The Only All-Star Team Without Miguel Cabrera

I could make this easy on myself and just talk about the best players at each position but sports is goofy sometimes. You likely have one or two guys on your team that you hadn’t heard of when the season opened. Those guys are real the fantasy All-Stars, the ones who slipped under the radar, the ones who went undrafted and the ones who were overlooked as viable options, taken in the late rounds of your draft. The players below are a mix of all that, leaving out the top notch draft picks who everybody expected to play at a high level. All of these guys have my vote for the 2013 All-Star game, hopefully you snagged them for your team. Note: The numbers next to each name are the Average Draft Position (ADP) for each player according to Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.

C: Evan Gattis (211.6) – Gattis has kept his improbable season going. Even after Brian McCann came off the DL, the Braves have found a way to keep Gattis in their lineup by sticking him in LF, and for good reason. He’s hitting .281 with 12 HRs, only two behind team leader Justin Upton.

1B: Chris Davis (138.9) – I still can’t believe Texas traded him and Tommy Hunter for Koji Uehara. That’s some highway robbery by Dan Duquette. He’ll be there at the end of the season challenging Miguel Cabrera’s run for a second Triple Crown and currently holds a two HR lead.

2B: Matt Carpenter (223.7) – Though he’s also eligible at 1B, 3B and OF, he’s played most of his games at 2B this season. A .310 batting average will keep him in the lineup, even if 2B prospect Kolten Wong gets fast-tracked to the majors

3B: Manny Machado (215.4) – Living up to the hype as one of the better young players in the game. He was often overlooked after the success of Trout and Harper but he’s right up there with them as the best young players in the game.

SS: Jean Segura (246.8) – This is the easiest pick of them all. Segura leads the NL in batting average and is second in stolen bases. Put together a very Ichiro-esque game this week with 6 singles. He also has eight home runs and needs to be included in early MVP murmurings

OF: Domonic Brown (246.1) – Just barely slides in before Segura as the latest drafted player on my list. Brown raised his average 39 points in May while hitting 12 home runs. Joins Utley and Howard as household names on the Phillies.

SP: Hisashi Iwakuma (229.6) – Could just as easily add Harvey or Corbin in his place but Kuma has a much higher ADP. His 2.13 ERA is better than teammate Felix Hernandez and his only loss was 3-2 on the road. Plus his K/BB radio is off the charts at 74/13 (5.69 Ks per BB)

RP: Jason Grilli (170.5) – After closing out Mexico in the WBC he gained the confidence early on to be the top notch closer the Pirates were looking for. His 22 saves lead the league for a resurgent Pittsburgh squad.

I love you all…except Hawk Harrelson. Quit being such a homer.