The first wave of numbers for the American League All-Star voting is out and it looks like AROD is the leading vote getter. Right now, Big Papi is the leading vote getter from the Red Sox and also of first baseman in the AL. Looks like the Kevin Youkilis write-in campaign might not work. I think he’ll make it based on his play anyways. Jim Leyland would be dumb not to pick him.

Here is a look at the numbers. Red Sox players are in red.

American League All-Star balloting through May 29:

1st Base
Rank	Player	AL Team	Vote Total
1.	Ortiz, D.	Red Sox	601,770
2.	Giambi, J.	Yankees	240,030
3.	Morneau, J.	Twins	221,520
4.	Hafner, T.	Indians	176,364
5.	Casey, S.	Tigers	161,436
2nd Base
Rank	Player	AL Team	Vote Total
1.	Cano, R.	Yankees	322,994
2.	Polanco, P.	Tigers	282,251
3.	Kinsler, I.	Rangers	207,170
4.	Upton, B.J.	Devil Rays	141,720
5.	Pedroia, D.	Red Sox	141,636
Shortstop
Rank	Player	AL Team	Vote Total
1.	Jeter, D.	Yankees	657,383
2.	Tejada, M.	Orioles	228,230
3.	Guillen, C.	Tigers	197,755
4.	Lugo, J.	Red Sox	180,165
5.	Young, M.	Rangers	129,307
3rd Base
Rank	Player	AL Team	Vote Total
1.	Rodriguez, A.	Yankees	843,550
2.	Lowell, M.	Red Sox	238,566
3.	Inge, B.	Tigers	122,149
4.	Chavez, E.	Athletics	96,663
5.	Crede, J.	White Sox	82,598
Catcher
Rank	Player	AL Team	Vote Total
1.	Rodriguez, I.	Tigers	370,322
2.	Mauer, J.	Twins	328,974
3.	Varitek, J.	Red Sox	301,942
4.	Posada, J.	Yankees	297,928
5.	Martinez, V.	Indians	140,033
Outfield
Rank	Player	AL Team	Vote Total
1.	Guerrero, V.	Angels	578,430
2.	Ramirez, M.	Red Sox	449,372
3.	Suzuki, I.	Mariners	362,245
4.	Hunter, T.	Twins	278,732
5.	Abreu, B.	Yankees	278,606
6.	Damon, J.	Yankees	267,605
7.	Ordonez, M.	Tigers	261,976
8.	Drew, J.D.	Red Sox	253,472
9.	Sizemore, G.	Indians	249,236
10.	Matsui, H.	Yankees	216,896
11.	Sosa, S.	Rangers	195,549
12.	Crisp, C.	Red Sox	178,152
13.	Sheffield, G.	Tigers	175,849
14.	Crawford, C.	Devil Rays	147,912
15.	Wells, V.	Blue Jays	144,923

The lovely and talented Sooze over at Babes Love Baseball talks about White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen’s hate-love relationship with A.J. Pierzynski.

Astros reliever Rick White has no idea why he is struggling.

With their record at 18-8 at Miller Park and 16 of their next 25 games at home, the Brewers hope to turn things around.

The Cardinals lost Yadier Molina for 4-6 weeks with a fractured wrist.

The Cubs held a players only meeting before last night’s game with the Marlins. It didn’t work as the Marlins beat them 9-0.

Sorry Indians fans, but Travis Hafner is human after all.

Pirates closer Salomon Torres doesn’t mind pitching

Reds OF DeWayne Wise made it to Houston but his baggage didn’t.

Kauffman Stadium hasn’t been kind to the Royals this season.

Tigers SS Carlos Guillen had to leave Wednesday’s game with a groin strain.

Joe Mauer won’t return to the Twins lineup on Friday as was expected.

I meant to post this earlier but caught up with somethings. You know Big Stein has to be pissed now when the Yankees can’t make a cover on the NY tabloids other than AROD with his blonde girlfriend. Plus, I am sure it doesn’t help to see his team tied for last.

