Minnesota Twins: Who Should Represent Them in the 2011 All-Star Game?

As the Minnesota Twins disappointing season drags into its third month, a friend of mine posed an interesting question: Who will be the Twins’ representative in the 2011 MLB All-Star Game? 

The game is slated for July 12, which is about a month away. And given the struggles the team has had, who is the all-star on the team with the second worst record in baseball?

That is a great question.

There is little doubt that the 2011 All-Star game will be the first since 2004 to feature only one Twin,  when closer Joe Nathan was the lone representative.

Despite Minnesota’s struggles, the Twins’ 2011 roster is still assembled with household names like first baseman Justin Morneau and catcher Joe Mauer, each player has participated in the last three all-star games. 

Neither player should even come close to the 2011 All-Star game given their 2011 performances.

But as of June 7, Mauer was second in the American League with 829,073 votes.  He was 488,484 behind Yankees catcher Russell Martin (1,317,557), the leading vote getter for catchers at this point.

All that despite the fact he hasn’t played in a game since April 12 and has only played in nine games all year while posting zero home runs, a .235 batting average and 4 RBIs.

The other household name, Morneau, has 4 home runs, 21 RBIs, and a .225 batting average to go along with his .281 on base percentage and .338 slugging percentage. 

Both those players are clearly out, barring a run to the ballot box with votes for Mauer.

Time to look outside the box.

Outfielder Denard Span is an interesting case.  But his potential as a legitimate candidate shows how far the Twins have dropped. 

Span posts a .294 batting average (which is above average), but two home runs, 15 RBIs, and four stolen bases are nothing to write home about.  He's currently on the disabled list, which hurts his case.

Outfielder Michael Cuddyer, who leads the team with eight home runs, should not be an all-star either.  He posts a .271 batting average and 23 RBIs.  None of those statistics jump off the stat sheet.    

No Twins starting pitcher has an ERA beneath 3.45 and there are only two that have an ERA below 3.9 (Nick Blackburn, 3.47, and Scott Baker, 3.86). 

But Baker has 71 strikeouts in 74.2 innings while Blackburn has 46 in 83 innings worth of work. 

Then again Blackburn at least has a winning record, 5-4, while Baker’s sits at 3-4.

So starting pitchers are out.

The bullpen, which has been one of baseball’s worst, owns an MLB worst 4.87 ERA.  It’s safe to say that no one in the Twins bullpen deserves to be an all-star.    

For the Twins, it comes down to one player—outfielder Jason Kubel. 

Kubel’s stats on the year aren’t bad—a .310 batting average, five home runs, and 30 RBIs.  His .310 batting average is tied for ninth best in the AL, for players who qualify with enough at bats.

The hiccup on Kubel’s resume is that he currently resides on the 15-day disabled list with a foot injury retroactive to May 31.  He’s expected to be unavailable past the 15-day period. 

If he’s out much past his initial return date of June 14, Kubel’s presence on the all-star team could become a staple in the argument that every team should not be represented in the all-star game.

Kubel’s batting over .300 which is an impressive feat and is at least all-star worthy in and of itself, whereas no other player on the Twins has any statistic that’s overly impressive. 

Kubel’s presence as the lone all-star for the Twins at the all-star game serves as yet another reminder of the disappointment the Twins have been in 2011.