My NL All-Star Ballot

Here are my votes for the National League All-Star Team:

C - Bengie Molina, San Francisco Giants (.286, 8 HR, 30 RBI)
He's once again the most important hitter in a weak lineup, and he's up to the task. He has 11 more RBI than any other NL catcher.

1B - Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals (.326, 14 HR, 38 RBI, 6 SB)
There's no one I'd rather have on my team, fantasy or real life. The guy is a hitting machine.

2B - Orlando Hudson, Los Angeles Dodgers (.345, 3 HR, 27 RBI, 4 SB)
It's entirely possible that I'm picking Hudson just to stray from my everlasting allegiance to Chase Utley in all his glory, but Hudson has been a hell of a pickup by the Dodgers. Honorable mention to Rickie Weeks who was on his way to by far his best year before a wrist injury ended his season.

3B - Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals (.353, 10 HR, 32 RBI)
It's always nice to see a local player make good, and Zimmerman has really turned it up this year. How about Mark Reynolds, though? The new power-speed combo guy on the block has 12 HR and 10 SB, nice work.

SS - Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins (.325, 7 HR, 21 RBI, 7 SB)
Ho hum. Another .300+, 25-25 season looks to be in the works for Hanley. How is Freddie Sanchez doing, by the way? (That's a little keeper league inside joke for you.)

OF - Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia Phillies (.349, 15 HR, 40 RBI, 4 SB)
OF - Carlos Beltran, New York Mets (.370, 6 HR, 29 RBI, 7 SB)
OF - Adam Dunn, Washington Nationals (.280, 12 HR, 33 RBI)
I think a lot of us thought Ibanez would be a fine replacement for Pat Burrell, but none of us expected this. He's currently the #1 ranked player in Yahoo's fantasy baseball. Beltran read that I thought only batting average was a weak spot for him, and he's spent all season trying to prove me wrong. Dunn was a great pickup for the Nationals, even if they're on pace to lose like 250 games this year. He's even hitting above .270, not exactly a common achievement for him.