NL Central All-Star Team

Continuing the theme from Wednesday’s post, I thought it might be fun to try to construct a team of all-stars from only the National League Central.  The Central has a lot of talented ball players, but lacks a team with a 100 win potential.

At first, I thought this would be an easy task.  Picking eight position players and five starting pitchers from our lowly division couldn’t possibly be tough.  I was surprised.  A few positions were no-brainers, first base for instance.  Others, like the outfield, were a lot more difficult.

Here’s what I came up with:

•  C  Yadier Molina  –  Cardinals
• 1B Albert Pujols  –  Cardinals
• 2B Brandon Phillips  –  Reds
• SS J.J. Hardy  –  Brewers
• 3B Aramis Ramirez  –  Cubs
• LF Alfonso Soriano  –  Cubs
• CF Hunter Pence  –  Astros
• RF Ken Griffey Jr.  –  Reds

• SP Carlos Zambrano  –  Cubs
• SP Roy Oswalt  –  Astros
• SP Aaron Harang  –  Reds
• SP Adam Wainwright  –  Cardinals
• SP Tom Gorzelanny  –  Pirates

There are a ton of great players not named in my list.  As a matter of fact, you could easily construct a second all-star team just from the players left over.  Let’s just say we could take five of the best position players to fill out the bench, and there’s plenty of talented relief pitchers to build a stellar bullpen.  It’s interesting to me that I chose only one player each from both Pittsburgh and Milwaukee.  As I said earlier, I’d pick the Pirates to finish last, and the Brewers to compete for the division title.

You’ve seen my picks, now let’s hear yours.  Comments?