Compared to the National League All-Star team, the fans did a poor job voting on the American League team. Most of the reasonable complaints regarding snubs are from the AL team. We already gave you the All-Star Game snubs from the National League.
Here are the American League All-Star team snubs:
Jhonny Peralta over Derek Jeter at SS
This is a no-brainer. The fans vomited on themselves with this one, probably because a) Jeter is so popular and b) most of them don’t know who Peralta is. Asdrubal Cabrera made the team as the backup shortstop and he should be starting. Peralta should be the backup.
Paul Konerko over Michael Young as 1B/INF
Paul Konerko being left off the team is the biggest snub of MLB. He has a .954 OPS which is fourth-best in the entire AL. It’s a joke that he’s not on the team and it’s criminal that Ron Washington stuck him in the fan vote. Instead of carrying three catchers, Washington should have put Konerko on the team over either Martin or Wieters. At the least, he should be there over Young who is good but can’t mash the way Konerko can.
Alex Gordon over Josh Hamilton in OF
Nobody questions who’s the better player between the two, but Hamilton has only played in 46 games this season. He just hasn’t been there enough while Gordon has been. Another point of clarification: Joyce, Ellsbury, and Quentin all deserve to be there over Gordon and Hamilton, so Gordon would be the final outfielder instead of Hamilton.
Kevin Youkilis over Adrian Beltre at 3B
I know Beltre is a superb defender, and I don’t have too much of a problem with him being there as the backup, but Youkilis is just dusting him offensively. Youk is over 100 points better than Beltre in OPS, and even Beltre’s glove doesn’t make up that difference. Beltre’s 14 homers and 61 RBIs gives him the friendly stats fans like to see.
Victor Martinez over Russell Martin at C
Martin doesn’t deserve to be in the All-Star Game. He started off the season hot which caught the eye of fans and his fellow players, but he dropped off with a thud and is now batting .223. Victor meanwhile is hitting .335 with an OPS of .873. He’s been great this year, and he’s also caught over 20 games even if he’s primarily a DH. It’s a joke that Martin is there over him.
Michael Pineda over Brandon League as pitchers
League may lead the AL in saves, but he hasn’t pitched like an All-Star. Pineda has. True, outside of his four straight losses in May League has been lights out for Seattle, but I go back to the starter-reliever debate. Which is better: 102 innings of 2.62 ERA baseball or 33.2 innings of 3.48 ERA ball? It’s not even close in this debate.
Ricky Romero over Jose Valverde as pitchers
Relievers shouldn’t be placed on the team just because they need relievers. Who’s been the better pitcher this year, Romero or Valverde? Romero has thrown 118 innings of 2.75 ERA ball compared to Valverde’s 36 innings of 3.00 ERA ball. This shouldn’t even be a competition, and Romero shouldn’t be penalized because his team hasn’t scored for him enough.
Dan Haren over Aaron Crow as pitchers
Crow is pretty sick and throws really hard, but I already would have Alex Gordon in the game as my KC player. That frees up a spot for Dan Haren, who’s deserving of a bid. Haren, like Romero, has thrown lots of quality innings and deserves a spot. He’s thrown 116.2 innings of 2.85 ERA ball and has the 8th highest average game score in the AL.
I can understand people complaining that CC Sabathia isn’t on the team. I like how he’s reliable and throws so many innings, but he hasn’t been overwhelmingly sharp this year, and he’s had the fourth best run support of any AL pitcher this year which gives him a lot of wins.
Also See: National League All-Star Game snubs
