2014 HR Derby Teams

Stanton, who competed in 2012, is my favorite to win this year's event (RantSports)

With baseball's Home Run Derby scheduled to take place tomorrow night at Target Field in Minnesota, here's my preview of the two home run derby teams:

AL
Jose Bautista (captain)
An All-Star for he fifth straight year, Bautista's continued to add his to burgeoning home run total, which has been exceeded only by Miguel Cabrera since the start of the 2010 season. With 17 dingers on the year he's tied for seventh among major league outfielders tied with National Leaguers Justin Upton and Andrew McCutchen. It's too bad Bautista's teammate Edwin Encarnacion is injured, but Bautista's not a bad consolation prize.

Yoenis Cespedes
The defending champion is back to defend his title. Surprisingly the first-time All-Star is not having a noteworthy season power-wise, as his 14 home runs are bettered by two teammates (Josh Donaldson and Brandon Moss--both with 20) and are tied for 13th among major league outfielders, fewer than Marlon Byrd, Michael Brantley and Marcell Ozuna and as many as Charlie Blackmon, Khris Davis, and Mike Morse, among others. Of course, I still wouldn't bet against Cespedes winning the thing again.

Josh Donaldson
This time last year, few people outside Oakland knew who Donaldson was. Now he's the starting third baseman for the American League in the All-Star Game and participating in the home run derby, well-deserving of both honors. His 20 home runs lead all third basemen and rank sixth in the American League.

Brian Dozier
Though his power has faded lately (only one long ball since June 14th), Dozier's 16 bombs are easily the most of any second baseman, as no one else has more than 13 at the keystone this year. Almost at his career high of 18, he has twice as many as any other Twin--eight more than Josh Willingham--and while he was passed over for the All-Star Game at least he'll get the opportunity to put on a show for his hometown fans.  With more home runs at Target Field (9) than any other Twin has hit all season, he's been Minnesota's best power source and most worthy representative for the event.

Adam Jones
Coming off back-to-back 30 homer seasons, Jones has continued to provide plenty of pop for the Baltimore Orioles, a club with more home runs than every team except the Toronto Blue Jays.  Jones, with his 16 home runs--tenth among big league outfielders--has been a big part of that, especially given the disappointing performances of Chris Davis and JJ Hardy and season-ending injury to Matt Wieters.

Notable exceptions: Nelson Cruz, Jose Abreu, Miguel Cabrera

NL
Troy Tulowitzki (captain)
The Senior Circuit's leading All-Star vote-getter is also its home run leader with 21 and slugging percentage leader at .613. Of course, Coors Field has played a large role in that production, with two-thirds of his home runs coming at home, where his slugging percentage has been almost 300 points higher than it's been on the road. Still, that doesn't diminish the terrific season he's been having so far, one that's made him an early favorite to take home his first MVP award.

Todd Frazier
After going yard 19 times in each of the past two seasons, Frazier's already done so 18 times in 2014, tops among National League third basemen. The first-time All-Star has more home runs than any third baseman besides Josh Donaldson, who's also competing in the derby but on the American League side, and more than any of his Reds teammates as well.

Justin Morneau
Though Morneau fell short in the NL Final Vote to Anthony Rizzo after taking an early lead in the polls, he still gets to make a return to Minnesota as one of the five members of the NL home run squad. Morneau isn't the most deserving selection, as his 13 home runs have been exceeded by 16 first basemen (including Mark Reynolds, Ryan Howard, and Lucas Duda) but he's a sentimental one. And if he can't go back to the Twin cities as an All-Star, I'm fine having him there on the derby team. That said, if given the choice I'd much rather see a Pedro Alvarez or Paul Goldschmidt in his stead.

Yasiel Puig
Puig's 12 home runs don't jump off the page, but the way he hits them sure does. Power is only a part of Puig's all-around game, but few hit balls farther or with more flair than he does.
And seeing as how the first-time All-Star is only 23, I'm sure this will be just the first of many derby appearances for the National League's answer to Mike Trout. Even if he doesn't do much tomorrow night, I'm still stoked to see him in his first All-Star Game on Tuesday.

Giancarlo Stanton
The Senior Circuit's home run and RBI leader was made for an event like this. Finally healthy after two injury-plagued seasons, Stanton's slugging his way to a potential 40-homer season and just earned his second All-Star nod in three years. One of the rare players who can hit the ball out of any stadium, Stanton shouldn't have much trouble clearing the fences at Target Field. He's my prediction to win.

Notable exceptions: Rizzo, McCutchen, Upton

My Home Run Derby Vote

Cespedes outlasted Harper last year, but will the fans vote him back? (HuffingtonPost)

For the first time, the ever-progressive MLB is mixing it up by allowing fans to decide who will participate in this summer's home run derby, which will be held at Target Field in Minnesota--a notoriously tough park for power hitters, even in the middle of July.

I like that baseball is giving the fans the opportunity to have some say about who they'll see in the home run contest. Like the All-Star Game, the event has always been for the fans, and now like the All-Star Game the fans can influence who will compete. Power to the people!

I also like the change from four contestants in each league to three. The event dragged on for far too long in the past, so removing two players from the competition should shorten the running time considerably. Everyone loves home runs, but it's tough to sit through three hours of glorified batting practice. Even I don't have the attention span for it.

So here's something I don't get to say very often: kudos to major league baseball!

