Ranking the 10 Least-Deserving MLB All-Stars of the Last Decade
Although Omar Infante and the Kansas City Royals fans gave it their best shot, there won't be any undeserving 2015 MLB All-Stars.
But that doesn't mean there haven't been some horrific selections over the past decade. We'll rank the 10 least-deserving MLB All-Stars of the last 10 years in the following slides.
This list doesn't discriminate, as stars like Derek Jeter and Josh Hamilton are mixed in with journeymen like Cesar Izturis and Mark Loretta. The only consistent aspects throughout the list are poor production and notable snubs that were robbed of All-Star nods.
Make sure to let your voice be heard in the comment section below. Do you agree with the players that we chose? Did any others slip through the cracks?
Let's get started with our honorable mentions!
Honorable Mentions
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Here are some undeserving All-Stars who just missed the cut:
Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants, 2012: Sandoval produced at a high level when he was on the field, but playing 51 games wasn't enough to take spots away from Chase Headley and Aramis Ramirez.
Kosuke Fukudome, Chicago Cubs, 2008: Fukudome was an international sensation in his rookie year but didn't deserve to be an All-Star with the 18th-highest WAR among NL outfielders, per FanGraphs.
Ty Wigginton, Baltimore Orioles, 2010: Wigginton was chosen as the AL's utility man for the 2010 All-Star Game despite hitting just .252 in the first half.
10. Mark Loretta, 2006
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First-Half Stats: .305/.353/.385, 3 HR, 44 R, 37 RBI, 33 K, 22 BB
Mark Loretta didn't have as bad of a season as some of the players on this list, but there were more deserving options out of the American League in 2006.
He hit .305 in 83 first-half games for the Boston Red Sox. Although his average was impressive, Loretta lacked any pop, as only 22 of his 107 hits went for extra bases.
Loretta ranked 15th among second basemen in first-half WAR. After hitting over .300 in the season's first months, his numbers plummeted in the second half, and he finished the year 21st out of 23 qualified second basemen in WAR.
There have been more egregious selections over the past decade, but Loretta definitely deserves mention. A nasty second-half decline just proved how lucky he was to be included in the Midsummer Classic.
9. Francisco Rodriguez, 2014
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First-Half Stats: 45.1 IP, 2.58 ERA, 52 K, 10 BB, 27 SV
On paper, Francisco Rodriguez seemed like a legitimate All-Star selection with a sub-3.00 ERA and 27 saves over the first half of 2014.
But his inclusion in the All-Star Game last season was a classic example of baseball heads looking at a simple stat (saves) and falling for a wonderful first-half story (the Brewers).
K-Rod's ERA wasn't horrible by any means, but his 3.57 FIP was hardly All-Star-worthy. He also ranked 77th in first-half WAR among major league relievers. Forget how he stacked up against other worthy candidates—Rodriguez was the fourth-best reliever on his own team.
His first-half FIP eventually proved prophetic, as his ERA ballooned to a 3.04 mark by season's end. But hey, at least K-Rod got in ahead of Steve Cishek, Kenley Jansen, Jonathan Papelbon, Zach Duke and Rafael Soriano, who all finished in the top 10 in first-half WAR.
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8. Kevin Correia, 2011
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First-Half Stats: 116.2 IP, 4.01 ERA, 59 K, 26 BB, .267 average against
The Pittsburgh Pirates already had a deserving representative in Andrew McCutchen at the 2011 All-Star Game, so the selection of Kevin Correia made no sense.
He posted a 4.01 ERA in 116.2 innings. The right-hander allowed one home run per nine innings and struck out an unimpressive 12 percent of the batters he faced.
If a Pirates starting pitcher had to make the team, why not take Paul Maholm (2.96 ERA) or Charlie Morton (3.80 ERA)? Or one of the many more deserving starters in the National League?
Correia ended up finishing 2011 with a 4.79 ERA and a 0.1 WAR. The fact that he wasn't named to the original team and replaced Cole Hamels is the only reason he's not higher on this list.
7. Derek Jeter, 2011
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First-Half Stats: .270/.330/.353, 3 HR, 42 R, 35 K, 24 BB
Toward the end of his tremendous career, Derek Jeter had quite a few questionable All-Star selections. For sympathy reasons, we'll go with his 2011 nod instead of his emotional swan song in 2014.
Jeter hit just .270 through the first half of 2011 and played in just 68 games. At the time, the Yankees icon set career first-half lows in homers, runs, RBI, average, on-base percentage, slugging, OPS and wRC+.
So naturally, he was voted as the starting shortstop for the American League.
He did give up his starting spot to Asdrubal Cabrera because of "fatigue" but took away an All-Star spot from the deserving trio of Yunel Escobar, Erick Aybar and Alexei Ramirez.
In typical Jeter fashion, he redeemed himself in 2012 by hitting over .300 to clinch yet another start at short. But that doesn't change how undeserving he was in the previous year.
6. Cesar Izturis, 2005
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First-Half Stats: .275/.322/.338, 38 R, 20 RBI, 34 K, 18 BB
Talk about a blast from the past.
Yes, Cesar Izturis did make the National League All-Star team in 2005. No, he didn't deserve to be included in the Midsummer Classic.
