Major League Baseball

More stress for Manuel: Making All-Star picks

Published Jul. 3, 2010 12:41 a.m. ET

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His All-Star second baseman is out until September, and his disabled list is long enough to give any manager a tension headache. What Charlie Manuel of the Phillies doesn't need is another worry.

He's got one this weekend in Pittsburgh: Picking nine National League players for the All-Star game July 13 in Anaheim.

Manuel knows his selections - the last to be made, except for the final player that is voted in by the fans - will be debated among fans, players and other managers. In the past, such picks caused animosity when a manager was accused of favoritism by choosing his own player or passed over a seemingly deserving player from his own division.

Regardless, Manuel plans to spend as much time as possible this weekend choosing what he said Friday are ``the right people.''

``There's always guys who probably deserve to be on the All-Star team (and don't make it), but we're going to try to come as close as possible to who we think is right,'' said Manuel, who is managing the NL for the second successive season.

After the fans vote for the NL and AL starting lineups, major league players choose 16 players - including eight pitchers. Manuel and AL manager Joe Girardi of the Yankees each choose nine players, with the fans selecting the last player in an online vote. Each team will have 34 players, up one from last year and two from 2008.

In another change, any pitcher who starts on Sunday - a few hours before the teams are announced - will be ineligible to pitch in the All-Star game and will be replaced on the roster. Each team will have 13 pitchers.

Still, Manuel knows there could be 50 players on each side and it wouldn't end the complaints.

Manuel will make his choices in consultation with the commissioner's office, which he said pushes hard for some players to be chosen. Every team must be represented, which frequently causes a less-deserving player to be chosen.

Last year, Manuel made certain all three of his starting outfielders were on the team when he chose Jayson Werth, who joined Shane Victorino and Raul Ibanez. With fewer Phillies having big years statistically, it will be difficult for Manuel to overload this NL team with his own players.

``There's a lot of guys out there having bigger years,'' he said. ``Definitely, they have to be considered. ... But I always keep in mind my players.''

One Phillies player who definitely won't be going is second baseman Chase Utley, who is out until September with a badly injured thumb. He is one of seven Philadelphia players on the disabled list.

Manuel also likes his potential NL pitching staff, but he didn't offer any names or drop any hints whether Nationals rookie Stephen Strasburg - who has been in the majors less than a month - will be considered. Strasburg (2-2) starts Saturday against the Mets.

The most obvious pick is Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez (14-1), who faces the Giants on Saturday.

``There's some good guys out there, man, that's a big choose. When I look at the pitching, I like the National League's pitching - we've got some guys definitely capable of starting, we've got some guys having big years, too,'' Manuel said.

Opposing managers lobby, too - Pirates manager John Russell, for example, has one of the majors' worst teams, yet he is pushing for Andrew McCutchen and setup reliever Even Meek (0.98 ERA). Russell said Meek, a former Rule 5 pick, ``should be a shoo-in.''

There is plenty of back and forth lobbying when the final choices are made in consultation with the commissioner's office, Manuel said.

``I think we'll both have sides, but when you say I get to pick somebody and you put me on the spot, I'll pick whoever I want to,'' Manuel said. ``I don't give a damn about (being on) the spot, you put me there.''

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