Blog Red Machine’s NL All-Star Ballot

Every year Blog Red Machine conducts a staff vote for the NL starters in the All-Star Game. Becoming a tradition. And any time there is voting, there will be varying opinions of how the vote should go.

A small bit on that in a bit.

Here’s a comparison for our ballot with that of the most recent public voting as provided by MLB.com.

Jun. 21, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA: Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto bats in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

BRM’s ballot
Catcher – Buster Posey
First Base – Joey Votto
Second Base – Brandon Phillips
Third Base – David Wright
Shortstop – Troy Tulowitzki
Outfield – Carlos Gonzalez, Carlos Gomez, Shin-Soo Choo

MLB.com
Catcher – Yadier Molina
First Base – Joey Votto
Second Base – Brandon Phillips
Third Base – David Wright
Shortstop – Troy Tulowitzki
Outfield – Carlos Beltran, Justin Upton, Bryce Harper

Now, just for kicks, here’s what the starting lineups could be if we utilize bWAR or fWAR as the only guideline for voting.

Jun 20, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; New York Mets third baseman David Wright (5) waits for a play against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Turner Field. (Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)

bWAR (from Baseball Reference, as of games after June 23rd)
Catcher – Yadier Molina
First Base – Paul Goldschmidt
Second Base – Matt Carpenter
Third Base – David Wright
Shortstop – Troy Tulowitzki
Outfield – Carlos Gomez, Carlos Gonzalez, Gerardo Parra

fWAR (from Fangraphs, as of games after June 23rd)
Catcher – Yadier Molina
First Base – Joey Votto
Second Base – Matt Carpenter
Third Base – David Wright
Shortstop – Troy Tulowitzki
Outfield – Carlos Gomez, Carlos Gonzalez, Andrew McCutchen

As I see it, there are three “methods” or “reasons” people will rationalize for their voting preferences:
1. Vote for the players that has the best stats for the first half of the season.
2. It’s an All-Star Game, so vote for the stars, the popular players, regardless of stats and/or performance.
3. We’re in Reds Country, so you vote for all Reds regardless.

There are literally a thousand observations you cam make at looking at any of these, but, of course, since our ballot and the current standing of the public votes are ones that actually involve making a decision, those will come under the most scrutiny.

Some ballot analysis…

The public has completely missed he boat on the NL outfield. Harper hasn’t played in almost a full month. He’s getting votes based on the #2 reason I listed above. Sure, he was beating the crap out of the ball prior to his injury. There are guys that are more deserving based on the ol’ #1, stats.

Justin Upton had that great start…and continues to get those votes based on the first month of the season. What’s he done since April? How about a 3-slash of .208/.322/.298 with 3 HR and 15 RBI in 46 games.

Beltran does deserve some consideration though. Some could legitimately argue he should start over either Parra, McCutchen or Choo, the third outfielder on the other three lists.

It’s too easy to lambaste MLB and how they have chosen to conduct the ASG voting. Some of the detractors from last year’s voting suggested that all they care about was getting hits on their website.

I have views on how the ASG voting is conducted, but I will save that for fodder over the break…