Good point, why should the guy who hit FIVE HOME RUNS in the World Series last year make the ASG? It shouldn't be solely about first half numbers.
2018 All-Star Game Rosters
- Thread starter CaptainLaddie
- Start date
I can’t muster up any outrage over people who were snubbed after
1. The royals ballot stuffing shit show a few years ago.
2. It being literally a popularity contest as evident by the numerous times Jeter was voted an “all star” when there were other deserving candidates at that time.
1. The royals ballot stuffing shit show a few years ago.
2. It being literally a popularity contest as evident by the numerous times Jeter was voted an “all star” when there were other deserving candidates at that time.
Yeah, that's how we were blessed with Chris Gatling in the NBA ASG one season. It's not the All-Best First Half Game, it's the All-Star Game.
Would like to see Xander replace Torres if he can’t play.
Blake Snell got robbed more than anyone, but he will probably replace Verlander.
Blake Snell got robbed more than anyone, but he will probably replace Verlander.
Springer was great in the WS, but he's clearly not having a better year than a bunch of AL OFs. There has to be a balance between star power and recent success. It's why I can't really fault Jeter for getting in so many times -- he's a Star. It's the All-Star Game.
I am annoyed that Salvy made it when he's got an OPS+ of 99, OPS of .632, and a WAR only a touch above 0. Stassi, Gomes, Sanchez.... they all deserved to be in there before Salvy. I get they need a Royal and it's easiest to just plug one of the more recognizable Royals into catcher to fill in the spot, but this kind of sucks for Merrifield who's having a really nice little season.
Max Muncy not making it is silly. He's got an OPS over 1.000. He's hit 20 homers. He's by far the most exciting thing happening with the Dodgers right now. To me, Blackmon just isn't enough of a star to justify adding Blackmon over Muncy, but I do get that it was a player's selection.
I am annoyed that Salvy made it when he's got an OPS+ of 99, OPS of .632, and a WAR only a touch above 0. Stassi, Gomes, Sanchez.... they all deserved to be in there before Salvy. I get they need a Royal and it's easiest to just plug one of the more recognizable Royals into catcher to fill in the spot, but this kind of sucks for Merrifield who's having a really nice little season.
Max Muncy not making it is silly. He's got an OPS over 1.000. He's hit 20 homers. He's by far the most exciting thing happening with the Dodgers right now. To me, Blackmon just isn't enough of a star to justify adding Blackmon over Muncy, but I do get that it was a player's selection.
I love Beni, but guys like Choo is why this game exists. And why I love to watch it. He’s having an incredible year in a career that is filled with very good years that just fall short of all star caliber. He’s a career OPS+ 126 player who gives you 3-4 WAR year in, year out, with his bat and is the best player ever to play from his country. He has somewhat quietly put together a wonderful career and his bat has been great this year.
I don’t know if he was the last man in or not, but he deserves to be there.
If you're going to argue that Choo should be left off, you'll have to rework the roster and explain what other Ranger should be going instead since every team needs a representative.
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Bauer should be on the team, but the source of the problem is Toronto has no All-Star caliber players, so the All-Mediocre JA Happ is forced onto the staff. Of course, if Eddie Rosario had rightly been named a reserve outfielder instead of Springer or Brantley, there would be no need to have Jose Berrios on the pitching staff either.
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Yes, Snell is far and away the biggestvsnub this year. I understand the reasoning with all the teams needing players and Kluber/Sale/Verlander/Severino/Cole all being very worthy and Berrios/Happ being their team representatives, but — off the top — I can’t think of a worse recent snub. 12-4 on a mediocre team and leading the league in ERA?
Bauer already replaced Verlander.
I'm not sure I agree that Snell is a bigger snub than James Paxton. Both had a stellar first half, but Paxton has a better track record (11.3 WAR since the start of 2016 is almost double Snell's total).
AL All-Star Rosters by team:
Red Sox (5), Betts (S), JDM (S), Sale, Kimbrel, Moreland
Indians (5), Ramirez, J (S), Lindor, Bauer, Kluber, Brantley
Astros (5), Altuve (S), Verlander, Cole, Bregman, Springer
Yankees (4) Judge (S), Chapman, Severino, Torres
Mariners (2) Cruz, N., Haniger
Orioles (1) Machado (S)
CWS (1) Abreu, J (S)
Angels (1) Trout (S)
Rays (1) Ramos (S)
Blue Jays (1) Happ
Twins (1) Berrios
Tigers (1) Jimenez, J
Athletics (1) Treinen
Royals (1) Perez, S
Rangers (1) Choo
I wonder who the playoff teams will be . . .
