With 15 games left until the All-Star Game festivities kick off in New York City at Citi Field, there are two standout home run hitters who have been a hot topic of discussion as participants for the 2013 Home Run Derby. As it currently stands both possible candidates have proven to be two of the most dominant mashers in the game; however, neither of them is currently in the top-10 in home runs hit in their respective leagues. Nonetheless, for what it’s worth, the Home Run Derby shouldn’t necessarily be limited to who has the most home runs at the All-Star break, but who would be the most entertaining. Because after all, it’s a one dimensional competition set up to delight the fans, and no two players know how to put the ball in the seats quite like Cuban sensations Yasiel Puig and Yoenis Cespedes.

For those of you who have followed my stories on eDraft Sports, let alone follow me on Twitter, it’s pretty obvious that I’ve been a die-hard Oakland Athletics fan my entire life; however, the decision to ultimately allow Cespedes into the Home Run Derby is one that should be shared by all fans of the game. Since Cespedes burst into the Major League Baseball scene when he made his debut during the Japan Series on March 28, 2012, he’s proven his power at the plate when he hit his first career home run in the second game of the series off of Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Shawn Kelley in the seventh inning. Cespedes then crushed his second and third over the Athletics’ next two games, the most dominant of which came at the hands of Mariners starting pitcher Jason Vargas in the third game of the season. The ball that ricocheted off the bat of Cespedes went to deep left-center field and could have quite possibly kept traveling had it not been for the center field window of one of the suites affixed to the aptly named Mt. Davis which sits about 420 feet away from home plate and over 80 feet off of the ground. For the rest of his 2012 campaign Cespedes went on to hit 23 total homes runs which was good enough for a second place finish for the American League Rookie of the Year award behind Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout and 10th place overall for the AL MVP award.

So far in 2013 Cespedes has knocked 15 balls out of the field of play and is certainly primed to knock at least a bakers dozen more based on projections. Even though Cespedes’s 15 dingers is good enough for a five-way tie for 12th overall in the AL in home runs, it’s hard to argue that anyone can put as much, if not more force behind the ball as he, with maybe the exception of Chris Davis and Miguel Cabrera. But even at that, seeing all three of these young talents square off for a deep fly competition would be legendary.

On the rival side you have the up-and-coming Los Angeles Dodgers outfield phenom Puig, who currently stands at seven home runs on the season. While the amount of Puig’s home runs don’t even have him listed in the Top-40 in the National League, the thing that needs to be looked at is the frequency in which he’s embarrassing pitchers with his raw power. So far Puig has played in a total of 22 games which means that he is averaging a shade shy of one home run every three games.

When you break it down, had he been playing since the start of the season, based on those numbers he would be sitting at roughly 25 home runs, which would be good enough for the top spot in the NL over Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez’s 21 home runs, and second most in the Majors just behind Davis’s 28. For a 22-year-old unproven rookie, this is beyond impressive. Not since Mark McGwire hit 49 as a rookie back in 1987 at the age of 23 has a young hitter dominated pitching with such ease.

At this point it really shouldn’t be a question of whether or not Cespedes and Puig deserve to be in the Home Run Derby (Yes!), it’s whether team captains Robinson Cano (AL) and David Wright (NL) will actually make the correct decision when stockpiling their teams. As proven in the past, leading, or at least being in the top-five in home runs doesn’t necessarily mean it will make for a good decision, as proven in 2005 with Jason Bay, Brandon Inge in 2009 and Cano this last season; all three managed to put up a doughnut (0) in the first round.

Based on what Puig and Cespedes have proven in practice and live game situations, it’s highly unlikely that either will come up short if their name is called. One more boast for Cespedes to think about, this is the guy who was able to go deep at practice during spring training with a weight on his bat. Think about it.