It happens every year, several well qualified players missed out on the cut and a few made it without merit. A few stick out in my mind...
The Deserving
Travis Hafner - Clevland - his numbers warrant at least a reserve spot - high OBP, slugging
Joe Crede - Chi Sox - his defense and batting are pretty darn good, he hits over .300 and over 50 RBI with gold glove D
Fransico Liriano - Minnesota - The biggest snub, bar none, he is by far the best pitcher in baseball, I cannot understand this one
Justin Verlander - Detroit - a fine rookie putting up solid numbers, numbers deserving of an all star spot
Michael Barrett - Cub Scouts - his numbers are better than Lo Duca, should be there with McCann
The Not Welcome
Mark Buerhle - Chi Sox - numbers aren't deserving of an All-Star nod compared to what he should be, better pitchers out there
Jose Contreas - Chi Sox - same as Buerhle, he'll find his form again, but Jenks is the only deserving Sox pitcher
Mark Redman - KC - wow, really makes you question the every team gets a rep idea
I would also like to add my two cents on fan voting. I hate it. The very idea of fans choosing the best players is absurd. Fans shouldn't control this aspect of the game. Too many deserving players miss out year after year while people who happen to play for Boston or New York get almost automatic selections. (Sadly the White Sox are starting to act like this and I don't like it one bit) Let managers and players pick, hell even let the media choose, except Jay Mariotti and the NYT. This needs to be addressed, sadly it will probably take some great snub to take hold and who knows when that will happen.
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1 comment:
I might have chosen Contreras, but one notable omission I forgot in my post was Curt Shilling. It's funny that this is one big name player I actually thought should be included. Good call on Barrett as well.
(I'm still waiting for a rant from Stradabolt pertaining to fan voting.)
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