2025 All-Star Game Rosters: Demented Approaches

 

What I've started doing the last couple years is, a week or so before the ASG rosters are announced, I make a roster prediction. I follow the same rules, try and make sure every team gets a nod, and attempt to name what I think the league brass will think are the best reps from each league. Last year I was insanely close, there were a few picks I missed but generally I got all of them right.

This year I was way off. It wasn't even because some of my picks were too outlandish. Looking at some of these...some of my picks weren't outlandish ENOUGH.

You can tell that Manfred has more pull on who gets on than before, you can tell that it's not just the managerial decision anymore, and you can tell that viewership is on the line. That explains many of the picks that made the rosters. However, there are some picks that I'm still not 100% sure can be explained. 

So, let's go through, in detail, this year's ASG rosters, and see how spot-on I think these decisions were.

AMERICAN LEAGUE:

Starters:

C: Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners. Duh.

1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays. I spammed a bunch of votes for Goldy at the end there but it was Vlad's year, honestly.

2B: Gleyber Torres, Detroit Tigers. Honestly, good for him. Deserves it.

SS: Jacob Wilson, Oakland Athletics. Arguably Witt should be starting, but for the wild factor of Wilson's rookie season I'll allow this. Besides, Witt made it anyhow. If he didn't I'd be really confused.

3B: Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Guardians. Another no-brainer.

OF: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees. Duh.

OF: Riley Greene, Detroit Tigers. Absolutely deserves it, wild that the voters agreed.

OF: Javier Baez, Detroit Tigers. Here I'd say Kwan deserved it more but I love that Baez has had himself a comeback year.

DH: Ryan O'Hearn, Baltimore Orioles. Just really illuminates how diluted the DH class is in the AL this year. All the good ones are in the NL. How the table has turned..

Reserves:

DH: Brent Rooker, Oakland Athletics. Called this one. Deserves it.

1B: Jonathan Aranda, Tampa Bay Rays. Woulda been weird if he didn't.

2B: Jazz Chisholm Jr., New York Yankees. This one...I did not call. And I also thought if the Yanks got another hitter on, it'd be Goldschmidt. I'm happy with this though. Jazz is awesome. Just feels out of left field considering.

2B: Brandon Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays. Another easy one.

SS: Jeremy Pena, Houston Astros. I was thinking if another SS got on besides Witt it'd be Zach Neto, but this also makes sense. 

SS: Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals. Duh. Should be starting.

3B: Alex Bregman, Boston Red Sox. Will he be healthy enough to make the game? That's why I didn't include him. If not, seems likely that the guy I thought would make the team, Isaac Paredes, will replace him.

C: Alejandro Kirk, Toronto Blue Jays. Called this.

OF: Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins. Makes so much sense, glad they did it.

OF: Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians. Honestly he should be starting but glad he made it.

OF: Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners. People are complaining about this one because his OPS is low, but I thought he'd be on, on account of his offensive production, so nyah.

Pitchers:

SP: Hunter Brown, Houston Astros. Easy one.

SP: Kris Bubic, Kansas City Royals. Called this one as well.

SP: Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox. Good for him. I was worried he'd be hurt for most of the year but glad he's been a hit with Boston.

SP: Jacob deGrom, Texas Rangers. Very good pick. Weird he's the only Ranger, but I predicted he'd be that too.

SP: Max Fried, New York Yankees. Be weird if he'd missed it.

SP: Yusei Kikuchi, Los Angeles Angels. I had him just missing, and I made my predictions based on the allotment of more relievers. But he honestly is the right choice.

SP: Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers. Should get the start.

SP: Shane Smith, Chicago White Sox. As discussed, I figured the Sox pick would be a reliever like Steven Wilson, but Smith works.

SP: Bryan Woo, Seattle Mariners. I personally had Rodon getting on over Woo, but I'm ultimately glad a Mariners starter made it at all.

RP: Aroldis Chapman, Boston Red Sox. This was a surprise. I think that Chapman's had an excellent comeback season, but I don't think he's one of the best relievers in the AL right now. I had Jhoan Duran getting in over him. 

RP: Josh Hader, Houston Astros. Obviously.

