MLB All-Star rosters: Emerging talent reigns supreme

Baseball fans clearly are more enamored with their emerging stars than with storybook teams, and they'll get one more chance to put their votes where their emotions are in the selections for this year's All-Star Game.

Mike Trout? Of course.

Bryce Harper? So what if he's missed more than a third of team's games. The Washington Nationals outfielder certainly produces when he's in there.

Yasiel Puig? Well. Major League Baseball found a compromise by not offending others, most of whom said no to the Dodgers phenom going to New York on July 16. But after just 30 games he'll be on the ballot for the final spot on the NL roster.

The fan vote hit most of the statistical leaders at their positions and, when it didn't, style points certainly mattered. That's Harper, getting in on the fan vote, the more established Brandon Phillips of Cincinnati beating out St. Louis' Matt Carpenter at second base.

Pittsburgh, with the best record in baseball, got four players on the NL roster, but outfielder Andrew McCutchen and third baseman Pedro Alvarez made it as reserves. Closer Jason Grilli and rookie starting pitcher Jeff Locke also made it.

One team that caught the fans' fancy is Baltimore, where slugging first baseman, Chris Davis, outfielder Adam Jones and shortstop J.J. Hardy all got starting spots. Davis was a clear choice but the others weren't as clear-cut.

Puig gets on the final ballot for the 34th roster spot, but does MLB really want him? Only one set of teammates in either league is on the final ballot – Puig and Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. We'll soon see if they split the Dodgers support.

Others on the NL final ballot are Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond, Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman and Giants outfielder Hunter Pence.

The AL final vote is all pitchers, including the most significant nod to set-up men on this year's rosters. Joaquin Benoit of the Tigers, Steve Delabar of the Blue Jays, David Robertston of the Yankees and Koji Uehara of the Red Sox represent the bullpen. The other candidate is Rangers starter Tanner Scheppers.

No NL set-up men made the 33-man squad, that includes closers Grilli, Craig Kimbrel of the Braves and Aroldis Chapman of the Reds.

Set-up men Jesse Crain of the White Sox and Brett Cecil of the Blue Jays made it, though Crain is injured and was replaced by Twins closer Glen Perkins. Closers Mariano Rivera of the Yankees and Joe Nathan of the Rangers also are on the team.

Harper, in 49 games, has a .906 OPS, a number that would rank ninth in the NL if he had enough plate appearances.

Trout is no stretch in his first full season in the majors, following up on his near-MVP season by ranking in the American League Top 10 in virtually every offensive category.

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

Starting lineup (chosen by fans):

C: Joe Mauer, Twins

1B: Chris Davis, Orioles

2B: Robinson Cano, Yankees

3B: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers

SS: J.J. Hardy, Orioles

OF: Adam Jones, Orioles

OF: Mike Trout, Angels

OF: Jose Bautista, Blue Jays

DH: David Ortiz, Red Sox

Reserves:

C Jason Castro, Astros

C Salvador Perez, Royals

1B Prince Fielder, Tigers

1B Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays

2B Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox

2B Jason Kipnis, Indians

3B Manny Machado, Orioles

INF Ben Zobrist, Rays

SS Jhonny Peralta, Tigers

OF Torii Hunter, Tigers

OF Nelson Cruz, Rangers

OF Alex Gordon, Royals

Pitchers:

Max Scherzer, Tigers

Felix Hernandez, Mariners

Clay Buchholz, Red Sox

Yu Darvish, Rangers

Hisashi Iwakuma, Mariners

Bartolo Colon, Athletics

Justin Verlander, Tigers

Justin Masterson, Indians

Chris Sale, White Sox

Mariano Rivera, Yankees

Jesse Crain, White Sox

Joe Nathan, Rangers

Glen Perkins, Twins

Brett Cecil, Blue Jays

Final vote participants:

Joaquin Benoit, Tigers

Steve Delabar, Blue Jays

David Robertson, Yankees

Tanner Scheppers, Rangers

Koji Uehara, Red Sox

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Starting lineup (chosen by fans):

C: Yadier Molina, Cardinals

1B: Joey Votto, Reds

2B: Brandon Phillips, Reds

3B: David Wright, Mets

SS: Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies

OF: Carlos Beltran, Cardinals

OF: Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies

OF: Bryce Harper, Nationals

Reserves:

C Buster Posey, Giants

1B Allen Craig, Cardinals

1B Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks

2B Matt Carpenter, Cardinals

2B Marco Scutaro, Giants

SS Everth Cabrera, Padres

SS Jean Segura, Brewers

3B Pedro Alvarez, Pirates

OF Michael Cuddyer, Rockies

OF Andrew McCutchen, Pirates

OF Carlos Gomez, Brewers

OF Domonic Brown, Phillies

Pitchers:

Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers

Adam Wainwright, Cardinals

Patrick Corbin, Diamondbacks

Cliff Lee, Phillies

Matt Harvey, Mets

Madison Bumgarner, Giants

Jordan Zimmermann, Nationals

Jeff Locke, Pirates

Travis Wood, Cubs

Jose Fernandez, Marlins

Craig Kimbrel, Braves

Jason Grilli, Pirates

Aroldis Chapman, Reds

Final vote participants:

Yasiel Puig, Dodgers

Ian Desmond, Nationals

Adrian Gonzalez, Dodgers

Freddie Freeman, Braves

Hunter Pence, Giants