Today's Fantasy Rx

Today and tomorrow we present our 2007 Fantasy Baseball Mid-Season All-Star Teams. To compile these rosters, we employed traditional 5x5 stats with OBP/SLG to resolve any otherwise tight races. We also used the current All-Star roster rules, including:

At least one representative from every team;

At least two representatives from every fielding position;

Evaluating players at their expected pre-season position while slotting all DHs at their most logical fielding position with San Francisco's AT&T Park hosting the game;

Twelve pitchers, including at least five starters and three relievers;

and five deserving candidates for the 32nd spot on each team.

Rotohelp's 2007 American League Fantasy Baseball Mid-Season All-Stars

Catcher: With Jorge Posada's BA finally falling back to the pack, Cleveland's Victor Martinez looks like the easy choice here. Of course, since New York's Posada still possess the second-best power numbers in the league, accompanied by a .326 BA, he makes the team as a back-up.

First Base: Minnesota's Justin Morneau surprisingly posted the best numbers of regular 1B and 1B/DH this half despite a somewhat inconsistent performance. With Kevin Youkilis, Carlos Pena, and David Ortiz all then registering similar stats, Boston's Ortiz edges his teammate and Pena based on holding a much better BA than Pena and better power numbers than Youkilis.

Second Base: Few positions require less analysis than second base, where Baltimore's Brian Roberts solidly laps the field in overall value. Despite missing the last month of action, Tampa's B.J. Upton merits inclusion by virtue of hitting the second-most homers, stealing the second-most bases, and holding a .320 BA that makes him comparable or vastly superior to Placido Polanco in every category save runs. Plus, Upton arguably qualifies as more useful by accumulating his stats in less playing time, letting us use this roster spot for the last month to start someone else. I doubt anyone will be surprised that Detroit's Polanco deserves to serve as Upton's injury replacement on this squad.

Third Base: A remarkably clear delineation of talent here places probable AL MVP Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees in the starting slot, backed up by Boston's Mike Lowell, a pending free agent who looks like the most likely beneficiary as the secondary option for the losers of this winter's ARod derby.

Shortstop: With neither Derek Jeter nor anyone with a high BA stealing many bases at shortstop this year, Detroit's Carlos Guillen claims the starting slot. Posting solid stats in all five category makes Orlando Cabrera of the Angels the logical reserve.

Outfield: No position even approaches the overall value available in the AL outfield this year. Detroit's Magglio Ordonez, at or near the top of the leaderboard in every category except steals, easily looks like the top dog here, followed closely by teammate Gary Sheffield. Though both players own excellent stats, Ichiro's 70-point BA lead over Grady Sizemore gives the Mariner the third starting slot, though of course Sizemore earns a bench job, along with the Angels' Vlad Guerrero and Minnesota's Torii Hunter.

Starting Pitcher: Oakland's Dan Haren owns a 0.44 lead over the second-lowest ERA in the league, making him the automatic starter here. I also won't hesitate before awarding berths to Minnesota's Johan Santana and the Angels' John Lackey, both solid four-category contributors. Twelve wins, 119 strikeouts, and solid marks in both ERA and WHIP earn Cleveland's C.C. Sabathia a spot here while Detroit's Justin Verlander, a top-twelve finisher in wins, strikeouts, ERA, and WHIP claims the fifth slot.

Relief Pitcher: Twenty-four saves, 44 strikeouts, and a 0.88 ERA make Seattle's J.J. Putz the most valuable reliever in the league. The Angels' Francisco Rodriguez equaled that save total while adding 53 strikeouts and a 2.33 ERA. Despite impressive performances from both Bobby Jenks and Joe Nathan, Boston's Jonathan Papelbon then possesses the best combination of a high save total and excellent qualitative contributions.

With three more pitching slots available, Bobby Jenks claims one as Chicago's rep while Erik Bedard's league-leading strikeout total outweighs Josh Beckett's wins and Joe Nathan's saves. Finding a suitable Kansas City rep presents the biggest problem here as John Buck really only contributes in one category while David DeJesus offers little anywhere save runs. The Royals' Gil Meche just seems to make more sense than someone like Joakim Soria, who contributed little outside of his six weeks of closing duty.

Bench: Toronto's Alex Rios nearly earned an outfield berth on merit while the Rangers' Kenny Lofton ranks fairly high in steals, runs, and BA. With B.J. Upton sidelined, Tampa presents a mild dilemma since both Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena merit inclusion, though since we found reps for the Royals and White Sox on the pitching staff, both players sneak onto the squad at the last second over Youkilis, Derek Jeter, and Curtis Granderson.

32nd Man: With an abundance of AL pitchers posting very solid numbers, choosing just five for the vote represents a significant challenge. Minnesota's Joe Nathan leads the closer pack while Boston's Josh Beckett, the Angels' Kelvim Escobar, and Tampa's James Shields all contribute in four categories. Lastly, we simply must recognize Baltimore's Jeremy Guthrie, who lacks solid quantitative stats but still owns the best WHIP and second-best ERA of any qualifier and quite possibly deserves the win the final spot over Beckett.

Today's Fantasy Rx: The players most at risk for second-half slumps here look like Kenny Lofton, due to the high possibility of him getting traded into a platoon role, and Gil Meche, who doesn't really own comparable stats to most of his fellow fantasy All-Stars and plays for a Kansas City squad seemingly prepared to undergo understandable growing pains over the coming weeks as youngsters like Billy Butler and Joey Gathright appear set to play every day.