2011 MLB All-Star Game: The 10 Most Egregious Snubs in AL Voting
"Democracy is the worst form of Government," Winston Churchill wrote in 1947, "except for all those other forms that have been tried."
There is perhaps no greater proof of this than the annual MLB All-Star fan vote, in which Average Joes routinely cast their ballots for the players they've heard of instead of the ones who actually deserve to be recognized as the best at their positions.
But at least it's better than AL manager Ozzie Guillen's picks in 2006.
On Tuesday, MLB.com released another update of the AL All-Star vote leaderboards. As always, the few deserving top vote-getters are joined by several out-of-place Yankees players and marquee names who are coasting on their reputations.
In this slideshow are 10 players who deserve at least strong consideration for the All-Star team but are too low on the leaderboards—if they appear at all.
If these lower-profile guys don't start getting more respect, the AL All-Star uniform might as well just be pinstripes.
No. 10: Adam Lind, First Base
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Current rank: n/a
Lind has played only 41 games this season, but he's made the most of them—he's hitting .327 with a .936 OPS and a 156 wRC+. Prorated over 162 games, he's on pace for 43 homers, 146 RBI and 6.7 WAR.
He doesn't deserve a starting spot when guys like Adrian Gonzalez and Miguel Cabrera have been better in more games, but to not make the Top 5 vote-getters?
In what way is he inferior to Mitch Moreland?
No. 9: Carlos Santana, Catcher
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Current rank: n/a
Writers are saying Santana's in a slump because he's hitting .218, but to focus on that is to miss the point. Thanks to his fantastic plate discipline and power, he's been an above-average hitter (106 wRC+) and ranks fifth among AL catchers with 1.3 WAR.
And that's despite suffering from miserable luck. You can't give Santana the starting spot just because he'd be playing like an MVP if not for bad luck, but it's at least something to consider.
Who the heck is snubbing him in favor of Jarrod Saltalamacchia (fourth in the most recent results) or Yorvit Torrealba (fifth)?
No. 8: Travis Hafner, Designated Hitter
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Current rank: Fourth (691,205 votes)
The obvious knock against Hafner is that he's played only 32 games—you can't be the best player at any position if you've missed half the season (except pitcher).
However, other than David Ortiz, no other DH comes close to Pronk in average (.345), wOBA (.409), or wRC+ (163).
At 1.2 WAR, he's within the margin of error for the title of second-most valuable DH despite having had less than half of his peers' opportunities to do so—what does that tell you?
Ortiz is the easy choice to be the starter, but Hafner should be No. 2.
No. 7: Matt Joyce, Outfield
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Current rank: 13th (737,377 votes)
He's cooled off a little and he's still getting lucky (.373 BABIP), but Joyce is a no-questions-asked All-Star. And unlike most of the people on this list, he's actually on the leaderboard.
But while it's great that a guy hitting .328 with a .964 OPS with good defense is actually being recognized, the fact that he's stuck behind popular busts like Josh Hamilton and Ichiro, while predictable, just isn't right.
No. 6: Jose Bautista, Outfield
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Current rank: First (3,042,091 votes)
Bautista has been by far the best player—let alone outfielder—in the game this season, and it's only right that the man who's on pace for 11.5 WAR has the most votes in all of baseball.
So how'd he end up on this list?
Well, according to the leaderboards, at least 6,789,023 ballots have been cast (the combined totals of the top five third basemen).
That means Bautista has been listed on at most 44.8% of ballots cast, even though you can vote for up to three outfielders.
More than half of voters don't consider the best player in all of baseball to be one of the three best outfielders in the American League.
No. 5: Carlos Quentin, Outfield
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Current rank: n/a
Quentin is in the midst of a career year. He's smacked 17 homers with a .941 OPS and a 156 wRC+ in 65 games.
At 2.4 WAR, he's been the sixth most-valuable outfielder in the league this year. No question he's been better than guys like Carl Crawford and Brett Gardner.
But you wouldn't know it from looking at the voting results, where Quentin didn't even crack the Top 15.
No. 4: Denard Span, Outfield
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Current rank: n/a
How sad is it that Quentin isn't the most egregious snub in the AL outfield?
Span isn't the greatest hitter (though with a 114 wRC+, he's definitely pulling his weight), but at 10.7 UZR, he's been the best fielder in the American League.
And yet, the league's No. 3 outfielder in terms of WAR missed the Top 15 vote-getters list. It's not just marquee names he's stuck behind—people are voting for guys like Jeff Francoeur and David Murphy instead of Span.
No. 3: Ben Zobrist, Second Base
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Current rank: Fifth (633,533 votes)
It's hard to overstate how great Zobrist has been.
He's got an .838 OPS and 14.4 UZR/150 to date. His 3.3 WAR is tops among all MLB second basemen.
There's no question he's been better than Robinson Cano, Dustin Pedroia, Ian Kinsler, and Orlando Cabrera—and yet Zorilla is behind all of them in the voting.
The only other guy who can really make a legitimate claim to the starting job is...
No. 2: Howie Kendrick, Second Base
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Current rank: n/a
Why a player as deserving as Kendrick on a team as high-profile as the Angels isn't gaining any traction in the All-Star vote is beyond me.
Kendrick leads all AL second basemen in average (.310), OPS (.870) and wRC+ (145). He's just a hair behind Zobrist in WAR (3.1) despite playing in 11 fewer games.
If Zobrist's low rank is wrong, Kendrick's complete omission is downright criminal.
No. 1: Alexei Ramirez, Shortstop
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Current rank: n/a
Shortstop is the only position in the AL voting where the league WAR leader has been completely left off the leaderboard.
You can make a case for Asdrubal Cabrera as the best shortstop in the league if you value clutch hitting, good teammates and his offensive superiority (it's a smaller difference than you might think) over the huge gap between their defenses. But that's it.
A second-place finish, then, would at least be reasonable for Ramirez. Maybe third or fourth because many fans don't appreciate how good his range is. But to miss the list entirely?
The nearly two million people who chose Derek Jeter and his .649 OPS over A-Ram are Exhibit A for the problems with fan voting.
For more of Lewie's work, visit WahooBlues.com.
