to me, in 5 years, nobody is going to remember how a player (the non-starters) made the team, just that they were there. Joey Votto will be on this team.

No, because he is going to be on the team. Utley needs to be replaced, Heyward will probably need to be replaced, and there is that whole final vote thing. Votto will be on the roster. People only remember the starters, and Votto is not going to start either way.

Some Russian website reported yesterday that the Flyers are "in" on Kovalchuk. Whaaaaaaat?

So many great pitchers this year. Lots got snubbed. Maybe all the Strasburg fanboys will see this now, and realize that he absolutely should not be on the team.

WOW. The TBS coverage is absolutely brutal. On the ticker at the bottom of the screen for the AL starters, they have Vladimir Guerrero listed as an Angel. It's scrolled by at least 20 times and they still haven't fixed it. And they had Halladay listed as a Cardinal earlier. I almost forgot how terrible they are at baseball coverage.

Hopefully Votto will take Chase Utley's spot. I don't think they announced who that will be.

They had a Cardinals logo up when they announced Roy Halladay. TBS fail. Cool to see some guys like Evan Meek and Arthur Rhodes make it. And as I predicted, Ryan Howard made it over Joey Votto (bring on the [expletive]ing and moaning). But, Charlie also took an extra Brave (Omar Infante) as one of his managers selections, but not Jayson Werth. Only 2 Phillies, so I don't want to hear it about Charlie being too favorable to his own guys.

I could see Votto being snubbed. Probably won't happen but there are lots of really good first basemen this year. And Charlie Manuel will in all likelihood be taking Ryan Howard as one of his first basemen (whether you guys like it or not, that is how it goes...also one of the perks of winning the pennant ). So yeah, not out of the realm of possibility.

^That is awesome.

This is funny... Matt Gelb from the Inquirer points out that the top 3 hitters in the Pirates lineup tonight (Jose Tabata, Pedro Alvarez, and Andrew McCutchen) were born after Jamie Moyer made his MLB debut.