It’s that time of the year again. The time when fans and inane selection rules influence the most important series of the baseball season. We won’t delve into the idiocy of the All-Star Game, but rather present a list of the annual All-Star snubs.
Morgan took the National League, Chris took the American League. But we peppered in some notes to help each other out.
National League
Andrew McCutchen (.291 average, 12 homeruns, 46 RBI) – The dark horse MVP candidate has to be the most glaring omission. He is the catalyst of a Pirates team that nobody expected to be anywhere near first place. Yet here we are halfway through July and McCutchen has willed the Bucos to a 45-41 record, only 1.5 games out of first place. There is really no way to overstate his importance. It is easy to make the argument that his numbers would be even more impressive if he weren’t bounced around the lineup so much. He has split at-bats between the leadoff spot and three hole all year. And now Clint Hurdle has moved him to cleanup in hopes of giving him more RBI chances. All that shuffling requires extreme concentration and the unique ability to change mental strategies. Add in his game changing speed and the fact that he is playing Gold Glove caliber defensive in centerfield and its obvious Hurdle was absolutely correct when he quipped, “That's an absolute whiff. If you're looking to put your ballclub together, and a guy who can come off the bench and do some things, the numbers he has -- you can look at metrics, you can look at straight batting average, you can look at OPS, stolen bases -- he's an All-Star.”
Tommy Hanson (10 wins, 2.52 ERA, 103K’s) – Hanson has literally been the most unhittable starter in the league. His microscopic .192 BAA is more than ten points better than the next closest hurler in the NL. As a baseball fan he is one of the most enjoyable pitchers to watch. His imposing size and effortless approach to the plate lulls hitters to sleep until he blows them away with pinpoint 95 mph heat or buckles their knees with a devastating hook. You could call him the anti-Andy Dalton. Nobody cites his fiery red hair as a reason to doubt his prowess.
Carlos Gonzalez (.296 average, 13 homeruns, 51 RBI) – Hype, hype, hype. That’s usually how players get into the All-Star game. Apparently Cargo used up all his hype last year en-route to a near Triple Crown. The combination of playing on a mediocre team and a brutally slow start seems to have erased Gonzalez from the collective baseball consciousness. However, up until his minor injury a couple days ago he was on an absolute tear. Since June 1 he is hitting at a torrid .361 clip with 18 RBI from the leadoff spot. His perplexing lack of national attention is now his sole Achilles heel. There are not too many arguments for leaving off a legitimate five tool player in the prime of his career off the team.
Best of the Rest (Michael Bourn, Jhoulys Chacin, Shaun Marcum, Shane Victorino, Todd Helton) – These guys aren’t actually snubs, but they all have some compelling angle that at least warrants consideration. Bourn has unparalleled speed that would certainly be useful in a late game situation (CHRIS NOTE: Michael Bourn is the most electrifying player in Major League Baseball. He leads the majors in stolen bases and is third in the NL in runs scored at the top of a lineup that, except for All-Star Hunter Pence, sucks. Not to mention he is the best defensive outfielder in baseball and probably the best since Jim Edmonds in his prime. So I'd say he is ACTUALLY a snub, Morgan Payne. If that's not enough, he is the star player and inspiration for the ninth place (out of 10) fantasy baseball juggernaut "Bourn to Run." Not putting him in the All-Star Game is a more pathetic decision than letting Casey Anthony walk). Chacin and Marcum have quietly put together very good campaigns with their strikeout ability. Victorino is a multi-dimensional hitter and plus outfielder. Helton is really only included because everyone likes to give out the proverbial Lifetime Achievement Award.
American League
Paul Konerko (.324 average, 22 homeruns, 64 RBI) - I, like most other normal people, didn't watch the selection show. I hadn't even seen the rosters and instead heard the "Baseball Tonight" crying about snubs before I ever even saw the rosters. When they showed Konerko's numbers, I was shocked he didn't get in, almost outraged even. I thought it was the biggest snub in All-Star Game history. Then I saw Mark Teixeira and Adrian Gonzalez ahead of him and cooled down a bit, as both of those guys are deserving selections. But then I looked further and saw that Miguel Cabrera made it over him, and I got pissed off.