 

On Thursday June 7th, the first round of the MLB draft will be held live on TV for the first time when ESPN2 covers it from 2-6p.m. As part of the ‘festivities’ many clubs are sending ‘celebrity’ representatives to make their picks for them. Among the people attending for various clubs are Hall of Fame members Tom Lasorda, Jim Palmer, Dave Winfield and Robin Roberts (the former Phillie, not the ABC/ESPN announcer).

Those planning to attend for our local teams are Dwight Evans for the Red Sox, Frank Howard for the Yankees and Darryl Strawberry for the Mets. The Mets must have figured that since Straw’s probation officer is nearby, he could go for them.

Some other ‘celebrity’ reps include:

Connecticut’s very own Rico Brogna for Arizona because all the great Diamondbacks are still playing while Ralph Garr will rep the Braves. I guess Henry Aaron must not want to leave his living room for the draft. Chet Lemon is going for the White Sox because Jorge Orta is unavailable and Ken Griffey, Sr. goes for the Reds whose first choice was Pete Rose but he decided on a day at the track instead.

Representing the Pirates is Steve Blass because they couldn’t dig up Willie Stargell, joining Winfield for the Padres will be Randy Smith who will be there to tell the draft picks how to get a huge guaranteed deal then suck. Meanwhile, Tampa is sending Don “The Gerbil” Zimmer who vowed to wear his military helmet and Toronto is sending the great Blue Jay Rob Ducey. After all Danny Ainge is too busy trying to figure out how to save his job with the fifth pick in the NBA draft.

To see all the reps, click here.

Astros 2B Craig Biggio is upset about being dropped in the batting order.

Rafael Soriano has been virtually unhittable in May for the Braves.

Brewers manager Ned Yost isn’t worried about his team’s slump.

Chris Duncan is out of the Cardinals lineup with bursitis and infection in his left knee.

Kerry Wood is donating the proceeds of his charity bowling tournament to Derrick Lee’s Project 3000.

The Diamondbacks’ players want to get in the top 5 of the All-Star balloting.

The Dodgers are undecided on who to start against Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Ray Durham may return to the Giants lineup on Friday.

Marlins OF Reggie Abercrombie is bringing his “A” game.

All of Mets injured players are starting to feel healthier.

Dimitri Young is stating his case to be the Nationals representative to the All-Star team.

Jake Peavy is being moved in the rotation from Saturday to Friday by Padres manager Bud Black.

Phillies reliever Tom Gordon is showing signs of progress with his rehab.

The Pirates were more concerned about the Reds’ Ryan Freel than the outcome of the game after Freel’s collision.

The Rockies have won six in a row since Kaz Matsui returned to the lineup.

Ryan Freel was placed on the DL after his scary collision.

I was going to let the pictures do the talking in this post but I just caught something in my RSS feeds that totally pertains to what is going on.

The fine staff at Boston.com discovered this gem. A Yankees fan is divorcing the team.

Technorati: George Steinbrenner, NY Yankees, Joe Torre

David Ortiz sat out a second straight day with tight hamstrings for the Red Sox.

Joe Torre held a closed-door meeting before the Yanks game on Monday.

The Angels called up Nathan Haynes on Monday. He had spent 10 years in the minors before his first call-up.

A’s rookie Travis Buck will have his eye on Arizona State in the upcoming college baseball regionals.

Greg Zaun is heading out on a rehab assignment for the Blue Jays in hopes of making his return in early June.

The Indians sent Andy Marte down to Triple-A Buffalo so he could play everyday.

Jonny Gomes was the odd man out for the Devil Rays as Akinori Iwamura returned from the DL.

The Mariners series with the Angels may come down to a battle of the bullpens.

By golly Sam, the Orioles have won 3 straight games.

Brandon McCarthy will miss his next start after developing a blister in his last outing.

The Royals are going with a bullpen catching platoon.

Placido “Domingo” Polanco and Jason “Weber” Grilli will return to the Tigers soon.

