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Take out the pitchforks. After teasing baseball fans with the starting lineups on Sunday night, MLB released the complete 2015 All-Star Game rosters on Monday.

The league can’t possibly satisfy every onlooker with all 64 selections. Only a few head-scratching but far from outrageous choices standing out represents a relative victory for the game.

Remember, at least Omar Infante didn’t make the cut. Before breaking down the oddest choices, let’s take a look at the American League and National League rosters, via MLB Communications:

Oddest Choices

Brad Boxberger, RP, Tampa Bay Rays

The AL roster shows a ton of love for middle relievers. The players selected Wade Davis and Dellin Betances, two studs deserving recognition regardless of their roles. Then AL manager Ned Yost added Darren O’Day and Kelvin Herrera. The former’s dominance over righties offers a tactical advantage in a game that matters, and the latter amounts to the Kansas City Royals’ skipper rewarding his own guy.

With Glen Perkins and Zach Britton also on board, Brad Boxberger wasn’t a necessary inclusion. His 2.48 ERA and 12.40 strikeouts per nine innings look great, but the Tampa Bay Rays closer has already issued 16 walks through 32.2 frames.

If Yost wanted another reliever, he could have gave David Robertson the nod. While his 2.60 ERA stands slightly higher, he sports a 2.07 fielding independent pitching (FIP) with 49 strikeouts, seven walks and a 0.95 WHIP.

He also could have chosen Koji Uehara or Clay Buchholz from the Boston Red Sox. Either hurler would have given Yost more flexibility with one of his two offensive picks.  

Brock Holt, IF/OF, Boston Red Sox

To be fair, not every unconventional pick is bad. Take Brock Holt, Boston’s surprising lone representative instead of Xander Bogaerts. Not only does he provide the AL tremendous defensive versatility, he deserved recognition for his stellar .383 on-base percentage and 2.3 fWAR.

Holt has played everywhere except catcher, making him a marvelous weapon from a strategical standpoint. While Boston’s young shortstop has upped his batting average to .302 during a recent hot streak, Bogaerts‘ .339 on-base percentage and three homers hardly make him an egregious snub.

Yet if Yost had taken a Boston pitcher, he would have cleared a spot for Brian Dozier. Arguably the AL’s biggest snub, the Minnesota Twins second baseman is hitting .260/.332/.517 with 17 homers and a 2.8 fWAR.  

Closer Glen Perkins told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger that his teammate—who campaigned for the final fan vote with a walk-off homer on Monday night—should be joining him in Cincinnati.

Jason Kipnis has unquestionably enjoyed the best season of any second baseman this year, and Jose Altuve won the fan vote. Because of Holt’s inclusion, Dozier must hope the Kansas City fans don’t flood the final vote for Mike Moustakas.

DJ LeMahieu, 2B, Colorado Rockies

Perhaps someone made a clerical error or said “I’ll take that Colorado Rockies middle infielder.” Either way, we’re all living in a universe where DJ LeMahieu is an All-Star and Troy Tulowtizki is not.

This is a case of players weighing early results above the full picture. The Colorado second baseman exited April hitting .406, leaving his peers to remember a time where he led everyone in average. Since then, he’s hitting .265/.322/.345. His season’s .298/.351/.387 slash line is strong, but not All-Star strong.

Even in a down year, his double-play partner is hitting .321/.358/.489. Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto was a tough cut with the game in his own yard, but Justin Turner especially deserved better.

Nobody, including Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, took much stock into the 30-year-old’s breakout. In 223 plate appearances, he boasts a .312/.386/.558 slash line and 11 homers. He also could have afforded the NL someone comfortable playing anywhere in the infield. 

Every other choice carries a feasible explanation. LeMahieu over Tulowitzki, Votto or Turner is the toughest pill to swallow.

