Jason Varitek is a surprising choice for the All Star team when you consider his batting average is just north of the Mendoza line.

Cleveland Indians

I would be remiss if I did not begin with the highly anticipated trade of C.C. Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers. As I discussed in my Sunday morning edition of The Grumble, the obvious choice was Milwaukee with it’s depth in the minor league system with Matt LaPorta and Mat Gamels leading the charge of this deep farm system.

The deal has been made official and LaPorta joins a team looking for some heavy lumber to energize their offense in Cleveland. The Indians who have been without Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez for most of the season, have been relying on Grady Sizemore and the sporadic hitting Casey Blake to spur this offense.

Do not get me wrong, the team has some talent in the outfield (Ben Francisco, Franklin Gutierrez), but nothing that compares to what LaPorta brings with his bat. With a double-digit deficit in the division, it appeared to be the best time to pull the trigger.

The Cleveland Indians are sending two players to the All-Star game in New York, starting pitcher Cliff Lee, who is nothing like the pitcher he was last year when he was demoted to the minor-leagues after he struggled to find the strike zone, and outfielder Sizemore.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Considered by many to be the most exciting team in baseball, despite numerous/continuous injuries to their players. With that in mind, we add, yet another Angel to the disabled list. Platoon-catcher Mike Napoli takes his 12 home runs, and meager .204 batting average to the disabled list. For all those AL-Only leagues, now is the chance to hop on his platoon-mate, Jeff Mathis, who is likely to get the majority of starts while Napoli nurses a right-shoulder injury.

The good news is that their pitching is still getting the job done. Jon Garland forced the team’s win with a complete game, six hit effort, increasing his overall record to 8-5. Although he only struck out three batters, this was by far his longest outing in a month. With the disappointing offense slowly gaining back its stride, efforts like the one that Garland produced should surely excite Halo fans.

The Angels are fortunate enough to send three arms from their pitching roster to the All-Star game, closer Francisco Rodriguez, and starting pitchers Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders.

Boston Red Sox

Despite being swept twice at Tropicana field by the Tampa Bay Rays, the team still managed to send seven players to the All-Star game. With five starters, one of them David Ortiz, who is on the disabled list and will not play, and two reserve players, the Sox tied the Cubs for the most players to be elected to this event.

Selected starting players, Kevin Youkilis (1B), Dustin Pedroia (2B), Manny Ramirez (OF), and Jonathan Papelbon (CP), are joined by reserve selections Jason Varitek (C), and J.D. Drew (OF).

To me, the choice of Jason Varitek is completely shocking, regardless of what he brings as a leader in the clubhouse, Varitek has had 13 base hits in 100 at bats (.131 BA). I am a die-hard Red Sox fan and I think that there were far more deserving players Like A.J. Pierzynski (CHW) or even Kurt Suzuki (OAK) who has been red-hot over the past thirty days.

As we say in Massachusetts, “Regaahhdless”, congratulations to the defending World Series Champions for such a respectable representation at the 2008 All-Star Game.

With that being said, I can earnestly say that the activity of the bullpen over the last two weeks has been deplorable at best and simply Single-A at worst. The combined efforts of Craig Hansen, Manny Delcarmen (when on the road), Javier Lopez, and Hideki Okajima, have been simply horrid. I cannot watch once the Boston starting pitcher leaves the game because my heart simply cannot take the destruction of a potential win and the crushing of my spirit as I watch the bullpen hand over win after win. Can somebody please tell me what happened to this bullpen and how they find their footing again? Are we seriously waiting for Mike Timlin to come back and save us again?

Tampa Bay Rays

There is so much to talk about when it comes to this young, hot, and exciting ball club. Let us start off with the best team in baseball, record-wise, only sends two players to the All-Star Game, starting pitcher Scott Kazmir, and reserve catcher Dioner Navarro. Hopefully Evan Longoria will get the necessary votes to join his teammates on the All-Star roster.

I think this is by far the most promising, long-term starting rotation in baseball. No one will argue that Kazmir is deserving of his All-Star bid, as well as the definitive ace on this staff. But we must consider that there is too much pitching talent for this team to have a second-half swoon.

One of the hottest commodities I have seen on the fantasy waiver-wire is the re-emergence of Andy Sonnanstine. Sonnanstine has earned the respect of AL hitters over this past season with a 10-3 record, while fellow pitchers Matt Garza (7-4), and James Shields (7-5) have demonstrated their ability to keep games close, handing off the torch to the bullpen with a great chance to win.

I also want to point out that they have essentially their fifth (potentially number two) starter rising up the minor league system like he was playing in a tee-ball league in David Price. Price is a combined 6-0 with a 1.74 earned run average, striking out 49 batters in eight career starts. Include the fact that batters are hitting at a lowly .218 clip, there is no doubt that the organization feels like they may be wasting their time and Prices’ by keeping him in the minors for very long.

I also want to give a first half award for the most underrated relief pitcher in baseball. This award goes to a player that through 54 innings pitched has earned a 6-0 record, held teams to a 2.83 earned run average, recorded two saves, and struck out 52 batters in the process. J.P. Howell has been simply outstanding through the first half of the season, taking the burden of sustaining leads from the starters and getting it done until the setup and closer can hammer home the game.

Is there any other pitcher, through the first half of the season, which you would want to take over the game when your starter has left the game?

New York Yankees

Between Johnny Damon hitting the disabled list for the first time in his career, the newly implicated “infidelity” claims by Alex Rodriguez’s wife, and the All-Star Game on its way to Yankee Stadium, could you get or want any more publicity than this?

Even with a likely fourth-place finish to the first half of the season, the New York Yankees were able to put three players on the All-Star roster; Derek Jeter as the starting shortstop, Alex Rodriguez as the starting third baseman, and Mariano Rivera as a relief pitcher/closer. There is still the potential that first baseman Jason Giambi could be voted in, but in my opinion, this is highly unlikely.

I would say that all in all, the Yankees have more to worry about than the “A-Rod situation” but it appears that as long as this situation stays a hot topic in the entertainment world, Brian Cashman and Hank Steinbrenner are getting somewhat of a free pass for the horrendous first half. There are definite pitching issues to be resolved, both for the short term as well as for the long haul. Expect the Yankees to go on a spree, but not the one you are likely to think would occur. I think that the team is going to start selling off some pieces and try to work on public relations damage as they mail in the season an start working on building the farm system and eliminating some overbearing payroll.