2013 MLB All-Star Roster: Players Who Don't Deserve to Be on the Team

Contrary to popular opinion, the fan-voting portion of filling out MLB All-Star rosters isn't the only part of the process that falls victim to popularity contests and the numbers a player has put up in the past.

Sometimes, even those players selected by their peers and each All-Star team's respective manager raise an eyebrow or two.

It happens each and every year, and 2013 is no different, though I must admit that there are very few selections I'd consider to be egregious errors.

Here's a look at those few players who simply haven't performed well enough to take part in this year's Midsummer Classic at Citi Field on July 16—but will.

*Unless otherwise noted, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and are current through games of July 5.

American League: Justin Verlander, RHP

For most pitchers, a 9-5 record, 3.53 ERA and 1.36 WHIP while averaging more than a strikeout per inning would be a terrific accomplishment over the first half of the season.

Justin Verlander isn't like most pitchers, and those numbers, while solid, are disappointing for someone who is considered to be one of the two best pitchers on the planet. 

Simply put, there are more deserving starters who were left off of the American League roster—the numbers don't lie:

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	IP	BB	K
Ervin Santana	5-5	2.90	1.05	118	24	94
Derek Holland	6-4	3.13	1.23	112	29	107
Hiroki Kuroda	7-6	2.95	1.06	106.2	21	75
Verlander	9-5	3.53	1.36	112	41	119

Justin Verlander might be more talented than those three starters—but he's not as deserving of a spot on this year's American League All-Star team as they are.

National League: Bryce Harper, OF

Only 20 years old, there's no disputing that Bryce Harper is one of the most talented players in baseball and someone who is going to appear in many, many All-Star games before his career comes to an end.

But he doesn't belong on the National League roster in 2013.

Harper, sidelined for more than a month with a knee injury, simply doesn't have the numbers to justify a spot on the roster over a player like Jay Bruce, who has stayed healthy and is having a terrific season in Cincinnati:

	BA	OPS	XBH (HR)	RBI
Harper	.263	.908	21 (13)	28
Bruce	.275	.833	45 (18)	58

It's not even close.

American League: Ben Zobrist, 2B/OF

I happen to be a Ben Zobrist fan, and his versatility is something that can prove invaluable coming off of the bench for the American League at this year's All-Star Game.

But Zobrist isn't having a terrific season, hitting .260 with five home runs, 44 RBI and a .724 OPS, and with three second basemen and six outfielders on the roster, it's hard to see how Zobrist gets a selection but Oakland's Josh Donaldson gets left out in the cold.

When you look at their numbers on the season, it's not even close:

	BA	OPS	XBH (HR)	RBI
Donaldson	.317	.918	38 (15)	57
Zobrist	.260	.724	26 (5)	44

With the depth that the American League roster has at Zobrist's primary positions, there simply isn't a strong case to be made for his inclusion and Donaldson's omission.

Full American League All-Star Roster

Catchers

Jason Castro, Houston Astros

Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins*

Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals

First Basemen

Chris Davis, Baltimore Orioles*

Edwin Encarnacion, Toronto Blue Jays

Prince Fielder, Detroit Tigers

Second Basemen

Robinson Cano, New York Yankees*

Jason Kipnis, Cleveland Indians

Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox

Third Basemen

Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers*

Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles

Shortstops

J.J. Hardy, Baltimore Orioles*

Jhonny Peralta, Detroit Tigers

Outfielders

Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays*

Nelson Cruz, Texas Rangers

Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals

Torii Hunter, Detroit Tigers

Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles*

Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels*

Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay Rays

Designated Hitter

David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox*

Starting Pitchers

Clay Buchholz, Boston Red Sox (injured and will not play)

Bartolo Colon, Oakland Athletics

Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers

Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners

Hisashi Iwakuma, Seattle Mariners

Justin Masterson, Cleveland Indians 

Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox

Max Scherzer, Detroit Tigers

Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers

Relief Pitchers

Bret Cecil, Toronto Blue Jays

Joe Nathan, Texas Rangers

Glen Perkins, Minnesota Twins

Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees

*An asterisk (*) indicates starter. Roster courtesy of CBSSports.com.

Full National League All-Star Roster

Catchers

Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals*

Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants

First Basemen

Allen Craig, St. Louis Cardinals

Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks

Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds*

Second Basemen

Matt Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals

Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds*

Marco Scutaro, San Francisco Giants

Third Basemen

Pedro Alvarez, Pittsburgh Pirates

David Wright, New York Mets*

Shortstops

Everth Cabrera, San Diego Padres

Jean Segura, Milwaukee Brewers

Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies* (injured and will not play)

Outfielders

Carlos Beltran, St. Louis Cardinals*

Domonic Brown, Philadelphia Phillies

Michael Cuddyer, Colorado Rockies

Carlos Gomez, Milwaukee Brewers

Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies*

Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals*

Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates

Starting Pitchers

Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants

Patrick Corbin, Arizona Diamondbacks

Jose Fernandez, Miami Marlins

Matt Harvey, New York Mets

Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies

Jeff Locke, Pittsburgh Pirates

Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals

Travis Wood, Chicago Cubs

Jordan Zimmermann, Washington Nationals

Relief Pitchers

Aroldis Chapman, Cincinnati Reds

Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta Braves

Jason Grilli, Pittsburgh Pirates

*An asterisk (*) indicates starter. Roster courtesy of CBSSports.com.