Mark Melancon, RP, Pittsburgh Pirates

In a stacked crowd of National League pitchers, the All-Star standards are elevated. When Clayton Kershaw doesn’t make the cut and Jake Arrieta doesn’t crack the final vote, everyone present better boast eye-popping numbers.

Mark Melancon‘s 1.58 ERA and 27 saves meet the bill, giving the Pittsburgh Pirates two pitchers alongside A.J. Burnett. His 6.30 K/9 rate and 3.01 FIP, however, make him far less valuable than those snubbed starters.

Here’s a question for fans of contending NL squads: Would you rather see Melancon or Kershaw pitch an inning in a game that determines the World Series’ home-field advantage? 

In an unbiased process, Kershaw also would have received the nod over Madison Bumgarner. Yet San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy received the final call because of his ace’s dominance last postseason.

Note: All advanced stats courtesy of FanGraphs. 

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For high-profile snubs like Clayton Kershaw and Johnny Cueto, the 2015 MLB All-Star Game final vote represents one last chance to sneak into the Midsummer Classic.

Five players from each league make up the ballot, and voting for the final All-Star gigs runs through Friday at 4 p.m. ET. Here’s a look at the American League and National League hopefuls who made the cut, via MLB.com:

American League

• Xander Bogaerts, SS, Boston Red Sox
• Yoenis Cespedes, LF, Detroit Tigers
• Brian Dozier, 2B, Minnesota Twins
• Brett Gardner, LF, New York Yankees
• Mike Moustakas, 3B, Kansas City Royals

National League

• Johnny Cueto, SP, Cincinnati Reds
• Jeurys Familia, RP, New York Mets
• Clayton Kershaw, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers
• Carlos Martinez, SP, St. Louis Cardinals
• Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Colorado Rockies

In the process of determining the odds for each of the above players to land a spot, first-half stats were certainly part of the equation. But ultimately, this is a popularity contest, which is great news for Moustakas and Kershaw.

First we’ll examine the AL candidates, and then we’ll delve into the NL contenders.

Begin Slideshow

Each year, a few select players have the misfortune of being labeled as “All-Star Game snubs.” The fan vote to determine starting position players is an imperfect system, as evidenced by the current crop of potential starters in the American League. Eight Kansas City Royals players rank within the top three vote-getters at their positions.

Because of this glaring imperfection, we’re stuck wondering what could have been. For the four players below, those “what if” moments could come sooner rather than later.

Players from each league will be labeled as “snubs,” but the four below—two from each league—have the potential to be the biggest All-Star Game snubs this season.

Now the polls are closed, and tonight we’ll get our first look at which players will make up each league’s starting lineup. The selection show for position players takes place tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. So with just over a week separating us and the 2015 MLB All-Star Game, we found it prudent to take a look at four players who could miss out on a trip to Cincinnati for this year’s mid-summer classic.

Before we get into that though, take a look at the chart below which details the projected starter at each position in each league, as determined by MLB.com’s most recent voting results release.

All-Star Game Voting Leaders

American League Snubs

Every team has to have at least one representative, so several players are safe from “snub” status—e.g. Jason Kipnis of the Cleveland Indians—but a few players in the American League are going to get ripped off.

The first, and probably the most prominent, is Manny Machado. The 22-year-old is having a breakout season and is beginning to live up to the potential-hall-of-famer status that he was billed to as a prospect.

Over 80 games—344 plate appearances—the budding superstar boasts a .302/.357/.523 batting line, with 16 home runs, 18 doubles, 44 RBI, 51 runs scored, 11 stolen bases and a 55-28 K/BB ratio. Machado is leading the Orioles in their quest for a division title, and the Florida-prep product is an outside threat to log a 30-30 season.

Among qualified position players, Machado ranks in a fourth-place tie with Miguel Cabrera with a gaudy 3.6 fWAR. In addition to that, among third basemen, Machado ranks within the AL’s top-three in batting average, OBP, slugging percentage, wRC+, RBI, runs scored and stolen bases, per Fangraphs.com.

