Making a Case for Every 2nd Place AL Player in the MLB All-Star Game

It's late June and you know what that means: fireworks, hot weather, and the MLB All-Star game. This year, Arizona has the honor of hosting the 82nd Midsummer Classic. To build up hype for the game, the fans are allowed to vote for what players they want to see take the field in mid-July.

Unfortunately, the fans do not always look at the stats or who is most deserving. Instead, they vote for every player from their favorite team or whomever is the most famous at a certain position. While it is great to see the biggest names take the field together, it is certainly unfair to those who have worked hard all season, and then they do not get selected.

Starters don't play the entire game, so it's not completely out of the question that the best will still be able to take the field.

Here's a case for every AL player that currently sits in second place in voting for their position.

Note: This is not a case for why the should win, just a case of why they are deserving of votes.

Alex Avila C

Current Leader: Russell Martin

There hardly needs to be anything said about this one. Avila leads American League catchers in nearly every offensive category and has been great defensively the entire season.

The only reason that Martin is getting consideration is because he is a Yankee and has a massive fan base.

Avila sits about 500,000 votes below Martin, but there's still enough time to push him past and get him to start on July 12th.

Mark Teixeira 1B

Current Leader: Adrian Gonzalez

It's hard to make a case for Teixeira. It's not that he hasn't been good, but just that others have been better. He probably shouldn't even be in second place in the voting.

While Teixeira does not have the most outstanding batting average (.247) he makes up for it in on-base percentage (.358) and slugging percentage (.538). He is very patient at the plate and when a pitcher does give him something to hit, he can put it into the seats (league-leading 23 home runs).

Defense is all but forgotten when it comes to All-Star Game voting, but Teixeira has definitely been great with the glove, winning a Gold Glove the past two years.

Dustin Pedroia 2B

Current Leader: Robinson Cano

While Pedroia is in the same boat as Mark Teixeira with a low batting average, he is getting on base. Pedroia gets on base more than 39 percent of the time that he comes up to bat. He is a very patient batter and will only swing if it's something he can hit (44:55 K/BB ratio).

Pedroia is also a superb defensive infielder, though he has only won one Gold Glove (2008).

He is stuck in what is already an All-Star lineup and is being overshadowed by the likes of Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz.

Adrian Beltre 3B

Current Leader: Alex Rodriguez

Beltre is defying his critics who said that he only plays well in a contract year. While not putting up the power numbers as he did last year, he has been putting the ball in play. He only has 17 walks, 28 strikeouts, and five hit by pitches. That's only 50 times this year that he has not put the ball into play in 334 plate appearances. (Only 14.9 percent of the time he does not put the ball in play.)

Sure, this is nothing new or outstanding, but it shows that he has been getting unlucky on balls he does put into play (a poor .248 BABIP).

Asdrubal Cabrera SS

Current Leader: Derek Jeter

Yet another year that Derek Jeter will possibly be getting another undeserved All-Star start. Is Jeter an all-time great at shortstop? Probably. Is he right now? Absolutely not. Sure he won the Gold Glove last year, but that was met by outrage from every non-Yankees fan (and even some Yankees fans).

Asdrubal Cabrera has been part of the reason for the Indians hot start. He is leading AL shortstops in nearly every offense category and has been a wizard with the glove.

The AL shortstop race should be between Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta with Cabrera getting the start.

Jacoby Ellsbury OF

Current Leaders: Jose Bautista, Curtis Granderson, Josh Hamilton

There are three outfield spots available, so Jacoby Ellsbury is not technically in second place, but he has the most votes for someone who would not start if voting ended today.

Ellsbury is one of the keys to the Red Sox storming back from an early season disaster. He has a .303 batting average and a .365 on base percentage. Though he is not known for his power, he already has nine homers on the season.

Ellsbury has been very aggressive on the base paths. He leads the league in stolen bases (25) but also in caught stealing (10).

If Ellsbury is to make the All-Star team, there is no doubt in my mind that he should be batting leadoff.

Michael Young DH

Current Leader: David Ortiz

Many predicted that Michael young would be traded this past offseason. There was plenty of drama involved, and Young even requested to be sent somewhere else.

It never got that far, and the Rangers are sure glad that it didn't. Young has been getting on base and hitting the ball. He already has 22 doubles on the season along with 52 RBIs. He has definitely proved that he's not done and could get a multi-year deal from the Rangers after the season.

David Ortiz is definitely deserving of the All-Star start, but Young should definitely be the backup.