Is Strasburg an All Star? Join the debate.....

My cousin (and fellow blogger over at BeOnDeck.com) and I have long talked of how great it would be to have our own radio show where we could talk sports and debate the topics of the day. The great thing about it would be that we both generally see things the same way, but differ just enough to stir a lively debate. He's written a great piece advocating Stephen Strasburg being named to the 2010 All Star team. Fulfilling our long held dream, I'm taking on his piece with my $.02. I would love to hear your comments, as would he, so please feel free to comment here, or over at beondeck.com.

I've heard good and bad arguments for Stras-mas, as it has been called, to extend to the All Star game. The two best reasons I can come up with to support his inclusion are:

1. The All Star game determines home field for the World Series, and Strasburg gives the NL a better chance at winning.
2. Strasburg is a huge draw for the fans, and the All Star game, at the end of the day, is for the fans.

Honestly, the fan in me would like to see him get a shot to pitch against the best of the AL, and I wouldn't be the least bit upset if it happens. I think Bud Selig has already tarnished the game by pinning home field on it, so including a player that has only made 4 starts to date, and will only make 2 more before the break, is no big deal.

Where I start to have a bit of a problem with things is when you start to wonder how many players the Nationals will send to the game. While there are other guys manning third base with better numbers (David Wright, Scott Rolen, David Freese to name a few), I find it hard to go too deep down the list of NL thirdbasemen before you hit Ryan Zimmerman. He's been a solid player for a couple of years, but has been somewhat underrated after a strong rookie campaign. He's putting up his usual solid numbers this year, and is among the best in the game on defense. Does Strasburg get the nod over a full time player if only one Nat is representing the team in Anaheim? If I thought the fans would vote him as a starter, I'd feel differently, but I think a guy like Wright will be the starter on name recognition and his home market alone (although I'm not meaning to suggest he hasn't earned the spot).

I also think Tyler Clippard gets slighted if you put Strasburg on the team. Clippard has been a revelation out of the pen, and has become one of the best setup men in the game. It's equally a testament to his potential and an indictment of the Nationals' rotation to point out that Clippard is among the wins leaders in the NL, but I think it does warrant considering the former "Yankee Clippard" for a spot.

I do think the All Star game is meant to reward the players who have had a solid first half. By letting the fans determine the starters, you already routinely see undeserving players starting the game. So I don't think it's a slam dunk to hand a spot to a guy that didn't even make it to the majors until early June -- especially when it comes at the expense of a guy that's been getting it done since April 6th. Strasburg is an exciting talent, would be a huge draw for the fans, and likely bring a number of casual fans to the game. I'm just not sure I completely agree that it's the right thing to do for a game that has already been subject to some poor decisions on the commissioner's part.

Please join the debate and leave a comment.

Electirc

Originally posted on illinoisemaker.mlblogs.com. Posted on June 8, 2010 at 10:34 PM:

So -- quiet night in baseball, huh? Not much to talk about...

Hard to recall a single season in recent memory where rookie players have played such prominent roles for their teams. But as prominent a role as rookies have played this season, they expectations pale in comparison to what is expected of Stephen Strasburg. He's been the talk of baseball since touching 103 on the radar gun as a college senior. His minor league starts have been available on MiLB.TV and his final start in the minors was also picked up by the VS network -- a decent little coup for a channel dominated by hunting and fishing shows.

All eyes were on Strasburg tonight -- and all seats were full for the first time since Nationals Park opened a few years ago. The atmosphere was electric, and the event was hyped like a Yankees/Red Sox match-up. Time will tell if this kid is truly the "best pitching prospect ever", but you'd have to say he lived up to the hype in his debut. He went 7 innings, only gave up 4 hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out 14. He did surrender a 2 run shot to Delwyn Young, but was lights out aside from that one mistake. Tyler Clippard took care of the 8th and Capps closed things out in the 9th.

Somewhat overshadowed was Mike Stanton's debut for the Marlins. He went 3 for 5, scored 2 runs and struck out once. Not a bad night by any stretch, and while he fell a bit short of Jason Heyward's monster debut with the Braves, still mighty impressive for a kid that's only 20 and hasn't played above AA.

The rookies carried the night - without a doubt (the Mets Ike Davis also downed the Padres with a walk-off blast). 2010 has been the year of the rookie, and with any luck, we're seeing the dawn of the next age of baseball superstars that will take the torch from the likes of Jeter and Pujols and carry us into the next generation.

Year of the Rookie

Something I alluded to in my last post (on mlblogs.com) -- Can you remember a year where rookies have had such a huge impact on baseball?

Consider the fact that you've got a guy like David Freese -- he of the .311 average, 4 home runs and 32 RBI stat line -- and the guy is going almost unnoticed outside of St. Louis because of the likes of Strasburg, Heyward and Stanton. I personally think it's great to see, though. I like that teams are starting to look inwards a bit and bringing up players they are developing rather than just going out and buying the best free agent. For some teams like the Twins, Marlins and Rays, building from within is a must. But even teams like the Yankees are starting to look at their farm systems for help -- which isn't to suggest that they are done spending gobs of cash on big names.

If this were 2005, injuries to Curtis Granderson, Nick Johnson and Jorge Posada would have triggered a trade or two, and probably the signing of some free agent sitting out there waiting for a call. Of course, you knew the Yankees were operating with a different mind set when they let Johnny Damon walk and finished spring training with Brett Gardner as their starting left fielder. But even as injuries mounted, they were content to promote guys from AAA rather than make a reactionary move.

Strasburg, of course, is the big name that EVERYONE knows at this point, but he's far from the only rookie out there worth watching.