The young third baseman is easily one of the most well-rounded third basemen in all of Major League Baseball, but he’s going unrecognized in the polls, raking in just under 2 million votes thus far.

The Orioles are pleading their case to get Machado into the All-Star Game.

The team has worked to get “#VoteManny” trending, but it doesn’t seem like O’s fans are taking the hint, as the four-year-veteran ranks nearly 10 million votes behind position-leader Josh Donaldson.

Machado still has a great chance to make the team as the Orioles’ lone representative on the AL roster, but he’ll have to compete with teammates Adam Jones and Zach Britton for that honor.

Behind Machado, Mark Teixeira figures to be the league’s second-biggest snub. The 13-year-veteran is the proud owner of a .245/.359/.537 batting line with 20 home runs, 15 doubles, 58 RBI, 37 runs scored and a 48-43 K/BB ratio.

Teixeira has been the biggest component to the success experienced by the New York Yankees’ offense this season, but his accomplishments have gone rather unnoticed to this point in the year. The 35-year-old is nowhere to be found in the latest voting results, and he’s sure to be passed over in favor of teammate Dellin Betances as the only Yankee player on the AL All-Star team.

Surprisingly enough, Teixeira has made just two All-Star teams in his 13 years, but his statistics this year may warrant a third showing. When pitted against other AL first basemen, Teixeira ranks third in fWAR (2.0), second in OBP, second in slugging percentage, third in wRC+, second in home runs and first in RBI, per Fangraphs.com.

A five-time Gold Glove winner in the American League, Teixeira has always been one of the position’s premier defenders and, at the very least, would make a make a nice late-game replacement for manager Ned Yost. Unfortunately, it looks as though the two-time All-Star will miss out on a spot on this year’s roster.

National League Snubs

Do you know who’s having a huge year among National League catchers? Derek Norris. Know who’s not? Yadier Molina, Francisco Cervelli and Miguel Montero, yet they all rank ahead of Norris in the voting.

Norris made the American League All-Star team last year as a member of the Oakland Athletics, and the 26-year-old should represent the National League and the San Diego Padres in Cincinnati this year. That said, it doesn’t appear as though the young backstop will get the chance to assume his rightful spot on the NL All-Star team.

Norris strikes out quite a bit—23.9 K% this year—but that doesn’t overshadow the fact that, among NL catchers, the Kansas-prep product boasts the position’s second-best home run, RBI, runs scored and slugging percentage marks. Sure, his inability—or unwillingness—to draw a walk is a bit of a drawback, but Norris is an asset on both offense and defense, per Fangraphs.com.

Norris boasts an above-average caught-stealing percentage—36 percent, compared to the 29 percent league average—and ranks in a second-place tie when sorting qualified catchers by defensive runs saved. In short, he’s pretty good defensively, and that sentiment is echoed by this Twitter user, who has done us all a major favor in highlighting Norris’s pitch-framing abilities:

The Padres may send just one player to the All-Star Game—most likely Justin Upton—and if they do, then Norris will certainly qualify as a “snub.”

As for the next biggest snub on the NL roster, it’s tough to argue against A.J. Pollock as the league’s biggest snub in the outfield.

Pollock, a 27-year-old Connecticut native, is having the breakout season that many expected from him as a first-round selection out of Notre Dame. Through 79 games, the four-year veteran finds himself slashing a strong .303/.347/.463, while popping 10 home runs, with 15 doubles, 36 RBI, 52 runs scored, 16 steals and a 54-22 K/BB ratio.

Pollock ranks fourth among NL outfielders in fWAR—3.3, behind Bryce Harper’s 5.0 mark—while his batting average, runs scored and stolen base marks all rank within the league’s top five at the position, per Fangraphs.com. Meanwhile, defensively, the Notre Dame product ranks as a top-tier outfielder as measured by UZR/150 and defensive runs saved.

