My 2008 All-Star selections

Everybody has a gripe about All-Star rosters. Jermaine Dye got snubbed. The American League has too many relievers. Miguel Tejada and Jason Varitek aren't deserving All-Stars. The fans' vote is a popularity vote. The players vote on reputation. OK, fine, but when was the last time you heard people raise any kind of stink about the All-Star equivalent rosters for the NFL, NBA or NHL? People care about the baseball All-Star Game like no other, and the addition of putting World Series homefield advantage on the line has given it a booster shot of relevance. So let the carping continue.

My own All-Star beef is with the process, not the roster, which, like the NCAA basketball tournament, never can break cleanly because of the requirements that must be met. Why don't the All-Star teams have a left fielder, center fielder and right fielder, which happen to be the actual positions, rather than generic "outfielders?" Too bad for Nate McLouth of Pittsburgh. He has been the best center fielder in the NL this season but he won't start because the fans voted two leftfielders (Ryan Braun and Alfonso Soriano) and one right fielder (Kosuke Fukudome, who has appeared in a half dozen games in center).

You don't assign a player to the position of "outfield" on a lineup card, so I'm not going to do it here with my 2008 All-Star picks. Coincidentally or not, when I filled my team that way none of the six outfielders voted to start the game made the cut.

My picks also reflect the trend toward teams valuing homegrown, young players. Twelve of the 21 picks have played only for their original organization. Eleven of the 16 position players (I'm excluding the DH here) are in their 20s. Only two players are older than 32.

My team has one thing in common with the real one, though: Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens will be watching from home. This will be only the third All-Star Game since 1990 without Bonds or Clemens being selected (1999 and 2006 being the others), but the first in these 18 years in which they have become symbols of an era that baseball is trying to leave behind.

Here, position-by-actual-position, are my All-Stars.

AL: Joe Mauer, Minnesota. Hard to believe Varitek is an All-Star. He was hitting .295 on May 21, but since then has batted .128/.214/.171. Ouch.

NL: Brian McCann, Atlanta. As guys like Varitek, Pudge Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, Brad Ausmus and others begin to show their age, a small core group of talented catchers finally has come along. McCann (24), Dioner Navarro (24), Mauer (25), Russ Martin (25) and Geovany Soto (25) were born within 13 months of one another.

AL: Kevin Youkilis, Boston. He's made himself into one of the toughest outs in the league while playing excellent defense.

NL: Lance Berkman, Houston. At the start of this week he was hitting .349 against righties and .349 against lefties. His .667 slugging percentage would be a record for NL switch hitters.