Miller has a job to do...

And that job often has him forming opinions that few others would form. And this time he is way, way off.

I understand Halladay is lights out. He will likely be a hall of famer when all is said and done. But based on merit (which is the way the starter should be chosen), Halladay is in the second-five of the top-10 in the AL. There are guys who have outperformed him. Period.

And that's why there's NO WAY he should be starting this game.

agreed.

i hate the premise of his argument being that halladay has never started an all star game.  of course he may have just been stating a fact, but it's not like he just randomly through it in there.  it was the beginning of his argument, and therefor the basis for making it.

based on numbers though, which is exactly what the all star game and in a broader sense, baseball, is all about.  and with that, it should either be Cliff Lee or Joe Saunders.  both are having tremendous years and either one deserves it.

of course i'm going to be a little biased and say it should be lee.  i know for a fact as an Indians fan and having lee on my fantasy roster, that he has also pitched 9 shutout, innings in which the indians lost in extra innings and then recently pitched 8 innings with 1 ER (1 R) against the AL HR leading chisox and got a ND.  all in all, he has about 5 starts this year in which he pitched well enough, received no run support and got a ND or had the lead after 7 innings and the bullpen blew it.  the only game in which he actually pitched bad was against the Reds and he went up against edison volquez.  and we all know that if you give up more than 3 runs against him, you're probably going to lose this year.

but of course, being on the east coast, i don't get many chances to watch the Angels, so i don't know saunders story.  but truth be told, i'd be content with either of these guys starting the all-star game because the decision should only be between them

What most of these people for Lee also fail to accept is the fact that he is schedule to start next Saturday and pitchers aren't pulled from starts just because they MIGHT start the all-star game. It is a waste of a minor league call up to fill the spot. Beckett's last start is Wednesday and Halladay's last start is Friday, maybe Thursday depending on the rotation. Both will have a better chance of being named because of this over Lee.

And you say Halladay is some where in 6th-10th in the AL? The only pitchers I might put over Doc in terms of full year performance are Lee, Saunders, maybe Lackey and Duchscherer. He is as high as #1 or #2, but you can legitatemately put him lower than #5, maybe #6 based on what he has done and can do on a baseball field, not with the way pitchers are pulled after 6 and 7 innings and he goes as deep as possible into games and still gets the job done; not out there just for the sake of eating innings.