That said, Pollock is nowhere to be found in the most recent ballot results. Discouraging voter turnout aside, the young outfielder keeps making his case for inclusion on the NL roster with plays like this:

All told, Pollock has had a standout season, and his bat and glove would be a welcome addition to the National League’s roster come July 14.

All stats and advanced stats courtesy of Fangraphs.com unless otherwise noted.

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When leaving the New England Patriots, Bill Parcells famously complained that he didn’t want to “cook the dinner” if he couldn’t “shop for some of the groceries.” For the managers of the MLB All-Star Game, the situation is a bit like those cooking competitions on television, where the ingredients are a random grab bag selected by somebody else. 

While some of the ingredients might be sublime and blend together perfectly, there’s always the chance of receiving some obscure and exotic ingredients that seems little more than rancid lard. 

But when it comes to filling out the roster and nailing down the all-important pitching staff, the managers get the chance to go back to the pantry and pick out their own ingredients to salvage the overall dish. 

I personally find the entire aspect of having the game determine home-field advantage in the World Series, so that it will “mean something,” atrocious. However, I do think Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost and San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy will be motivated to fill out the roster as intelligently as possible. This is because each team enters the midway point positioned to make a second-half run for a repeat appearance in the Fall Classic. 

That’s why my first prediction for a “surprise” selection is Brock Holt of the Boston Red Sox. As a Sox fan since the 1977 season, this year has been a disappointment. The performance of super utility man Holt has been a rare pleasure. 

Holt would have to be regarded as a surprise selection, due to the fact that he’s technically not even a starter. He’s remained a near-daily fixture in the lineup for the struggling Red Sox while playing everywhere on the field except pitcher and catcher. 

And he’s managed to be one of the few productive bats in the lineup, even as he’s dealt with the uncertainty of knowing where he will play. He’s batting nearly .300 while turning in an on-base percentage of .386 and an on-base plus slugging percentage of .819. 

I’d like to see the Red Sox let him settle into a regular starting position in the second half and allow him to be an everyday player that can contribute solid numbers.

As a late-inning reserve in the All-Star Game, Holt would give Yost options while retaining a dangerous batting order. And since the Red Sox’s lineup has been so disappointing, he makes the decision of who to select an easier one. 

My other choice for a “surprise” selection kills me as a Red Sox fan, as I think former Sox’s shortstop Jose Iglesias has an outstanding chance to be selected by either his fellow players and/or Yost. He provides one of the year’s nicer comeback stories. 

Iglesias certainly looked like a potential star back in his days as a minor league prospect at the start of this decade. I first became aware of him when he was a defensive wizard for the Portland Sea Dogs in Double-A.

After missing all of last season with a stress fracture, Iglesias has rebounded so far in 2015 to the tune of a .320/.372/.382 line with nine stolen bases.

It’s always an advantage for a manager to have an exceptional defensive player on the bench late in a close game. 

Beyond that, the All-Star Game is the type of exhibition where fans thrill at seeing players make spectacular plays at the plate, on the basepaths and in the field. Iglesias is the kind of exciting player with the potential to do at least two of the three. 

Coming into 2015, it would have been tough to see Iglesias as a likely All-Star selection. But he makes a lot of sense now. 

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Voting for the 2015 MLB All-Star Game concluded Thursday night, but the league doesn’t reveal its final tally until Sunday.  And given the hullabaloo surrounding the potential results of this year’s fan vote with the American League ballot, there should be more interest than usual in a typically academic unveiling.

Kansas City Royals aside, there were plenty of tight races and deserving starters sitting on the outside when the last updates were released before voting closed.  With half the season in the books, we’ve reached the point in the season where sample size is no longer an issue in evaluating individual head-to-head resumes.

Taking a look at the last June 29 updates via MLB Communications, let’s highlight some of the most intriguing storylines to keep an eye on for the vote reveal.

