MLB All-Star Voting 2017: Start Time and TV Schedule for Rosters Reveal

The rosters for the 88th MLB All-Star Game, to be played in Miami on July 11, will be announced on Sunday night. 

ESPN will televise this year's All-Star Selection Show at 7 p.m. ET, prior to the Sunday Night Baseball telecast between the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals. 

The All-Star rosters are selected through three different different selection processes, with the first being the fan vote. Those votes determine the starters in each league—eight players in the NL and nine in the AL. The fans vote on the starting designated hitter in the AL, accounting for the extra player. 

After the starters are selected, players from all 30 teams vote for a group of additional players. They are responsible for choosing eight pitchers (five starters and three relievers) and a backup hitter at each position. This accounts for 16 more players on the NL team and 17 for the AL.

The commissioner's office is then used to fill out the remaining slots on the roster—five in the AL and seven in the NL. This is a new process, which removes control from the manager to eliminate any potential bias that could affect the selections. 

For many years, managers were criticized for favoring their own players or holding grudges against specific opponents. By allowing the commissioner's office to have the final say, these worries should be alleviated in future years. 

Another change for this season is the roster size, which has been trimmed down from 34 to 32 for each league. This is before players are removed because of injuries, so more than 32 players will inevitably represent each league in Miami on July 11.

And perhaps the most significant change in this year's All-Star Game is the fact it is once again simply an exhibition. The winner of this year's All-Star Game will not decide home-field advantage in the World Series for the first time since 2002.

Tony Dejak/Associated Press

One of the most anticipated selections on Sunday's show will be the starting third baseman for the American League. ESPN's panel of experts almost unanimously selected the Cleveland Indians' Jose Ramirez. But heading into the final days of voting, Miguel Sano of the Minnesota Twins was clinging to a narrow lead. 

Here's how the two third basemen stack up through Saturday's games:

Sano: .268 BA, .367 OBP, .913 OPS, 20 HR

Ramirez: .319 BA, .373 OBP, .934 OPS, 13 HR

If Ramirez overtook Sano in the voting, he will become the first Indians player voted into the starting lineup since Juan Gonzalez in 2001.  

In the National League, the tightest race involves outfielder Marcell Ozuna, who is hoping to represent the hometown Marlins. Entering the final days, Ozuna held a lead of under 30,000 votes over Chicago Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward. 

Fortunately for Ozuna, even if he comes up short in the vote, he will likely still be one of the hometown representatives in the All-Star Game thanks to his .312 batting average and 20 home runs.