MLB All Frauds

[Shobae]

Fan voting is usually just a popularity contest but this season it was fairly accurate minus a few exceptions. However, the quality of the reserves and pitchers really blew me away with how bad it was. So I thought I'd make a list of the players who don't deserve to be all stars but made it anyway. (all offensive stats are wRC+ unless stated)

• Nolan Arenado: Surprisingly this season Arenado is not in the top 3 third baseman in the NL. While his hitting is strong he is let down by average defense and below average base running, Jemier Candelario and J.D. Davis are the better picks. 
• Salvador Perez: He's not really close to being the best player on the royals. That would be bobby witt jr who despite being underwhelming at the plate has been great with the glove and on the bases. Perez is a 6% better hitter than witt but struggles with all the other aspects of his game.
• Elias Díaz: Again not the Rockies best player, that would be ryan mcmahon who has held his own at the plate while playing excellent defense at third
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr: One of the most overrated players in baseball continues his storied carrier, this time snubbing Luke Raley who has hit a non all star like .281/.363/.587 in 65 games, with a rounding error 2.1 more fwar than Guerrero. (Just to be clear how big of a difference that is, that is a statistically significant gap in war (1-2) which you almost NEVER see in all star voting.)
• Whit Merrifield: One of the biggest snubs of game, merrifield gets picked over Brandon Drury who, fun fact, is a 24% better hitter than him and is playing like an actual all star.
• Ozzie Albies: According to fangraphs there are 4 NL second basemen who have been more valuable than albies. A solid but not great numbers at the plate and uninspiring defense make this one a real head scratcher.
• Austin Riley: Another big market shoe-in to let all the small market players know they can go kick rocks, Riley falls well short of both Jemier Candelario and J.D. Davis at the plate (8% and 15% worse respectively) and with the glove.
• Pete Alonso: Y'all know the drill, Alonso is not the Mets best player. That would be Mr Nimmo, who is not only a better hitter (4%) but also plays a premium defensive position. Oh did I mention he has more games played?
• Austin Hayes: Really confused why the 11th or 10th best AL outfielder was invited when instead we could have used this spot to add a third shortstop. This guy named Franco? He wasn't much of a prospect and is tied for 2nd in fwar among AL players? Who would want to see that no name at the all star game? Certainly not MLB!!
• Lourdes Gurriel Jr. : Somehow got the nod over Tatis who in 64 games is a 20% better hitter and miles better defender, the 1.6 fwar gap does most of the talking. Though I'm not sure if part of this is because of that PED suspension. But even if we hold that against him, Nimmo and Yelich are still much better picks here.
   

I'm not going to do pitchers because I totally underestimated how many position players there would be, but I might add them later.

[Craig Arko]

This isn’t exactly a recent thing.

[Squirrel]

This is why I don’t watch the All-Star game often. Fan voting is silly.

[Craig Arko]

45 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

This is why I don’t watch the All-Star game often. Fan voting is silly.

I think the last All-Star game I watched was the one where Torii Hunter robbed a HR from Barry Bonds.

[strumdatjag]

Sportswriters and/or Players would make it a popularity contest. The great player who is a jerk could get excluded.  So the most weight should be given to the fan vote.  
So, I think the fan voting should be half of the vote (no votes disclosed till the teams are announced).  The other half should be a combination of Players, Writers, MLB Scouts and Managers.   One caveat - the players, scouts (one from each team), umpires and managers cannot vote for players from their own team nor any team with which they have been affiliated for more than one regular season game in the previous 4 years. In other words, we want to know which opponents they truly respect and admire. 

[USAFChief]

Personally, I don't think "2.5 to 3 months of performance" is the criteria best suited for selecting who plays in the All Star Game.

I want to see the best players. Not the best April and May.

 

[Nine of twelve]

On 7/17/2023 at 9:10 AM, USAFChief said:

Personally, I don't think "2.5 to 3 months of performance" is the criteria best suited for selecting who plays in the All Star Game.

I want to see the best players. Not the best April and May.

 

It has been probably more than 50 years since the ASG rosters were made up of the best players. I advocate for a formula akin to WAR or WPA to select the players. IMHO it should be weighted slightly (and only slightly) in favor of performance during the current season because players who are currently playing well deserve recognition, but it should also incorporate the previous two or so seasons to minimize the effects of slumps or periods of overachievement. No fan voting, no player voting, no coach/manager voting, no media voting.

[ashbury]

5 hours ago, Nine of twelve said:

No fan voting, no player voting, no coach/manager voting, no media voting.

No game.  Just pay the players the bonus in their contracts for being named, and move on with the season.

/kidding?