Tightest Race: AL Designated Hitter

Mathematically, the National League third base race between Matt Carpenter and Todd Frazier is actually closer.  But Frazier made up plenty of ground in the last update as Carpenter continued his June swoon; the Cardinals leadoff hitter finished the month with a horrific .190 average.  Thus, the more interesting race may actually be at designated hitter between Seattle’s Nelson Cruz and Kansas City’s Kendrys Morales.

Along with Josh Donaldson, Cruz helped displace part of the Royals’ monopoly on the starting lineup (though Kansas City still has five starters at the moment).  On his third team in as many years, the 35-year-old has been an invaluable source of right-handed power for a largely disappointing Mariners squad.  Cruz’s 20 home runs rank fourth in the AL, while his .248 isolated power ranks seventh in the league.

Morales’ value has largely stemmed from the traditionalists’ favorite stat, RBI.  The DH successor to longtime fan favorite Billy Butler, Morales has driven in 51 runs, seventh-most in the AL, and has rebounded well from a lackluster and injury-riddled 2014 campaign.

However, Cruz has posted twice as much WAR (1.8 to 0.9) because of ballpark adjustments.  His 158 weighted runs created (wRC+) ranks fourth in the AL and sits 23 percent better than Morales’ 125 wRC+ mark.  Cruz is the rightful new leader, and the guess is that his lead widened by the end of the voting.

Prediction: Cruz starts

Underrated Race: NL Outfield 

MVP favorite Bryce Harper is the run-away leading vote-getter in the National League outfield, with the largest lead of any player in the senior circuit.  However, major injuries have thinned out the next three places behind Harper, with Giancarlo Stanton, Matt Holliday and Nori Aoki all sidelined for the summer classic.

Consequently, there’s a host of candidates who could swoop in and snag one of those final spots.  The prior fifth- and sixth-place outfielders were Andrew McCutchen and Joc Pederson, respectively.  The former MVP McCutchen will likely get in on reputation and likability, but the Pirate has seen a sizable dip in power and batting rate stats this season.  Though his 142 wRC+ is certainly nothing to sneeze at, the fans probably got it right by initially excluding him from a starting spot.

Pederson is a more interesting case.  The potential Rookie of the Year has garnered poor batting average and strikeout totals, but with 20 home runs and a whopping .281 ISO (fifth in the NL), the Dodgers outfielder has quickly become a cult hero.  Coupled with excellent defense, only Harper and Stanton have accumulated more WAR among NL outfielders.  Even without injuries, Pederson was always a deserving starter.

Among the players outside the current starters, Jason Heyward and Starling Marte have supplied the best all-around value of power, average, baserunning and defense.  Justin Upton’s bounce-back power season in San Diego has also garnered some deserved attention, which should make McCutchen and Pederson sweat out the final results.

Prediction: McCutchen and Pederson join Harper as starters

Biggest Potential Snub: Jason Kipnis, Cleveland, 2B

Fans of schadenfreude and general chaos will want to see replacement-level Royals second baseman Omar Infante nab the starting spot over Jose Altuve, but in reality, neither comes close to deserving the starting nod.  The Indians’ leadoff hitter has put together one of the league’s best bounce-back campaigns this season after a lackluster 2014, and has been arguably the league’s best pure hitter for two months:

Though his .392 BABIP is surely unsustainable moving forward, Kipnis‘ .344 average doesn’t figure to dip too severely because of his revamped plate approach.  The fourth-year pro has cut his strikeout rate from 18.0 percent in 2014 to 13.6 percent this season, while his walk rate has risen to career high 10 percent.

But with barely half the votes of Infante and Altuve, there’s no shot for Kipnis to claim the starting spot he’s earned.  He will get the deserving All-Star nod as a reserve, and if Altuve can pass Infante, the AL will at least have a respectable starter.  Altuve‘s average has come down, but he’s still posting a high on-base and fielding well as the face of baseball’s most inspiring Cinderella story thus far.

