AL All-Star Ballot

[Zen653]

American League Vote Leaders (5/30)

1. C Ivan Rodriguez (Detroit Tigers) 370,322
2. C Joe Mauer (Minnesota Twins) 328,974
3. C Jason Varitek (Boston Red Sox) 301,942
4. C Jorge Posada (New York Yankees) 297,928
5. C Victor Martinez (Cleveland Indians) 140,033

1. 1B David Ortiz (Boston Red Sox) 601,770
2. 1B Jason Giambi (New York Yankees) 240,030
3. 1B Justin Morneau (Minnesota Twins) 221,520

1. 2B Robinson Cano (New York Yankees) 322,994
2. 2B Placido Polanco (Detroit Tigers) 282,251
3. 2B Ian Kinsler (Texas Rangers) 207,170

1. SS Derek Jeter (New York Yankees) 657,383
2. SS Miguel Tejada (Baltimore Orioles) 228,230
3. SS Carlos Guillen (Detroit Tigers) 197,755

1. 3B Alex Rodriguez (New York Yankees) 843,550
2. 3B Mike Lowell (Boston Red Sox) 238,566
3. 3B Brandon Inge (Detroit Tigers) 122,149

1. OF Vladimir Guerrero (Los Angeles Angels) 578,430
2. OF Manny Ramirez (Boston Red Sox) 449,372
3. OF Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle Mariners) 362,245
4. OF Torii Hunter (Minnesota Twins) 278,732
5. OF Bobby Abreu (New York Yankees) 278,606
6. OF Johnny Damon (New York Yankees) 267,605
7. OF Magglio Ordonez (Detroit Tigers) 261,976
8. OF J.D Drew (Boston Red Sox) 253,472
9. OF Grady Sizemore (Cleveland Indians) 249,236

[Goose]

Let's see here...

Pudge-Sucks, should be 2 of the Victor Martinez,Jorge Posada, or Kenji Johjima.

Oritz-Meh, I guess.

Cano-Sucks, should be BJ Upton, with maybe Polanco backing him up.

Jeter-Meh, I guess

A-Rod-Yep

Vlad-Yep
Manny-Sucking for his usual standards. There's better options
Ichiro-Yep

[BMW]

Grady Sizemore is having a great year...he should be the #2 OF behind Magglio. Ugh..fans...

[Zen653]

Grady Sizemore is having a great year...he should be the #2 OF behind Magglio. Ugh..fans...

I don't blame the fans, I blame Major League Baseball. All-Star balloting began in mid-April this year. How are you supposed to vote in an educated fashion when there have only been two weeks of baseball? That's why I wait for the last week of balloting before making my selections. I want to make my choices on the basis of who actually deserves to make the team. I only let my pro-Boston bias creep in if I'm debating between two comparable players.

Another thing to keep in mind is that All-Star selections tilt heavily in favor of players who get out to a hot start in April, May and early June. This means that guys who surge from late June, through July, August, September and into October, don't always get the recognition that they deserve. If you review the statistics of various All-Stars, you'll see that some of them tail off dramatically during the second half of the seaosn, and end up with overall statistics that are far worse than some of their non-All Star counterparts. So why not factor in the second half of the previous season when making your All-Star selections? That way, you give second half performers a chance to be recognized, and you also have more to go on than 2-10 weeks of the current season. When you look at it that way, some of the current leaders in All-Star voting (like Robinson Cano) actually deserve the No. 1 spot.

I think fans do a pretty good job when it comes to voting. Non-household names tend to make a major surge during the final weeks of voting as fans begin to notice their sustained success. If MLB allowed the fans to only vote between June 15 and June 30, I'm confident that the starting lineups would closely reflect the players who are most deserving.

[unreal654]

Originally Posted by Zen653

If MLB allowed the fans to only vote between June 15 and June 30, I'm confident that the starting lineups would closely reflect the players who are most deserving.

