The Blue Workhorse

Earlier today, Major League Baseball announced the rosters for the 79th All-Star Game being held at Yankee Stadium, which is only appropriate since this is the final season for the historic ballpark.

The starters were determined solely by the fan vote once again, unfortunately.

Nevertheless, we wanted to do what we hadn’t seen anywhere else and break down the selections team-by-team, so that you could easily see who was selected from your favorite team (starters are in bold):

While #2 overall fantasy player Hanley Ramirez’s statistics are impressive, no one is that surprised after he was a top 5 pick in nearly every fantasy draft, but when Nate McLouth puts up similar numbers and is ranked as the #7 fantasy player overall…eyebrows are raised.

The McLouths and Cliff Lees of baseball is exactly what this list celebrates - the players who produce tremendous statistics considering the value they cost their fantasy owners, whether that be a late round pick or a timely pick up off the waiver wire:

Have Yao Ming and Miley Cyrus ever met each other? I don’t know. Is that relevant for this article? Not really.

What matters is that Yao Ming is 27 years old. Roger Clemens was 28 years old.

Miley Cyrus is 15 years old, so was Mindy McCready. Cyrus sings country music, so did McCready.

Are you disgusted yet? If the thought of the 7-foot-6, square-headed Chinese basketball player cavorting with the diminutive smiling face of the youngest generation’s #1 star doesn’t disturb you just because of the logistics of their two diverse body types and appearances, the thought of their age gap should be enough to make you shudder.

The Chicago Cubs came out of nowhere to win the division last year after finishing in the cellar in 2006 (yes, even worse than the Pittsburgh Pirates). This year, which will mark the 100th anniversary of their last World Series title, with the addition of Japanese superstar Kosuke Fukudome, the Cubs will again look to take the division crown and try to end the curse of the billy goat. Standing in the way of the Cubbies will be the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, and possibly the St. Louis Cardinals.

Your NL Central previews with last year’s records, key additions, key losses, projected starting lineup, projected rotation, overall outlook, fantasy impact players, and our prediction for this season: