Justin Morneau

Interesting ball club, those Twins. No real 'names,' unless you count the Home Run Derby winning Justin Morneau, and yet, there they are, dancing around the top of the American League Central with the White Sox. The Twins are a team to watch as playoffs approach. Pitcher Glenn Perkins' shutout of the Yankees put him at 9-3 on the season, with a somewhat less than impressive ERA of 4.07, but if memory serves, all but about 5 of the 27 outs were ground ball outs.

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Would you take Kevin Youlikis at first over Justin Morneau? Perhaps, or perhaps not—but Terry Francona must, because The Fans Said So.

And this is just the AL. The NL is “stuck” with Lance Berkman, who’s having a heck of a year, instead of Albert Pujols, whom NL skipper Clint Hurdle had to hand-pick after fans passed on him. Pujols, for those of you who have been asleep since 2001, has been arguably the best hitter in baseball since then. And Ryan Braun’s a whiz with the bat—when he makes contact—but not such a great defender in left. Might you want to shift Nate McLouth, a reserve who normally plays in center, to right instead, since Nate’s OPS is 16 points higher even than slugger Braun?

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Kevin Youkilis holds a slim lead over Minnesota’s Justin Morneau, a worthy one-two punch (pun intended) by any pundit’s estimation. Josh Hamilton is securely entrenched as a starter in the uber-competetive American League outfield. Over in the National League, Lance Berkman, Chase Utley, Chipper Jones and Hanley Ramirez set the pace at their respective positions. On the surface, this would appear to be a banner year for the casual voting fan. But ein minuten bitte!  Miscasts still linger in this 2008 All-star pool. Allow me to dissect and explain three glaring cases:

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and offense and in Minnesota he was relieved of that burden the last couple years by Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. I am skeptical that at 32 he is going to be able to sustain the numbers that he put up for the first time last season. On the other hand, if Casey Kotchman and Howie Kendrick (who will both be 25 this season) can develop into the hitters they are expected to be, and Juan Rivera can return to the form he showed before missing nearly all of last season due to an injury, the Angels offense instantly boasts more pop than they demonstrated last year.

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gue, who will lead at what category, who will win the awards, and who are the flops.  Enjoy!1B Justin Morneau2B Robinson Cano3B Alex Rodriguez or Miguel CaberaSS Carlos GuillenC Joe MauerOF Tori HunterOF Grady SizemoreOF Magglio OrdonezUTIL David OrtizSP Josh BeckettSP John LackeySP Justin VerlanderCLOSER Jonathon Papelbon

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