2013 All-Star Roster: Players Who Most Deserved Spot on Roster

The 2013 MLB All-Star Game roster is set, with some of the biggest names in baseball set to take their talents to Shea Stadium in Queens, New York for the Midsummer Classic.

With 29 first-time All-Stars, there's a shortage of established names, and that leaves a short list of players who most deserved to have their names presented on Saturday night as making the cut.

Let's take a look at who those players are.

MLB All-Star Game Roster

American League

Pos.	Name	Team
*C	Joe Mauer	Twins
*1B	Chris Davis	Orioles
*2B	Robinson Cano	Yankees
*SS	J.J. Hardy	Orioles
*3B	Miguel Cabrera	Tigers
*OF	Mike Trout	Angels
*OF	Adam Jones	Orioles
*OF	Jose Bautista	Blue Jays
*DH	David Ortiz	Red Sox
^P	Clay Buchholz	Red Sox
P	Brett Cecil	Blue Jays
P	Bartolo Colon	A's
^P	Jesse Crain	White Sox
P	Yu Darvish	Rangers
P	Felix Hernandez	Mariners
P	Hisashi Iwakuma	Mariners
P	Justin Masterson	Indians
P	Joe Nathan	Rangers
P	Glen Perkins	Twins
P	Mariano Rivera	Yankees
P	Chris Sale	White Sox
P	Max Scherzer	Tigers
P	Justin Verlander	Tigers
C	Jason Castro	Astros
C	Salvador Perez	Royals
1B	Prince Fielder	Tigers
2B	Jason Kipnis	Indians
2B	Dustin Pedroia	Red Sox
2B	Ben Zobrist	Rays
SS	Jhonny Peralta	Tigers
3B	Manny Machado	Orioles
OF	Nelson Cruz	Rangers
OF	Alex Gordon	Royals
OF	Torii Hunter	Tigers
DH	Edwin Encarnacion	Blue Jays

National League

Pos.	Name	Team
*C	Yadier Molina	Cardinals
*1B	Joey Votto	Reds
*2B	Brandon Phillips	Reds
*SS	Troy Tulowitzki	Rockies
*3B	David Wright	Mets
*OF	Carlos Beltran	Cardinals
*OF	Carlos Gonzalez	Rockies
*OF	Bryce Harper	Nationals
P	Madison Bumgarner	Giants
P	Aroldis Chapman	Reds
P	Patrick Corbin	D-Backs
P	Jose Fernandez	Marlins
P	Jason Grilli	Pirates
P	Matt Harvey	Mets
P	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers
P	Craig Kimbrel	Braves
P	Cliff Lee	Phillies
P	Jeff Locke	Pirates
P	Adam Wainwright	Cardinals
P	Travis Wood	Cubs
P	Jordan Zimmermann	Nationals
C	Buster Posey	Giants
1B	Paul Goldschmidt	D-Backs
1B	Allen Craig	Cardinals
2B	Matt Carpenter	Cardinals
2B	Marco Scutaro	Giants
SS	Everth Cabrera	Padres
SS	Jean Segura	Brewers
3B	Pedro Alvarez	Pirates
OF	Domonic Brown	Phillies
OF	Michael Cuddyer	Rockies
OF	Carlos Gomez	Brewers
OF	Andrew McCutchen	Pirates

* = Starter

^ = Injured, will not play

Rosters courtesy of MLB.com

Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers

Forget giving Miguel Cabrera an All-Star starter's spot for his recent successes on the diamond—we should just go ahead and name the entire Midsummer Classic after him. 

After winning the Triple Crown in 2012, Cabrera's legacy was sealed, as his season was among the best ever. 

But you don't get voted in based on last year, and that's why Cabrera deserves this starting selection even more. As we approach the All-Star break, Cabrera leads two of the three Triple Crown categories with a .360 batting average and 88 RBI.

If it weren't for Chris Davis' 33 homers (Cabrera is in second with 27), you'd be hearing much more about his quest for a repeat that is still a big possibility. But that doesn't take away from what he's been able to do and how monumental all of the stats are.

At 30 years old, Cabrera is defying logical thinking by continuing to ascend into the best years of his career.

Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

You'll hear all about youngsters Mike Trout and Bryce Harper and how great the beginnings of their respective careers have been. And I'm not taking anything away from those two future stars.

But at 25 years old, Kershaw's start to his career should go down as among the best ever. And he could be in the midst of his best year ever in 2013.

Kershaw leads the NL with a 1.93 ERA, and second place has got a ways to go (Jeff Locke, 2.12). It's not a small sample size either, as he's third in the league in innings pitched. 

It all culminates in a stellar career so far for Kershaw, who could go down as the Sandy Koufax of his generation. He'd be one of very few MLB players to have a sub-3.00 ERA for his career if he keeps it up, with it being at 2.69 right now. 

The 2011 Cy Young winner is showing no signs of slowing down, quickly becoming one of the best pitchers of his time. 

Chris Davis, Baltimore Orioles

It's baffling to me that Chris Davis has earned just his first All-Star appearance, but that's just how quickly this Orioles star has come on.

Davis has a whopping 33 home runs on the season thus far, which is just 33 huge reasons why he deserved one of the starting spots in an AL starting lineup that is almost impossible to crack on any given year. He also has 85 RBI. 

Through 87 games, that gives Davis a real shot at hitting 60 homers before the end of the season if he keeps up that production level. That is absolutely unreal and hasn't been a realistic thought for a hitter in almost a decade.

Although he's been in the MLB since 2008, Davis has just 109 home runs on his career and that just puts his 33 through 87 games into perspective.

But it's far from just the deep shots that have garnered talk about Davis. He's second in the AL with a solid .324 batting average, and second in runs. If it weren't for another Triple-Crown-caliber season from Cabrera, Davis would be threatening the Triple Crown talk and very well still could.