The All-Star break is right around the corner and will be hosted at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. This week the captains were named for the 2013 HR Derby. They were David Wright for the NL and Robinson Cano for the AL. I believe it’s kind of funny that Cano is the captain considering he hit a big goose egg in last year’s competition. I suppose they wanted to do the whole New York vs. New York with picking these two.

This may be one of the least successful HR Derby’s to date. Citi Field is known as a pitchers ballpark and the stats really back it up since it open in 2009.

2009 – 158 HRs – 8th in MLB
2010 – 135 HRs – 6th in MLB
2011 – 147 HRs – 13th in MLB
2012 – 161 HRs – 13th in MLB
2013 – 59 HRs – 5th in the MLB(through 06/19)

So as you can see, it will be interesting how some of the players fare in this year’s derby. We might be in line for an uneventful derby if the stats hold true.

Now to get to whom I think Cano/Wright & the fans should pick for their teams.

Here are the choices the fans have to choose from. (There is a write-in option as well)

AL – Bautista, Beltre, Cabrera, Cano, Dunn, Fielder, Hamilton, Jones, Longoria & Trout
NL – Beltran, Braun, Harper, Heyward, Kemp, McCutchen, Posey, Stanton, Votto & Wright

First off, whoever nominated these players should be fired. You’ve got guys on this list injured as well as guys who are playing just terrible this season. AND WHERE IS DOMONIC BROWN????? Well fans, look no further than my list of players below. You may have to write some of them in, but these are the guys that DESERVE to be playing in the HR Derby this year.

AL – Obvious choice for the team is Miguel Cabrera, who appeared for the Marlins in 2006 (finished 3rd) and in 2010 for the Tigers (finished 4th). I do not see him appearing for the AL this season though.

Then there is 2-time winner and reigning champ Prince Fielder, who I think is more likely to be on the team. This would be his 4th appearance and he currently has 12 HR’s & 54 RBI’s this season. Of course the champ has to defend his title!

The easiest choice of them all? Chris Davis, who is on an unbelievable tear that no one saw coming. Davis currently leads the majors with 25 HR’s, and is 2nd in RBI’s as well as 5th in BA. So Chris should be a sure fire pick to be on the team.

So far we have Cano, Fielder & Davis. My last pick would come between Blue Jay teammates Edwin Encarnacion or Jose Bautista. Baustista has appeared in the last 2 HR Derby’s, so I would think that he might get the edge. I want to see some fresh faces in the Derby though this year and who better than Encarnacion to have in it. He currently has 19 HR’s and has 21 more RBI’s than Bautista does.

So my AL roster would be Cano, Davis, Fielder & Encarnacion.

Now for my NL picks.

NL – The #1 pick of this team should be Domonic Brown. I am biased towards the guy because he plays for my Phillies, but there’s no one more deserving to be on this team than he. Domonic currently is 2nd in the NL with 19 HR’s and much like Davis, has been a very nice 1st half surprise.

My next pick would be Carlos Gonzalez, leads the NL with 20 HRs. He appeared in last years Derby, struggling with only 4 HR’s, and was knocked out in the 1st round. I would expect him to want to come out and show that last year was a fluke. (If he doesn’t participate, his teammate Troy Tulowitzki would be ideal as well.)

My 3rd pick would have to be Justin Upton. Even though he has struggled a lot in the month of June, he is still 4th in the NL in HR’s with 15. I think he would be a perfect choice to have in the Derby.

My 4th and final choice is Paul Goldschimidt, who is 3rd in voting right this second. This choice would have gone to Harper had he been healthy, but since he isn’t, Paul “My names is from Austin Powers” Goldschmidt, is the perfect choice for this team. He has 17 HRs which is more than Upton, leads the NL in RBI’s, and is currently hitting .304.

So my NL Picks are Brown, Wright, Gonzalez & Goldschimidt.

That’s all for now folks. Stay tuned for my 2013 AL/NL All-Star article coming soon.

Tell me whom you think should be in the Derby and who you don’t want in it.

Twitter: @RickyGangster