MLB All-Star Game: Ryan Roberts Leads All-Star Snubs

Well, the 2011 All-Stars have been announced…Asudabal Cabrera is out of the starting lineup, and the aging, hurt, and just plain mediocre Derek Jeter is in.

And with that, the debate about who's in and who's out begins. 

In a roster that apparently rewards lifetime achievement over present performance, here are a handful of players who should have made it to Phoenix next week and didn't, in no particular order.

Ryan Roberts (3B-2B-OF, Arizona)

Yes, I'm well aware that NL third base is horrendously weak, but the hometown's third baseman should've been picked over old hat Chipper Jones (apparently a lifetime achievement selection) for three reasons:

1) Better stats-wise than Jones. Stats-wise, Roberts is the best third baseman in the league, head and shoulders above even Polanco. He's stolen eleven more bases than Jones. They have a comparable total of combined runs, but that's because Chipper has more support than Roberts does.

2) More utility. Roberts can be played at second or the outfield, as well as third.

3) The game isn't being played in Atlanta, but in Arizona.

Michael Pineda (SP, Seattle)

If you have two Mariner pitchers on the roster, one should be King Felix, and the other shouldn't be Brandon League. 

With 99 K, a 2.65 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP, Pineda is arguably at least sabermetrically the best pitcher staying home (sorry, C.C., you only get your wins because you play for the Yankees). 

And did I mention that he's only 22? 

If Verlander is staying home due to his Sunday start, Pineda should be the one getting the call to replace him.

Tommy Hanson (SP, Atlanta)

Pineda's counterpart in the National League is Tommy Hanson, who is also posting numbers good enough to be one of the top fifteen or twenty pitchers in baseball. 

I know that he has been outshined by Jair Jurrjens of late, but a team that had an ERA almost dead-even with Philadelphia deserves two starters (the Phillies have three SPs in the All-Star lineup) 

Michael Morse (1B-OF, Washington)

Seriously, the Nationals are hovering around .500, and all they get is middle reliever Tyler Clippard in the All-Star Game? 

I am glad Michael Morse has made the final vote in his breakout season, and with the numbers he's been posting (15 dingers), he deserves your consideration.   

Sergio Santos (CL, White Sox)

The AL closers leave me scratching my head. 

Sure, there's Mo, who's putting up numbers again...and was born the year of the moon landing. League and Valverde have saves, but Solis has a better ERA than both and more Ks per nine than League. 

Not to mention the fact that the White Sox are still in contention, and they didn't have a single pitcher make the squad.