Red Sox (5), Betts (S), JDM (S), Sale, Kimbrel, Moreland
Indians (5), Ramirez, J (S), Lindor, Bauer, Kluber, Brantley
Astros (5), Altuve (S), Verlander, Cole, Bregman, Springer
Yankees (4) Judge (S), Chapman, Severino, Torres
Mariners (2) Cruz, N., Haniger
Orioles (1) Machado (S)
CWS (1) Abreu, J (S)
Angels (1) Trout (S)
Rays (1) Ramos (S)
Blue Jays (1) Happ
Twins (1) Berrios
Tigers (1) Jimenez, J
Athletics (1) Treinen
Royals (1) Perez, S
Rangers (1) Choo
I wonder who the playoff teams will be . . .
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I’m afraid to ask, and gonna sound silly & stupid too, but didn’t they imply a rule where at least one player from each team had to be on the roster? I know I’m kinda a troll/member but I thought I heard about that several years ago.
That's been a requirement for as long as I can remember (30+ years). You can find the hows and whys of All-Star roster construction here. This is the reason why the AL pitching staff is saddled with JA Happ and Jose Berrios. I don't really have a problem with every team being represented, since I grew up rooting for lousy teams in an era before everyone had access to every game, seeing my team's best player on national television alongside the greats meant something. I'm not sure that nostalgia carries over to the game's constant universal exposure of today. Personally, I'd rather just see the players' vote vanish, as it's really just a second "fan" vote, and causes more snubs while leaving less room to fix them... but the players want to be involved, and the manager doesn't want to be blamed for the snubs, so that's not changing.
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Every year I say this: It's the All-Star team, not the All-Guys having a good first half team. Sure, right now Snell has great stats. Last year he pitched 129.1 innings with a 103 ERA+ To me, a player should typically have a full season of being above average before he's an All-Star. If someone is a truly transcendent rookie, like Judge was last year, he will get voted in by the fans, as Judge was.
And, yeah, I know fans don't vote for pitchers. But they should. Why don't they?
FWIW, in July-September last year Snell went 5-2 with a 3.28 ERA. 0-5 with a 5.36 before then. So he pretty much has been good for a year. 17-6 on a mediocre team with a good ERA.
That 3.28 ERA was in only 77.1 innings over 14 starts. Pretty good, but not exactly All-Star good.
Actually it was 15 GS and 82 1/3 IP. 19 GS and 116 IP this year so his "calendar year" total is 34 starts and 198 1/3 IP at a 2.59 ERA. That's pretty good. Not enough IP, but it's pretty good. Better than Mitch Moreland's July 2017 through June 2018. Ha.
Snell will eventually find his way onto the team, but the fact he is one of the top starters in the AL at the moment and has to wait for someone to beg off the team to secure a spot is just wrong..
I mean, you can say this every year, but that doesn’t make it correct.
I think it is pretty universally understood that the All-Star team rosters are the players that are “All-Stars” in the league that year. Yes, it has historically been a popularity contest when the fans were selecting it — but the very reason the voting process was changed to have the players have a larger say, is that players who were more deserving based on their first halves were being left off the team based upon reputation.
I can’t find any sort of official MLB qualifier with regards to the selection process, but I would think you are in the minority with your view on what should entail an all-star selection. It has never crossed my mind, in any sport, to consider what a player had done the last 3 months of the prior season when having the “who should be/shouldn’t be an all-star pick” conversation.
How about if you're more than 10 games under .500, or more than 20 games out of WC2, on July 1, your team is not entitled to a representative. (If one or more players from a bad team deserve to be there, then fine, but not required).
The point of the required representation is to garner interest from each fan base. Are you making a real suggestion or just saying what you’d like to happen, real world considerations ignored?
I have too and I’ll disagree with previous posters that second half of last season should be weighed (for various reasons that are obvious to me but I won’t bother getting into). It’s an exhibition, every team should be represented and no one watches the damn thing anyway. Let the fans pick all of em, if they care enough to vote good on em.
Both. If the GM/Ownership don't have an interest in the team for this year, why should anyone else? I don't think I'm going on a limb that the attendance for Balt, KC, and CWS is not going to be pleasant June-September. There's got to be a point where you have to embarrass the teams to put in a good faith effort to win.
When I was a kid, I was unreasonably excited seeing Red Sox players in the All-Star game, shitty or not.
I probably never would have tuned in before I hit high school otherwise.
Then I hated the fact that we had the World Series home field bullshit on the line but not fielding the best team, so thought the 30 team representation was counterintuitive.
Now I don't care. It's purely an exhibition. If it brings in more fans, that's all that matters.
I probably never would have tuned in before I hit high school otherwise.
Then I hated the fact that we had the World Series home field bullshit on the line but not fielding the best team, so thought the 30 team representation was counterintuitive.
Now I don't care. It's purely an exhibition. If it brings in more fans, that's all that matters.
Yeah, twice as many Cubs competing as AL players (Bregman)
Javier Baez? Really?
But hey, happy to not see Mookie or JD or Moreland (or Beni) in there.
Not a huge deal, but it's one AL and seven NL guys. Did they get rid of trying to balance it?
EDIT: Tacking onto Ale Xander's post.