Nevertheless, with Miguel Cabrera having regained the AL first base lead over Eric Hosmer, the choice for biggest snub is fairly simple.  At the very least, Kipnis can take solace that this snub may actually do more to put him on the map for a possible redemption if he can post a similar season in 2016.  

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With the 2015 MLB All-Star Game‘s roster announcements approaching, fans can soon resume America’s favorite pastime: bickering about baseball.

There are never enough spots to go around, which means a few deserving candidates always get snubbed. While those exclusions are occasionally caused by poor decisions, some guys simply lose out to other stars.

That gives everyone a week to argue over the results, but why not start the outrage early? The updated American League and National League voting provide a clear blueprint to each side’s starting lineup, and the players and managers often fall victim to predictable logical fallacies when wrapping up the rosters.

These guys are in the most danger of getting shafted out of an All-Star bid.

Justin Turner, 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers

It took Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly over a year to realize what he had in Justin Turner. What are the odds the players or National League All-Star Game manager Bruce Bochy catches on quicker?

Once an unassuming utility man for the New York Mets with no power, the 30-year-old has already clubbed a career-high 11 homers through 218 plate appearances. Hitting .314/.390/.567 with a 3.0 fWAR, Turner forced his way from irregular starter to frequent cleanup hitter.

A guy like Turner may never get another chance to make the Midsummer Classic, and he’d make a great weapon off the bench. Bochy could fill a hole anywhere in the infield with a man who has seen time everywhere but catcher and the outfield this season.

Yet his primary position, third base, features Todd Frazier, Matt Carpenter, Nolan Arenado and Kris Bryant. Holding the final two position-player choices in his hands, the San Francisco Giants skipper is more likely to make sure his infielders, Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik, don’t get left behind.

When making their NL selections on ESPN.com, Buster Olney and David Schoenfield both designated Turner as their last man cut off that roster. That’s the unfortunate fate he’ll likely face.  

Jason Hammel, SP, Chicago Cubs

Assemble the NL’s crowd of big-name aces: Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Cole Hamels. Now throw in Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom, Jake Arrieta, Michael Wacha, Shelby Miller and Matt Harvey among the young studs with ERAs below 3.00 and Cy Young aspirations in the distance.

That makes it all the tougher for Jason Hammel to garner everyone’s attention.

The Chicago Cubs cleared their budget to snag Jon Lester during the offseason, but Hammel has been their best signing by a wide margin. The 32-year-old righty has notched a 2.57 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 3.09 fielding independent pitching (FIP).

Through 102.2 marvelous innings, he has registered 104 strikeouts and 18 walks. That gives him a 21.1 strikeouts-minus-walks percentage, which ranks third among qualified NL starters behind Scherzer and Kershaw. 

Yet a journeyman with a career 4.46 ERA doesn’t carry the buzz of an established stud or electric young hurler. While he’ll have a tough time cracking the original roster, keep in mind that several pitchers always back out of the game.

Alex Rodriguez, DH, New York Yankees

How many allies does Alex Rodriguez have left around the league?

As long as he keeps hitting, New York Yankees fans will happily forgive his past transgressions. And boy is he hitting, brandishing a .281/.388/.506 slash line with 15 homers. While most 14-time All-Stars don’t need any more validation, Rodriguez admitted his desire to continue his comeback tour with a trip to Cincinnati, per ESPN.com’s Andrew Marchand.

“From where I came from just a year ago, I mean it’s every player’s dream to make the All-Star Game,” Rodriguez said. “I’m not exception to that. Especially with all that I’ve been through, to be able to be included in something like that, it would be incredibly special.”

Here’s when things get interesting. The players vote for the initial wave of reserves, and Rodriguez recently sued the Players Association. Even if they don’t resent him, there’s still the matter of beating out Prince Fielder, a more deserving choice as the second-string designated hitter.

