A few thoughts on the All Star Balloting

MLB.com has the breakdown on the All Star reserves, as to who was picked by the players and who was picked by the managers and MLB.

Ryan Howard and Omar Infante were both managers picks, not player picks, so we can blame Jerry Manuel and Bud Selig for those.

On the Rangers, there was some surprise expressed that Ian Kinsler made the team ahead of Michael Young.  Kinsler was a player selection...he finished behind Dustin Pedroia in the balloting, but because Pedroia is injured and won't be able to play, Kinsler, as the next player in the voting, automatically gets named to the team.  If Young and Kinsler are both in the pool for "manager's picks," I think Young might have gotten the nod instead of Kinsler.

The other thing that really caught my eye, though, was that Elvis Andrus was the shortstop picked on the player's ballots.

Now, presumably, Derek Jeter was first on the player's ballots, along with the fan balloting.

But think about this.  Elvis Andrus, 21 years old, in his second year in the majors, is apparently thought by his peers to be the second-best shortstop in the American League.

While I don't think the players are the best judges of who is best, the fact that Andrus is commanding that sort of respect so early on says a lot, to me.