ALL STAR STUFF

ROB SANFORD

I've never really gotten all that excited about who or who doesn't make the All-Star team. As long as so much weight is given to fan voting...it will never be fair. You can blame the teams themselves for much of the problem. Every team...including the Tigers....preach, encourage, and otherwise begs fans to vote for their players. As a result, don' t complain when statistics don't mean a thing in how people vote for the teams. And don't complain when the teams with the largest fan base get the most votes....pure mathematics will tell you that under the current system, they have the biggest advantage.

On that subject....I'm also not a big believer in putting rookies on the All-Star team.  Not that that some aren't deserving, but they have their whole careers ahead, while some players that have been working hard their entire careers so deserve to get the nod if their stats are good enough. That even goes for Stephen Strasberg, the wonderkin of the Nationals. Even with the eye popping stats he's put up...remember it's in only 6 starts.

Sunday....Cliff Lee only enhanced his marketability with a masterful performance over the Tigers. He wound up being just one inning shy of 4 straight complete games. With the trading deadline coming...of course lots of rumors are circulating about teams intrested in Mr Lee. The ususal suspects, like the Yankees, but also the Minnesota Twins are also reportedly putting together a package to make a run at him. If true, the Tigers need to put on a "full-court press" to keep that from happening. At one time revenue was a big problem for the Twins...but that's improving dramatically because of the new Target Field and its ample number of luxury suites that are sold out.