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islesfan
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Varitek? Tejada? All-Star Game rosters somewhat of a mess
By Keith Law
The All-Star rosters are always fodder for arguments -- who was snubbed, who doesn't belong -- but some of the picks are more ridiculous than others. Here's a rundown of the least defensible selections, starting with the worst one I can remember. Note that nearly all of these were players' selections, rather than the fault of the managers or even the fans.
Jason Varitek
Jason Varitek over various multicellular organisms capable of wearing a catcher's mitt
Is it more of an insult to the All-Star Game to put someone playing as horribly as Varitek is on the AL roster, or to Varitek himself by drawing even more presumably unwanted attention to his hitting woes?
Varitek has been so bad at the plate this season that he's below replacement level for catchers -- that theoretical player who any team could grab from Triple-A to fill that roster spot. And it's not as if Varitek is a perennial All-Star who fans would expect to see in the game; he hasn't made the squad at all since 2005 (and hasn't deserved to), and only appeared in one other All-Star Game before that, in 2003.
The obvious alternative here would be A.J. Pierzynski, who is hitting reasonably well and is having a season comparable to his 2006 season, the last year he made an All-Star team. The players could also have chosen Ivan Rodriguez, who is having a good enough year in a weak crop of AL catchers, has made 14 All-Star teams and is one of the most recognizable names in the game.
Six relievers on the AL roster over various starters
This reliever fetish is getting completely out of control.
The American League has six relievers among the 12 pitchers on its staff, which seems to imply that a top-quality reliever is as valuable as a top-quality starter, when nothing could be further from the truth. With relievers typically throwing 70-80 innings -- often fewer for capital-C closers who are sequestered in a ninth-inning role and only called upon when Jerome Holtzman approves -- it is almost impossible for a reliever to equal the value of a top-10, 200-inning starter.
Jon Lester
Putting six relievers on the roster is bad enough, but the players and AL manager Francona snubbed one of the majors' best pitchers this year and a member of his own staff in the process: Jon Lester. I'm not sure what more Lester would have to do to get everyone's attention. Throw a no-hitter? Oh, he did that. How about shutting out the Yankees in the Bronx? Um, he did that too. And his backstory is pretty good, too. He's an emerging star, the type of player MLB should want in the All-Star Game as they showcase the next generation of centerpiece players.
Chicago's John Danks is in a similar boat as Lester. Both are young left-handed pitchers and former high draft picks emerging as stars this season, pitching for contenders, with ERAs putting them in the top eight in the AL. Meanwhile, Joakim Soria, who is having an outstanding season as Kansas City's closer, is the token Royal on the AL roster, but hasn't been as valuable as their own emerging ace, Zack Greinke, who like Lester also has a backstory that makes him easy to cheer.
Joe Saunders over John Lackey
Lackey might have missed this cut because he's only made 10 starts this season, but he was an All-Star in 2007 and finished third in the Cy Young voting (and was, in fact, the third-best pitcher in the AL) last season.
He's also off to a ridiculous start after his DL stint, with a sub-two ERA. Saunders has the gaudy win total, but he's more a creation of the Angels' defense than anything else. He's having a good season, but Lackey's season has been better, as is his pre-2008 resume.
Ryan Ludwick over Pat Burrell
Fans like this type of selection because it's a feel-good story, even though in all likelihood, within a year -- maybe by season's end -- it's going to look absurd, because the player nearly always regresses to his typical level of production. Ludwick has actually been in a funk for six weeks now. He has a .247 batting average, .287 on-base percentage and .367 slugging percentage since the start of June. So he's an All-Star because he had two hot months.
Pat Burrell
Burrell
Ryan Ludwick
Ludwick
But what's the better feel-good story: The journeyman, 4A player who has two hot months and makes an All-Star team, or the perennially underrated player who gets dumped on by his local media and finally earns the national recognition of an All-Star nod? Burrell is currently fifth in the NL in OBP and is over .400 in that category for the second straight season, while he's sixth in slugging percentage. He's not a strong defensive player, but neither is Ludwick.
Alfonso Soriano was a questionable selection by the fans, but probably won't play anyway, so here's hoping National League manager Clint Hurdle replaces him with Burrell, or perhaps Pittsburgh's Jason Bay, who is bouncing back from an injury-wrecked 2007 and is currently in the top 20 in the NL in both OBP and slugging. Bay, a former Rookie of the Year winner and two-time All-Star, has both the current-year stats and the resume to be in the Bronx next Tuesday.
Cole Hamels
Hamels
Brian Wilson
Wilson
Brian Wilson over Cole Hamels
Wilson's ERA (4.37) is below the NL average (4.27), even though he pitches in a pitchers' park. He's here because he's leading the NL in saves (24), even though I'd bet that the majority of front offices have figured out that the save statistic isn't a good measure of performance. His presence isn't necessary as the token Giant, with Tim Lincecum on the team and probably deserving the starting nod.
Hamels is just the best of a list of NL starters left off in favor of relievers and the selection of Ryan Dempster (on the basis of his win total, I presume). Hamels is 11th in the NL in ERA despite pitching in a hitter's park and is third in the league in strikeouts. Chad Billingsley and Johan Santana also both appear in the top 10 in the league in ERA and strikeouts; if Santana doesn't get an extra boost for his resume, I'm not sure who does, while Billingsley is quickly developing into a front-line starter. All three men belong in the game in some way.
Miguel Tejada over Jose Reyes
I doubt anyone in the commissioner's office was pushing for Tejada, a star in the Mitchell report and an age-forger, to appear on the NL roster. So what gives?
The Astros are represented by Lance Berkman, so that's not the explanation. Tejada's not having a good offensive year, despite playing in a park that heavily favors right-handed power hitters (his road OPS is .681 this year). He's still playing solid defense, but Reyes, the Mets' shortstop, is a better player in every facet of the game, and is arguably a bigger "star" in the fame sense of the word.
If it didn’t work in Phoenix with Nash and Stoutamire... it’s just not a winning formula. It’s an entertaining formula, but not a winning one. - Derek Harper talking about D'Antoni's System
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7/6/2008 8:39 PM
