PCL sets roster for '10 All-Star Game
Blue Jays outfield prospect Chris Lubanski, who is batting .305 with 13 homers and 45 RBIs for Las Vegas, received the most votes in the fan portion of the selection process and was chosen as a reserve outfielder.
Several players fared well in the online fan voting process but did not make the team after being promoted to the Majors, such as Jarrett Hoffpauir, the No. 2 vote-getter, and Giants prospect Madison Bumgarner, who finished third in fan voting. Buster Posey and Jack Cust also received large fan support but are currently on Major League rosters.
Lubanski was one of three Las Vegas players selected to the team, joining J.P. Arencibia, who will start behind the plate, and Brett Wallace, who was chosen as a reserve infielder.
Iowa's Tom Diamond and Tacoma's Luke French were chosen as the top starting pitchers, although it'll be up to French's manager in Tacoma, PCL skipper Daren Brown, to decide who starts the game. Salt Lake Bees pitching coach Erik Bennett and Memphis Redbirds hitting coach Mark Budaska will join Brown in the PCL dugout.
Salt Lake's Mark Trumbo will start at first base, joining Fresno's Brock Bond (2B), Oklahoma City's Chris Davis (3B) and Memphis' Tyler Greene (SS) in the infield. Bond ranked sixth in fan voting, garnering 3,920 votes.
Major League veteran Jay Gibbons, who bounced around with several independent league teams the last two seasons, was rewarded for his solid comeback season and was selected as one of three starting outfielders. The 33-year-old Gibbons, who played five consecutive years in the Majors with Baltimore, is batting .333 with 11 homers and 55 RBIs for Albuquerque. He's joined in the outfield by Omaha's Alex Gordon and Colorado Springs' Matt Miller.
Albuquerque's John Lindsey, batting .405 with 10 homers and 44 RBIs, was an easy choice as the team's designated hitter. The veteran slugger would have the highest average in both the Majors and Minor Leagues if he had enough at-bats to officially qualify.
Portland's Ernesto Frieri and Colorado Springs' Matt Reynolds were selected as All-Star relievers.
Notable reserves include Royals prospect Kila Ka'aihue, who's batting .307 with 14 homers and 50 RBIs for Omaha, and Wallace, who was dealt last winter for the second time in his career, this time from Oakland to Toronto for outfield prospect and current River Cat Michael Taylor. Isotopes catcher Lucas May, who starred in the Arizona Fall League last year, joins Sacramento's Josh Donaldson as reserve backstops.
Several well-known players, like Rangers catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and A's slugger Chris Carter, received good fan support online but did not make the final cut. Fans were able to vote on MiLB.com for nearly a month, although the league managers and office also weighed in on the final selections.
The International League announced its rosters on Wednesday. The preliminary PCL roster is below:
2010 Pacific Coast League All-Star Team |
|||
Starters |
|||
POS | PLAYER | TEAM | AFFILIATE |
C | J.P. Arencibia | Las Vegas | Toronto |
1B | Mark Trumbo | Salt Lake | Los Angeles (AL) |
2B | Brock Bond | Fresno | San Francisco |
3B | Chris Davis* | Oklahoma City | Texas |
OF | Jay Gibbons | Albuquerque | Los Angeles (NL) |
OF | Alex Gordon | Omaha | Kansas City |
OF | Matt Miller | Colorado Springs | Colorado |
DH | John Lindsey | Albuquerque | Los Angeles (NL) |
SP | Thomas Diamond | Iowa | Chicago (NL) |
SP | Chris Seddon* | Tacoma | Seattle |
RP | Ernesto Frieri | Portland | San Diego |
RP | Matt Reynolds | Colorado Springs | Colorado |
Reserves |
|||
POS | PLAYER | TEAM | AFFILIATE |
C | Josh Donaldson | Sacramento | Oakland |
C | Lucas May | Albuquerque | Los Angeles (NL) |
INF | Darwin Barney | Iowa | Chicago (NL) |
INF | Luis Cruz | Nashville | Milwaukee |
INF | Brad Eldred* | Colorado Springs | Colorado |
INF | Kila Ka'aihue | Omaha | Kansas City |
INF | Hector Luna | New Orleans | Florida |
INF | Jarrett Hoffpauir* | Las Vegas | Toronto |
OF | Doug Deeds* | Reno | Arizona |
P | Brandon Dickson | Memphis | St. Louis |
P | Mike McClendon* | Fresno | San Francisco |
P | Michael Kirkman | Oklahoma City | Texas |
P | Clayton Mortensen | Sacramento | Oakland |
P | Josh Banks* | Round Rock | Houston |
P | Fernando Salas* | Memphis | St. Louis |
Field Staff |
|||
POS | NAME | TEAM | AFFILIATE |
Manager | Daren Brown | Tacoma | Seattle |
Coach | Erik Bennett | Salt Lake | Los Angeles (AL) |
Coach | Mark Budaska | Memphis | St. Louis |
Trainer | Steven Miller | New Orleans | Florida |
Editor's note: The Pacific Coast League announced on July 5 that Doug Deeds has replaced Jordan Norberto (P, Reno) on the preliminary roster after Norberto was recalled by Arizona. On July 6, the PCL added Josh Banks and Fernando Salas to the roster. Pedro Strop (P, Oklahoma City), Rich Thompson (P, Salt Lake), Tyler Greene (SS, Memphis), Brian Bogusevic (OF, Round Rock) and Chris Lubanski (OF, Las Vegas) will be unable to play. The PCL roster released on July 12 included these changes: Due to the trade between Texas and Seattle, Luke French has been shuttling between the Tacoma and Seattle rosters and is no longer on the All-Star roster; Steve Edlefsen (P, Fresno) was placed on the disabled list and replaced on the roster by Mike McClendon (P, Nashville); Jarrett Hoffpauir (IF, Las Vegas) replaced teammate Brett Wallace on the roster; two players are no longer on the roster due to promotions: Chris Davis (IF, Oklahoma City) was sent to the Texas Rangers on July 9 and Brad Eldred (IF, Colorado Springs) was sent to Colorado on July 7.
Danny Wild is an editor for MLB.com.