The Twins moved Ramon Ortiz to the bullpen after his struggles as a starter.

The White Sox have tweaked their bullpen a little bit.

Well, I’ll answer that for you. Highly doubtful. The Yankees are like a ship that hit an iceberg, slowly sinking. Maybe because his ego is as big as the state of Texas, he thinks he can keep them afloat. Anyways, I digress from the task at hand.

Roger Clemens made his third and final start for the Yankees farm team in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and by all accounts, he looked good. I happened to catch his start and to me, he isn’t the same Roger. He doesn’t have the velocity on his fastball anymore. He topped out around 91 mph. But let me tell you, he had a nasty curveball and splitter working on Monday night. I guess when he comes back, he will be more of a finesse pitcher.

Rocketman went 6 innings, gave up 2 hits, 2 walks and had 6 strikeouts, on an economical 89 pitches. He then went down to the bullpen and threw a little more.

After he was done and showered, he held a press conference and said he felt good after the outing, and said a bunch of gibberish that no one cared about. However, he got quite a little testy when a local reporter asked him a question about what was being written about his comeback.

“If you want to be negative be negative. I’m not a negative person,” he said. “You be negative as much as you want. If I stink and I don’t pitch well out there, I know I stink. I don’t need you tell me that. I have pride in what I do. I’ll pull my heart out and set it right there (pointing to the table) for you to see it. When I perform, I’ve done it. I got that from my mother so if you want to write and these other people want to write negative…everything has to be negative these days. There always had to be a negative. I’ve always been positive in my life. It won’t end. I don’t want to be around negative people. So I won’t associate myself with those people. So if it makes you feel good to write negative stuff then go ahead but you’ve never been in the arena. Never been in this arena to understand what it’s like. Keep that in mind. People read your column and associate things with me that are not true. I’ll answer it as honestly I can so that 10-year old when he reads about won’t assume things. You can tell how passionate I am about it. Ok?”

Thus ending the press conference. Good to see Rocket had some fire left him. He’s gonna need it in NY.

I think it’s time for 7cyyoungs.com.

Technorati: Roger Clemens, NY Yankees

I have to ask this. With the fans turning on Joe Torre yesterday, are the Yankees six feet under? Or is the burial hole dug and they are about to get filled in?

To me, I am surprised the Yankees fans have turned on Torre. I have been saying this all along that it is not Torre’s fault. Don’t get me wrong though, I am loving the fact they are so far behind right now. But, how can you blame Torre when his GM, Brian Cashman, hasn’t given him a full set of tools to work with (bullpen).

Their starting pitchers have been besieged by injuries, some of them, of the freakish variety. The bullpen has sucked, primarily because the starters can’t go more than 6 innings. So is Torre to blame for the overuse of the bullpen? In my humble opinion, a resounding NO!!

So I have to ask this? Who is to blame for the Yankees troubles? Sound off in the comments section.

There is a realistic possibility that the Yankees could be 15 1/2 games behind the beloved Red Sox when they head to Fenway this weekend.

Technorati: New York Yankees, Joe Torre, Brian Cashman

David Ortiz got the day off on Sunday for the Red Sox.

Blue Jays rookie Adam Lind is having trouble adjusting to big-league pitching.

Chipper Jones plans to return to the Braves lineup on Monday for you Jones fantasy owners out there.

The Devil Rays may end up suspending their troubled right fielder, Elijah Dukes.

Hanley Ramirez was given a day off on Sunday by Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez to keep him fresh.

The Mets played shorthanded on Sunday as alot of guys are banged up or sidelined.

Nationals 1B Dimitri Young is day-to-day with back pain after a collision with Scott Rolen on Sunday.

Orioles SS Miguel Tejada is finally starting to show some home run power again.

Phillies Assistant GM, Ruben Amaro Jr, defended the team’s move of Brett Myers to the bullpen after John Smoltz made some comments about it.

The magical mystery minor league tour of Roger Clemens should end with his start today against Toledo.

Personally, I don’t think Roger can save the Yankees right now.