Now on to the fun part: the voting process (yay democracy!). Baseball has picked 20 candidates to choose from--ten in each league--and voters must select three from the American League and three from the National League, though some candidates are clearly undeserving Joe Mauer, for instance, has 34 home runs...since the start of the 2010 season, and Jason Heyward has averaged 18 home runs per season/never slugged above .480, and Buster Posey, like Mauer, is a great hitter but not a great home run hitter. But I digress. The only real problem I have is that last year's winner, Yoenis Cespedes, is not automatically re-entered into this year's contest. As the defending champ he deserves the right to, um, defend his title.

Without further adieu, here are the six players I want to see in this summer's home run derby:

American League
1. Chris Davis--Last year's major league leader in home runs (53), RBI (138), extra base hits (96), and total bases (370) certainly qualifies.
2. Miguel Cabrera--See if the current wearer of the "best hitter in baseball" crown can put on a show
3. Cespedes--Like I said, you have to give the reigning champ a chance to defend his title!

Also considered:
Prince Fielder--Won the event in 2009 and 2012, but he's just not the elite power hitter he used to be. If he wins again he'll tie Ken Griffey Jr. for most home run derby titles since the event's debut in 1985.
Jose Bautista--Through yesterday he was tied with Miguel Cabrera for most home runs in baseball since Opening Day, 2010, which is really impressive considering how much time Joey Bats has missed.

National League
1. Giancarlo Stanton--Three words: light-tower power. If he can muscle it out of Marlins Park, he can go yard anywhere.
2. Pedro Alvarez--A poor man's Davis, last year's NL home run champ has about as much raw power as anyone.
3. Bryce Harper--Last year's runner-up, the kid can hit the ball a country mile.

Also considered:
Paul Goldschmidt--Tied Alvarez for most big flies in the Senior Circuit last year
Jay Bruce--He, Cabrera, and Adrian Beltre were the only big leaguers to reach 30 home runs in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Yasiel Puig--So much fun to watch, especially when he does stuff like this. Do you think he would still do his trademark bat flip after each home run?

Home Run Derby Teams

American League
Robinson Cano (Captain)
Last year's AL captain is back for more, hoping to erase any memory of his homerless performance at in Kansas City last summer (much to the delight of Royals fans who mercilessly booed him for omitting Billy Butler from the squad). With his picture-perfect swing, there's no way he comes up empty again. His 21 long balls have him tied for seventh in the Junior Circuit with Adrian Beltre and put him on pace to soar past his career high of 33, which he set in 2012.

Chris Davis
The major league home run leader has already left the yard 36 times in 2013, homering once every 9.4 at-bats. That puts him on track to threaten Roger Maris's "real" single season home run record of 61, disregarding the enhanced figures compiled by Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds. The way he's been hitting lately he'll probably steamroll everyone and mash his way to victory.

Yoenis Cespedes
Few players have more raw power than Cespedes, who belted 23 big flies as a rookie last year and has 15 so far this season. He can hit the ball out of a canyon, and his home run totals would be more impressive if he played somewhere else besides the Coliseum, where he's hit just five home runs this year (one every 25.8 at-bats there compared to one per 17.5 everywhere else). With that in mind, I expect the slugging sophomore to put on a show and make a serious run at this year's trophy.

Prince Fielder
Only two men have ever won multiple home run derbies: Ken Griffey Jr. and Cecil Fielder's son. If the reigning champ wins again this year, he'll become the first man to win the event three times. Fielder's having a down year (for him), but that didn't stop him from winning the competition last year. .

Notable Absences: Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, David Ortiz, Miguel Cabrera

National League
David Wright (Captain)
Mr. Met is here more for the hometown fans than for his home run hitting abilities; he has the lowest home run total of the contestants with 13. Citi Field isn't doing Wright any favors (just three circuit drives there this year), but he's always been more of a gap hitter anyways. He hasn't topped 30 bombs in a season since 2008 and averaged just 18 per year since then. Wright was runner-up to Ryan Howard in 2006, so he has the potential to turn it on so long as he doesn't try too hard to impress the fans.

Bryce Harper
If Harper's electrifying exhibition at Tropicana Field is any indication, he's going to shine in his first derby appearance. The 20 year-old phenom isn't phased by the spotlight and could be primed for a coming out party a la Josh Hamilton's '08 performance at the Stadium.

Michael Cuddyer
A curious selection by Wright, who has defended his choice by pointing to the roots he shares with Cuddyer. With 15 home runs and the league's ninth best AB/HR rate he's not a bad choice, but I would've preferred to see Wright select a power hitter of higher stature like Jay Bruce, Domonic Brown or Justin Upton. I'd bet most fans aren't tuning in to see Cuddyer, who's not exactly a household name and has just one 30 homer season on his resume. I think he's the least likely to win and has early exit written all over him.

Pedro Alvarez
The NL equivalent of Davis, Alvarez broke out last year and is on his way to an even better season this year. He owns the best AB/HR ratio in in the Senior Circuit and ranks second home runs with 24, just one fewer than Carlos Gonzalez, the man he's replacing. An all-or-nothing hitter, Alvarez has accumulated 108 strikeouts while knocking nearly one-third of his fly balls over the fence.

Notable Absences: Bruce, Ryan Braun, Giancarlo Stanton

My pick: Cespedes over Harper