Earlier this week, the Kansas City Star’s Joe Posnaski decried token AL All-Star selection Mark Redman’s new status as “a shining example of Royals ineptitutde.”  Declaring Redman’s inclusion to be the fault of White So skipper Ozzie Guillen, Posnaski (above) suggested that David DeJesus, Mark Grudzielanek, Reggie Sanders or “even Ambiorix Burgos” would’ve been more appropriate choices.

Predictably, Ozzie didn’t appreciate the constructive critique. From the Chicago Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley.

“Well, tell the columnist from Kansas City when he knows anything about baseball, start writing about baseball,” Guillen said Tuesday. “The thing is, he has no idea about the rules of how this worked, he doesn’t know what we need for the game, and he doesn’t know what’s important for the All-Star Game. He needs to understand what he’s writing about.”

According to Posnanski, “If Guillen cared about the fans, he would have picked Mark Grudzielanek.”

If the Royals cared about their fans, Grudzielanek wouldn’t be their best player to choose from.

“The reason we took Redman is because at least four of the pitchers that are going to the All-Star Game that were picked by the players are scheduled to pitch on Sunday,” Guillen said. “That made me grab more arms because I don’t know what I’m going to get from those guys. I needed more arms. That’s the reason I took Mark Buehrle, and that’s why I took Redman.

“I had to pick someone from their team. Grudzielanek — I have so many infielders. I needed pitchers. Then when you have Major League Baseball telling you that I had to pick more pitchers because of what happened in Milwaukee [in 2002] … people don’t understand how your hands are tied.”

“Look, I don’t even know this ‘Posney’ guy, and I really don’t care anything about him,” Guillen said, “but I said if anyone has a problem or question to call me and I would explain it to them. He doesn’t know anything about picking an All-Star team and what goes into it. But yet he’s going to sit back and rip me?

“There’s a lot of players that deserve to be in the game. Does [Travis] Hafner deserve to be in the game? [Jason] Giambi? Yes, but I have enough first basemen and designated hitters. When people actually learn the rules and know how the team is done, then they can rip me. Or better yet, just ask me and I’ll explain it to you. Until then, stick to what you know.”

Jeromy Burtniz and Joe Randa tell the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Dejan Kovacevic they’d be amenable to being traded. Though the words “fucking thrilled” were probably used in conversation sooner than amenable.

Following Orlando Hernandez’ wizardry against the Pirates last night, the NY Times’ Ben Shpigel predicts the Mets “will almost certainly place Pedro Martinez on the disabled list to clear space for Mike Pelfrey to make his major league debut this weekend against the Florida Marlins.”

Though acknowledging El Duque’s strong outing against the Yankees last Friday night, Newsday’s David Lennon is quick to remind that “beating the Pirates should not be considered any great accomplishment. Pittsburgh is, after all, a pitiful team.”

There are other times when Hernandez has looked every bit his age, which still is old, no matter which number you go with. He bombed out in Toronto after a crazy 1 2/3 innings in which he hit three batters and had to be removed when manager Willie Randolph, trying to avoid a brawl, was charged with a second visit on his peacekeeping mission.

Can Hernandez be counted on for the second half and into the playoffs, where he can channel the El Duque of Octobers past? Or was last night merely a benefit of facing a weak team at the right time?