Izturis got off to a blazing start, tallying 75 hits through the season's first two months. The infielder then proceeded to hit .105 in June, which lowered his batting average to a .275 mark before the All-Star break.
He ranked 17th in first-half WAR among MLB shortstops who had enough plate appearances to qualify. That includes a whopping 10 NL shortstops. Izturis wasn't just a mediocre option that sneaked in—he was among the game's worst shortstops during the first half of 2005.
Bill Hall, Omar Vizquel, Rafael Furcal and Alex Gonzalez all had more legitimate claims to the All-Star Game in 2005 than Izturis did. The journeyman bounced around the league after his undeserved selection, playing for seven different teams from 2006 to 2013.
5. Mike Napoli, 2012
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First-Half Stats: .228/.340/.419, 12 HR, 30 RBI, 86 K, 36 BB
When Mike Napoli did hit the ball in the first half of 2012, he crushed it. He mashed 12 homers and drove in 20 runs in 74 games.
The voting public must have only paid attention to the times Napoli did make contact, because he was chosen as the starting catcher in the American League.
Outside of the long ball, Napoli didn't do much else. He hit just .228, which ranked 11 out of 12 among qualified MLB catchers. His 30.2 strikeout percentage was also the third-highest mark in the league. The homers caught everyone's eye, but Napoli was actually really bad in the first half of 2012.
He occupied a spot that should have gone to A.J. Pierzynski. The Chicago White Sox backstop hit .285 and led all MLB catchers in homers and RBI.
Instead, Napoli started over three more deserving candidates.
4. Josh Hamilton, 2009
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First-Half Stats: 42 G, .243/.298/.428, 6 HR, 24 RBI, 38 K, 12 BB
Josh Hamilton took the baseball world by storm in 2008. After conquering his past demons to return to MLB, he hit 32 homers and drove in 100 runs for the Texas Rangers.
Hamilton rode a newfound wave of popularity to a starting spot in the outfield for the American League the very next season. As inspiring of a story as his comeback was, he should have been excluded from the festivities.
Because of various injuries, Hamilton played in just 42 games and was bad when he did suit up. He struck out over 22 percent of the time and hit just .243.
Hamilton would go on to play in just 89 games in a season marred by injuries, which only made his selection that much worse.
Jermaine Dye, Adam Lind, Jason Kubel, Shin-Soo Choo, Juan Rivera and a host of other outfielders were more suitable choices for the AL than Hamilton in 2009. This was another time where the voting turned into a popularity contest and the wrong guy won.
3. Jason Varitek, 2008
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First-Half Stats: .218/.299/.354, 7 HR, 20 RBI, 73 K, 27 BB
Jason Varitek was one of three catchers named to the 2008 American League All-Star team, but the longtime Boston Red Sox backstop had no business playing.
He hit .218 with an alarming amount of strikeouts over the first half of 2008. Varitek did go deep seven times in his first 78 games, but those homers couldn't mask his horrible plate discipline. Of all the catchers that season to record at least 250 at-bats in the first half, Varitek ranked 13 out of 15 in WAR.
Joe Mauer and Dioner Navarro deservedly occupied the other two catching spots on the AL team, but there were a handful of more qualified candidates who should have replaced Varitek. A.J. Pierzynski, Kurt Suzuki and Ivan Rodriguez all had better resumes through the first few months of 2008.
Varitek had an outstanding career, but 2008 was arguably his worst season. His 2008 All-Star selection will live in infamy as one of the most puzzling choices in baseball history.
2. Matt Wieters, 2014
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First-Half Stats: 26 G, .308/.339/.500, 5 HR, 18 RBI 19 K, 6 BB
Matt Wieters was on fire to begin the 2014 season. Through 26 games, he was hitting over .300 with five homers and 18 RBI.
Unfortunately, a starting position in the All-Star Game shouldn't be decided after just a month's worth of games, which is exactly what transpired with Wieters last season.
He suited up just 26 times in the first half. No matter how well a player performs in that number of games, there's no justification for an All-Star appearance, let alone a starting nod.
In Wieter's defense, he was definitely off to an All-Star-caliber start. But the talented backstop ended up having Tommy John surgery that season, an injury he's battled into this season.
Wieters stole a deserved All-Star bid away from players like Yan Gomes, Alex Avila and John Jaso, who produced at a high level in many more games.
1. Mark Redman, 2006
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First-Half Stats: 82 IP, 5.27 ERA, 3.51 K/9, 3.51 BB/9, .278 average against
Back in 2006, Mike Redman made the American League All-Star team and became one of the most undeserving selections in MLB history.
He was the beneficiary of MLB's rule that every team had to be represented at the Midsummer Classic. Considering the Kansas City Royals went 62-100 in 2006, choosing a player from the worst team in baseball was no easy feat.
But it shouldn't have been Redman. He recorded a plus-5.00 ERA in the first half and nearly walked more people than he struck out. The rest of the season was no kinder to the right-hander, as he finished 2006 with a 5.71 ERA and didn't crack the big leagues again until 2007.
David DeJesus would have been a much better selection from the 2006 Royals. The outfielder posted a .404 first-half on-base percentage that season.
Instead, Redman got the nod and became one of the baseball's worst-ever All-Stars.
Stats courtesy of FanGraphs.
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