RP: Andres Muñoz, Seattle Mariners. Obviously. I didn't think Boone would only bring 3 relievers. I also had Carlos Estevez making it. Maybe this'll be rectified if some of these guys have to pitch the sunday.

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

Starters:

C: Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers. Deserves it.

1B: Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers. Lot of competition this year but still deserves it.

2B: Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks. Definitely deserves it.

SS: Francisco Lindor, New York Mets. 100%, it's about time.

3B: Manny Machado, San Diego Padres. Fantastic to see it happen.

OF: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs. The absolute right pick.

OF: Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta Braves. That he was able to do all this with just 40something games played this year is all the more incredible. 

OF: Kyle Tucker, Chicago Cubs. Glad he squeezed in over Teoscar.

DH: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers. I can only be so salty that Schwarber didn't get it, it's Ohtani.

Reserves:

DH: Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies. Thank god. Called this.

1B: Pete Alonso, New York Mets. Obviously. The second Freeman won the fan vote this was set in stone.

1B: Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves. I actually had Riley making it but this works too. 

2B: Brendan Donovan, St. Louis Cardinals. Called this one.

SS: Elly de la Cruz, Cincinnati Reds. Called this one, but not that he'd be the only Red. Greene or Abbott deserved something.

3B: Eugenio Suarez, Arizona Diamondbacks. Did not predict this one, but seeing as they went with Olson over Riley, it makes sense.

C: Hunter Goodman, Colorado Rockies. For a Rox rep I kinda get it, but over William Contreras?? I had Jake Bird as the Rockies' rep, and I guess Goodman is having the better season, but it comes off as an odd choice given the competition at catcher.

OF: Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks. I left him out due to the injury, but I guess he has a chance to be back by the break? If not, maybe this is where Soto goes, because erroneously he was left off.

OF: Kyle Stowers, Miami Marlins. Called this, and that he'd be the Marlins rep.

OF: Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres. Really should be starting.

OF: James Wood, Washington Nationals. Really should have done better in the fan vote.

Pitchers:

SP: Matthew Boyd, Chicago Cubs. This spot went to Andrew Abbott in my predictions but I can't exactly argue with his inclusion.

SP: MacKenzie Gore, Washington Nationals. Predicted this one.

SP: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers. This is yet another Rob Manfred 'this is what the fans REALLY want to see' pick, and I'd be more pissed about it if Kershaw wasn't having a strong year.

SP: Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers. I assumed there'd be more relievers on the roster and thought Trevor Megill would make it instead, but Peralta absolutely should be here.

SP: Robbie Ray, San Francisco Giants. Another one I left off for reliever space, but glad this is happening.

SP: Chris Sale, Atlanta Braves. I also included him, even though I'm not sure if he'll be healthy for the game. 

SP: Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates. Duh.

SP: Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants. Absolutely. 

SP: Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies. There's no question, especially after today's start.

SP: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers. And called this one as well.

SP: Jason Adam, San Diego Padres. For both personal reasons and because I thought Robert Suarez was a better relief pick, I did not put Adam on my predictions. But who knows, maybe Jojo Siwa will do the national anthem and he'll be afraid to set foot on the premises. 

SP: Edwin Diaz, New York Mets. No, I just don't see it. I'm not falling for it again. I just don't see how Diaz earned this more than somebody like Kyle Finnegan or Trevor Megill.

SP: Randy Rodriguez, San Francisco Giants. I mean...I guess if you're only picking 3 relievers and there aren't a ton of sure bet closers in the NL this year, it sort of makes sense to go with a really good set-up guy. I think this is a good pick. It's just so hard to tell what makes an all-star reliever for some managers. I think of guys like Tanner Scott, Robert Suarez, Kyle Finnegan and Trevor Megill, and somebody else will limit themselves to three options and pick an open homophobe, the single most inconsistent reliever in history, and one generally good pick that nobody's heard of. This is why I'm not a manager. 

So yeah, while overall I get what they were trying to do, and while I predicted a lot of these picks, there are just some that really vex me. Aroldis Chapman, Jason Adam, Edwin Diaz, Clayton Kershaw and Jazz Chisholm just weren't on my radar. 

I look forward to these rosters becoming even stranger once people start wanting to miss the game.