The MLB All-Star Game Selection Process Needs to Change

With the amount of Royals among the leading vote getters for most positions in the American League last year and now the Cubs taking over the mantle of aggressive voters in 2016, there clearly needs to be a change in how we choose the players that are supposed to represent the best the league has to offer. But how should the process be altered?

For the first two All Star games in 1933 and 1934, the fans were able to choose the starting lineups for both leagues. However, from 1935-1946, the roster was selected entirely by the manager of both teams. Major League Baseball shifted their position on the selection process once again in 1947, with the league allowing fans to vote for the starting position players for the American and National leagues. However, fans quickly lost their right to vote again when it was discovered in 1957 that some Cincinnati Reds fans had stuffed the ballot box, forcing the hand of the MLB to strip the fans of their voting privileges for the All Star Game up until 1970, when the game needed another spark. The All Star Game voting process for the starting position players has been the same ever since. But the time has come for the Midsummer Classic to undergo changes once again.

There have been multiple injustices in fan selection throughout the years that there is too many to name each one of them. From the Red Sox and Yankees dominating voting in the early to mid 2000s to the most recent campaigns of the Kansas City Royals and Chicago Cubs. The fact that deserving players do not get the recognition they deserve coming off the bench or not even making the team at all is despicable. And by looking at the numbers this year, it seems like the fans are going to wrong multiple deserving players again in favor of their hometown guys.

In the American League, the MLB’s final voting update had Eric Hosmer leading Miguel Cabrera at first base even when Miggy has a better on-base percentage and five more home runs. Mark Trumbo sits in the fifth spot in the outfield even though he is hitting in the .280s and has the major league lead in home runs. Ian Desmond, who has been one of the best hitters in the game is currently behind Lorenzo Cain, Alex Gordon and Jose Bautista. Heck, even though Royals fans weren’t as impactful as they were last season, Omar Infante is still fourth among second baseman and Alcides Escobar is second among shortstops.

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The National League is worse. Addison Russell is solidly in line to start over Corey Seager, Trevor Story, Brandon Crawford and Aledmys Diaz with only a .238 batting average and nine long balls. Yadier Molina, a multiple-time starter and fan favorite, leads Buster Posey even though he is hitting over 30 points less. However, neither should even sniff the starting spot with the years Wilson Ramos and Jonathan Lucroy are having. Also, position leaders Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant are having All Star caliber seasons, but they should not be starting over the likes of Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. The National League outfield looks alright, but it shouldn’t be a good feeling when you are surprised when a position is voted on somewhat justifiably.

While some of these players aren’t set to start and some vote leaders are deserving all stars, the fact that some of the players who lead in votes over others just shows how much of a laughingstock this process is. Blaming the fans would be irresponsible, however. Fans should have a connection to their team and want to see their players play in front of the baseball world. It is the responsibility of the league to put the players that are having the best seasons in the starting lineup, which is the main reason for having the All Star Game.

Now what should the solution be? The process needs to be improved, but how does the MLB keep the fans involved and get the right players in? For this answer you need to look no further than the NFL’s Pro Bowl. Say what you want about the NFL’s All Star Game, but pretty much the only thing they get right is how they come to the pool of players that are originally chosen to play.

As a league, the NFL still allows the fans to take part in the process, but they are not the end all be all; the fans are actually only a third of the vote. The majority of the vote actually comes from the people directly involved in the league, with players and coaches each getting a third of the vote.

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Major League Baseball needs to follow this protocol exactly. Yes, there are always going to be snubs in every all star game, but the voting process is the reason the NFL has much fewer misses. Fans, players and coaches all bring their own biases to the table, but combining the three of them will add up to an assuredly better result. There would also be so much more prestige in being selected knowing that your coaches and your peers voted you in rather than only the fans.

This should not only be done for the starting lineups, but for the bench players and pitchers too. Managers currently have the right to fill out their bench and pitching staff, but we’ve often seen managers go with their own guys or have interesting elections because of position flexibility. However, this method would cut much of that out, and the players who are really deserving will be able to call themselves all stars.

But the only caveat to this rule would be that there needs to still be one player from every team. This is absolutely a contradiction of my idea of the best of the best, but the MLB All Star game should be a celebration of every fanbase, which is the reason too that the fans are still getting a piece of the vote. We should never forget that the fans are who the league is trying to entertain and this is a major part of what the fans look forward to.

The other heavily-discussed question is whether this would make the game more worthy of determining World Series home advantage? It absolutely would because it would be a better representation of the premier players from every team in the league and it would add further competitiveness because there would be more of a sense that you are competing against the best. The home field advantage rule has its positives and negatives, but changing to this selection process would certainly help with getting the best out of both leagues.

The voting process needs to be fixed, and while there are many changes that could be made, switching to this format would keep the fans involved, help players that are deserving get on the team and increase the competitiveness of the game overall. Comissioner Rob Manfred I hope you’re listening.

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Do you think the MLB All Star game voting process should be changed? If so, what are some of your ideas? Let us know in the comment section below.

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