With the game in an NL stadium, rostering another DH seems like overkill. After all, such a move could take a spot away from teammate Mark Teixeira. Rodriguez would give the summer showcase some star power and spectacle, but he’ll have a hard time sneaking into the fold. 

Kevin Kiermaier, OF, Tampa Bay Rays

Kevin Kiermaier isn’t making the All-Star team. Outfielders hitting .254/.287/.415 with four homers simply won’t receive any consideration from traditional thinkers.

Yet he deserves recognition on defense alone. The center fielder has saved the Tampa Bay Rays 20 runs this season. Lorenzo Cain, a Gold Glove winner on track to land a starting spot, ranks second in the AL with 10 defensive runs saved (DRS). 

Rays manager Kevin Cash praised his defensive magician, per MLB.com’s Richard Justice:

Kiermaier marks one of Tampa Bay’s hidden gems keeping it alive in the American League East despite trading David Price last summer and losing Alex Cobb and Drew Smyly to injuries early this season. As he explained to ESPN.com’s Mark Simon, he sees his fieldwork as a way to stand out.

“I tell people that I’m not afraid to put my body on the line,” Kiermaier said. “I’ve been doing it [my] whole life. I always feels good making a big-time play for my pitcher or my team. It gets the momentum going. This is a part of the game where I can separate myself from others.”

Despite his below-average offense, Kiermaier‘s league-best defense had led him to a 2.9 fWAR. J.D. Martinez, a much more likely inclusion, sports a 2.2 fWAR with a .547 slugging percentage. Value comes in all different packages, but coaches and owners don’t always tend to take notice.

Note: All advanced stats courtesy of FanGraphs. 

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For the likes of Alex Rodriguez and Carlos Martinez, the question is not whether they’ll be starting in the 2015 MLB All-Star Game, but whether they’ll even be taking part in the exhibition.

With the Midsummer Classic rapidly approaching, A-Rod and Martinez are just two of a slew of first-half standouts who look like they’ll be left on the outside looking in when the American League and National League rosters are announced.

The players who populate the All-Snub team fall into two general groups. The first are major leaguers who have been performing at a high level but have relatively low profiles around the game. The second group are players who have been on fire in the first half but play a position that just so happens to be loaded with All-Star candidates.

It’s no consolation to the players who make this squad, but the All-Snub team looks like an All-Star club itself.

Begin Slideshow

In a few weeks, the National League will face off against the American League at Cincinnati‘s Great American Ballpark in the MLB All-Star Game. The Midsummer Classic is not just an exhibition, since home-field advantage in the World Series is at stake. 

Common sense would say that with so much riding on that one game, each side would want their best players to be on the field. However, looking at the current leaderboard in the American League, that is not the case.

As of the latest update back on June 8, the Kansas City Royals have seven players—Salvador Perez, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar, Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain and Kendrys Morales—who would start the All-Star Game if the voting concluded today.

The current voting system works like this: Fans around the country can go online and submit up to 35 ballots with the players of their choice. It doesn’t matter what the player’s stats are to that point; if the fan wants to vote for them, they can.

Over in Kansas City—a fanbase that is apparently rejuvenated after last year’s surprise run to the World Series—they are sending in their ballots in ridiculous volume.

Enough talk; let’s delve into the American League starting lineup if the voting ended today.

Salvador Perez is currently the leading vote-getter of anyone in the MLB, and he has more than double the votes of Oakland‘s Stephen Vogt, who sits in second place among catchers. But looking at the stats, Perez is nowhere near the best catcher in the league.

Perez has the fourth-highest wins above replacement (WAR) among AL catchers, trailing Vogt, Russell Martin and Brian McCann. Don’t like WAR? Okay, all three of the others have at least as many homers, better on-base percentages, better slugging percentages and higher wRC+ totals.

Verdict: Perez has not been the best catcher in the American League so far this year, but he has established himself as a solid backstop, so this is one of the lesser injustices that will be discussed. 

