Taking a Look at the
MLB All-Star Selections
It’s that
time of year again, as the All-Star squads have been announced and surprises
and snubs rule the day. This year like many others before it, is surrounded by
the storyline of controversy. Who deserves a spot? Whose spot was robbed? The
typical questions baseball fans and analysts ask themselves right after July 4th
every year. You could set a clock to it. Why does controversy always surround
the proceedings? Well, the answer is simple, the voting process is flawed. Fans
being able to vote for the starters, especially given the fact that online they
can vote up to 35 times per E-Mail account, lets the bias shine through. We all
know that people have multiple E-Mail accounts as is, never mind being crazy enough
to set up new ones just to vote their favorite players in. The game will always
need fan interaction, but the process and execution needs to change. Combine
that with managers who will always show bias towards their own guys when
rounding out the roster as well and you’re stuck with a flawed system. My
suggestion would be to abolish the whole vote for the starters as step one of
the process. Fans vote for All-Stars, it counts towards 50 % of the final
total. Give managers and players 25% of the vote and you end up with a roster
that is complete and locked in. From there, eliminate the final man fan voting.
With the completed rosters set, then you turn it over to the fans to vote for
who starts. Lessening the number of votes and the pool of players from which
they get to choose would help fairly balance the process. Now, my theory, just
like all others thrown out there can probably have holes poked in it but at the
end of the day, anything is better than the current structure.
As far as
the rosters go there are some definite problems. Let’s begin with the starters.
In the American League, J.J. Hardy, while a fine player, deserves to be nowhere
near the team. Jhonny Peralta, who was placed on the team, is having a better
year, as is Jed Lowrie of Oakland, which also happens to be a first place team.
How a first place team with the second best record in the American League only
gets one representative, and that representative isn’t even close to being the
most worthy on the team is criminal; more on that later though. In the National
League there are a few more problems with the starters chosen. At first base,
Joey Votto was voted in, and while he is deserving of an All-Star nod, Paul
Goldschmidt should be the starter. He is doing better than Votto in basically
every category other than walks and on base percentage. He should be rewarded
for the season he is having. At second base, Votto’s Reds teammate Brandon
Phillips got the starting nod, but unlike Votto, a case could be made for
Phillips to not even be on the team. He started out the year hot and was
putting up good numbers but has cooled down significantly since then. Matt
Carpenter’s stats put Phillips’ to shame but since Phillips is very well liked
because of his social media presence and interaction with fans, he wins the
popularity contest. At shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki, another popular player and
one deserving of a nod gets the start, but reserve Jean Segura should. The
Brewers have not played well at all but Segura, along with Carlos Gomez, who
should be starting in the outfield are the lone bright spots in a dark season.
They should not be punished because their team is horrible and because no one
knows anything about Milwaukee baseball other than Ryan Braun. Along with Gomez
starting over Bryce Harper, some may argue that Carlos Beltran should not be
starting in favor of Andrew McCutchen. I however, will not be making that
argument. I personally feel that Beltran is deserving.
On the
reserve side of things is where things get much more controversial as far as
the American League is concerned. The Chicago White Sox have no business
getting two pitchers into the game. Pick one, and the other spot should go to
Matt Moore of Tampa Bay or even more deserving Grant Balfour of Oakland.
Balfour hasn’t blown a save all year and again, IS ON A FIRST PLACE TEAM!!! His
steadiness and reliability are a lot more important to game outcomes than Jesse
Crain’s in Chicago. I’m not as upset about the three American League catchers
as some may be because really there was nothing that could be done. Mauer is
having a fine season and deserves to be on the team as does Salvador Perez. Add
in the fact that Castro is as well plus someone needing to represent the Astros
and it’s all good in my book. Torii Hunter is another player like Phillips in
the NL who started out hot and has cooled significantly. I would take him off
the team and go with one of the other three third baseman having great years
(Donaldson, Longoria, or Beltre), or with Tampa first baseman James Loney. In
the National League I really don’t have any complaints. Marco Scutaro caused a
few rumblings but considering what that guy has done since coming to San
Francisco he deserves the recognition.
In the fan
vote I have one complaint on the National League side. Yasiel Puig is going to
win in a landslide. I’ve already covered how I feel he is a deserving All-Star
so that isn’t my gripe. I just feel that the guys he’s up against, when taking
the casual baseball fan into account and not the hardcore watchers of the game,
they stand no chance of winning. On the American League side I still feel like
it’s going to be revealed that 5 right handed relievers is a joke. That
honestly cannot be the 5 best choices to choose from. Where are the third
basemen? Where is Loney? Where is Gardner? Where is Nava? I could go on and on.
This may be the worst atrocity in All-Star history making people choose from
these guys. Don’t get me wrong I have nothing against them and they are having
fine seasons but again, as far as the casual fan, what the hell is the
difference between 5 right handed middle relievers and why should they care?
Considering that the voting process is so flawed and shows no signs of
changing, the better question may be why should anyone care?
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