This is the reason why I can't take the All-Star Game seriously and think it is the most idiotic rule in sports history that the game decides homefield advantage for the World Series. Seriously, Konerko has a better average than Cabrera (.324 to .321, almost identical but still), more homeruns (22 to 17) and more RBI (64 to 56). Cabrera edges him in advanced metrics with an admittedly impressive 1.001 OPS to Konerko's .973, but Konerko still slugged at a higher clip (.579 to .561). Also, with all of these decimals, now would be the time to make the obligatory Miguel Cabrera BAC joke. Still, basically, Paul Konerko hit better, drove in more runs, got more extra base hits and homeruns, but walked a bit less, so Cabrera goes ahead of him. How does any of this make sense, and why does this game matter again?
Of course, the MLB offers a final vote, and Konerko is currently leading. Only, that would give the AL four first basemen in a game that cannot use a DH, which wouldn't be a big deal if the game was just for fun, you know, the way All-Star Games are supposed to be.
C.C. Sabathia (12 wins, 2.90 ERA, 117 K's) - I'm not one of those people that hates everyone for using advanced statistics. I think they are absolutely necessary to building a championship-caliber team. Unfortunately, Sabathia is one of those guys that advanced statisticians do not particularly like. He logs a bunch of innings and wins games, but that's not enough for them.
Morgan wrote a great piece for the Vista at the end of last season basically justifying why Sabathia should have won Cy Young over Felix Hernandez, and many of his points dealt with this exact issue. And you know what, even though I only partially agreed with him in regards to that debate, I think the issues he raised are absolutely applicable to his All-Star candidacy. He is the ace on a pitching staff for the most famous baseball team in the world, for a staff that had question marks all over it coming into the season. He has been the anchor and helped the Yankees live up to their always-high expectations. He is third in the AL in innings pitched, a stat that is probably the most underrated in all of baseball. You can't underestimate the pressure it takes off not just the bullpen, but the manager and even the lineup when a guy can consistently give you six or more solid innings a night.
There may be more deserving pitchers that did get voted in, especially when taking advanced metrics into consideration, but if you ask me, the league-leader in wins should always have a spot at the Midsummer Classic.
Jhonny Peralta (.311 average, 14 homeruns, 49 RBI) - There were others that I'll mention in the "Best of the Rest" section, but I needed space to bitch about Derek Jeter making the All-Star team. My issue with Jeter making the All-Star team goes back again to the fact that this game actually means something. If this were, say the NBA (oh wait, I could have used literally ANY other sport as an example because NO ONE else is dumb enough to make the All-Star Game matter this much), I wouldn't care so much that the fans are stupid and voted Jeter in just because of his prestige. The All-Star Game should be a fun experience for the fans to watch the biggest stars in the game, and Jeter, though an atrocity of a baseball player at this juncture in his career, is still a star.
But this game is for homefield advantage in the World Series, something that will have an effect, even if not a major one, on who is ultimately crowned World Champion. For that reason, you simply can't allow a washed-up infielder in the starting lineup. The NL already knows it has an easy groundout at some point in the lineup.
Peralta has been, almost undisputedly, the best offensive shortstop in the AL. His line is listed above, but what isn't listed is his equally impressive .904 OPS, and the fact that he has been a major part in keeping the Tigers just a game and half back of the Indians for first-place in the AL Central. Asdrubal Cabrera was a worthy selection to back up Jeter, but it's pretty obvious to anyone that doesn't have a Derek Jeter tattoo that Peralta should be there too, over the washed-up Yankees legend.
Best of the Rest (Alex Gordon, Adam Jones, Ben Zobrist, Dan Haren, Dustin PEDroia) - These are all guys that fit into that category I was talking about earlier. They certainly have a case for being there, but there are only so many spots, and people will get screwed over every year. Their cases weren't compelling enough to warrant their own individual paragraphs, but at least I'm doing them the courtesy of writing their name on this snub list, of which they have probably appeared on about 4,567 all across the Internet.
Deep down, they probably couldn't care less. Sure, they don't get to take part in the parade and wear an awesome outfit while rifling party favors at the screaming fans (I'm being serious, I've been to the last two All-Star Games, went to both parades and was entirely too envious that they got to sit in the cars and wear awesome outfits). But there has to be part of them that is relieved as all holy hell that they get to just go home, avoid all of the shitty Arizona desert heat and annoying protesters of the immigration law, sit back on their multi-thousand dollar couch and laugh at the poor bastards that didn't get snubbed.
We'll do the same, on our Craigslist couches of course.