At first base, Eric Hosmer has accumulated the most votes. Yes, he is ahead of two-time MVP and former Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera. While that comes as quite a surprise looking at the two players’ overall bodies of work, the All-Star Game is not supposed to take career accomplishments into account, just the current season.

But Cabrera has been better than Hosmer in seemingly every aspect of the game. Cabrera has a higher WAR, more home runs, more RBI, a higher walk rate, a lower strikeout rate, a higher on-base percentage and a higher slugging percentage. 

Hosmer might not even be the second-best first baseman in the league. Mark Teixeira has more than twice as many home runs, more RBI, a higher slugging percentage, a higher walk rate, lower walk rate and a higher wRC+ total than Hosmer.

Verdict: Hosmer is having a breakout season and is finally starting to tap into his massive potential, but he is not the best first baseman in the American League. Cabrera is, and it is a joke that Hosmer has 500,000-plus more votes.

Alcides Escobar is leading the voting at shortstop and, like most of his fellow teammates, it is hard to make a case for him to truly be the best at his position. He does not lead the AL in any statistical category except the lowest strikeout percentage.

He currently sports a terrible .090 isolated power, which is found by subtracting the player’s batting average from his slugging percentage. Fellow shortstops Brad Miller, Xander Bogaerts and Marcus Semien all have been worth more wins than Escobar, per FanGraphs, confirming that Escobar really doesn’t deserve to start the Midsummer Classic.

Verdict: Escobar is not the best shortstop in the American League. But, like Perez, he is an alright choice because no other shortstop has really separated himself from the pack.

The hot corner is where the biggest travesty is happening. Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson possesses the second-highest WAR in all of baseball—he trails only the red-hot Bryce Harper—yet he finds himself behind Mike Moustakas by more than 1.7 million votes.

If the season ended today Donaldson would garner plenty of MVP consideration. Yet he can’t even start the All-Star Game? It is absurd, and I won’t even bother to break down the stats because Donaldson beats Moustakas in nearly every category.

Verdict: It’s a complete joke; Donaldson is a much better all-around player.

In the outfield, Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon would start the All-Star Game along with Mike Trout. Cain has the most votes. To me, this is perfectly fine. Both Royal outfielders rank in the top seven in WAR, so it is understandable why they are toward the top of the leaderboard.

Verdict: While I think Adam Jones and Josh Reddick deserve some serious consideration, the outfield is just fine. 

The final position to decipher is designated hitter. The leader is—no surprise here—a Royal. It’s Kendrys Morales. Maybe there is not a huge crop from which to choose on the ballot since it’s hard to classify the position?

Well, Nelson Cruz is a DH option on the ballot. Cruz has been one of the best hitters in MLB to this point, and there is no way to even make a case for Morales.

Verdict: Similar to my third base verdict, refer to that one for further clarification. I won’t list the categories that Cruz beats Morales in because there are so many, including batting average, isolated power, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, wOBA and wRC+.

Finally, there are two instances even more ridiculous than the ones previously mentioned. Omar Infante is barely trailing Houston star Jose Altuve—who is currently in first place—despite sporting the worst OPS+ in the entire league, per Baseball-Reference.

And for the icing on the cake, Alex Rios, a Royal, is currently fourth in the standings for AL outfielders. Rios has only played 16 games in 2015.

Sixteen games!

It’s not like he has impressed in that limited action, either. He is hitting .220 with one homer and eight RBI.

If this was an exhibition game, this topic wouldn’t even need to be debated. Let the fans see who they want to start. But when the game comes with such huge ramifications—home-field advantage in the World Series—there is no excuse to not get the best players on the field.

Clearly, there is still time left to vote, and hopefully the Kansas City fans have already used up all of their votes, so there might not be seven Royals starting the game in July.

But the fact that it is even being considered is not good for the game of baseball, and it should certainly be changed.

All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

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