The all star game always has been and always will be a popularity contest. There are 12 players in contention on that list from the Yankees and Red Sox alone. Yes, these teams have good players, but when the starting 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, and an OF come from 2 teams, the system loses credibility. I am confident that changing the voting time would do VERY little to help improve the starting lineups. Japan will still vote for Ichiro, Red Sox nation will still vote for Ortiz and Manny, and the fan base of New York will vote for every Yankee they can punch in. Different year, same story.

[Zen653]

Unreal, if you include the second half of last season, so as to not be biased against players who perform better in the second half, which players who currently lead at their positions do not deserve to be on the All-Star team?

[Nat]

Hmm, as an A's fan (I believe our last player to get voted in was Giambi in 2000), I expect the usual pitching choice to be Haren, with the slight but unlikely possibility Swisher will be chosen to back-up 1B. Leylend will be fair in his selections I'm sure, unlike some other homerisitic pennant-winning managers of recent past...

[bedir than average]

Japan's votes haven't been counted yet. Otherwise Kenji Johjima would be in the top five for catchers. 309/333/517 for a catcher isn't just good, its the third best for catchers in the AL. He's fourth in RC, 3rd in RC/27, 1st in ISO, he's third in HR and doubles.

And yet he isn't in the top five for votes even though he is an extraordinarily popular player in Japan?

Trust me, those votes aren't in yet.

Expect some serious movement in the voting when the internet vote starts to be included.

[ofhdhdy]

Robinson Cano? WOW, good voting.......

[jtur88]

Hmmm. Let's see. At 6 of the 8 positions, the player either first or second in the "voting" plays for a team in the city with the most eligible voters, even though their team is in last place, 13 games out, only two months into the season. Why does this whole concept seem to stink so badly?

[DiamondDave]

Of all those leading... I would only vote for 2 right now.... ARod and Vlad....

[unreal654]

Originally Posted by Zen653

Unreal, if you include the second half of last season, so as to not be biased against players who perform better in the second half, which players who currently lead at their positions do not deserve to be on the All-Star team?

C- Pudge Rodriguez
Player more deserving- Victor Martinez

1B- David Ortiz
Player more deserving- Justin Morneau

2B- Robinson Cano
Player more deserving- BJ Upton

3B- ARod
I agree with this starter.

SS- Derek Jeter
I personally think Jhonny Peralta and Carlos Guillen are more deserving, but Jeter is suitable.

OF- Manny Ramirez and Ichiro
Players more deserving- Magglio Ordonez, Grady Sizemore, and Tori Hunter
I agree with Vlad being in.


I really don't mind who starts as long as the rest of the team fills out ok. It makes sense to put in the guys that the fans want to see. The all star game is fun to watch, but the starters aren't anything more than winners of a popularity contest. If you think the voting reflects the most deserving players, you're mistaken.

[Zen653]

2B- Robinson Cano
Player more deserving- BJ Upton

Cano, post-All Star 2006: .365 AVG, .380 OBA, 11 HR, 51 RBI
Upton, post-All Star 2006: .246 AVG, .302 OBA, 1 HR, 10 RBI

In the first two months of 2007, you're right that Upton is out-performing Cano. But when you include the second half of 2006, Cano is the better player.

I think it's perfectly legitimate to base voting decisions on the full year period from one All-Star Game to the next.

[Goose]

I disagree. If your going to do that, the hold the All Star Game after the WS, like the NFL does with the probowl.

[BMW]

Originally Posted by Zen653

Cano, post-All Star 2006: .365 AVG, .380 OBA, 11 HR, 51 RBI
Upton, post-All Star 2006: .246 AVG, .302 OBA, 1 HR, 10 RBI

In the first two months of 2007, you're right that Upton is out-performing Cano. But when you include the second half of 2006, Cano is the better player.

I think it's perfectly legitimate to base voting decisions on the full year period from one All-Star Game to the next.

So it's okay that this year Cano might be worse because the entire Yankees team is worse and they don't have Gary Sheffield in the lineup anymore....or that Upton may have improved over Cano in the off-season and spring training? You gotta vote on what they have done so far this year....but I guess that's why we all have the same opportunity for voting....