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Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: here’s a way to protest the All-Star game

By Alan Carpenter

Nov 8, 2016; Des Moines, IA, USA; Voters arrive to cast their ballot at the Mickle Center on election day in Des Moines. Mandatory Credit: Michael Zamora/Des Moines Register via USA TODAY NETWORK
Nov 8, 2016; Des Moines, IA, USA; Voters arrive to cast their ballot at the Mickle Center on election day in Des Moines. Mandatory Credit: Michael Zamora/Des Moines Register via USA TODAY NETWORK /
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May 16, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) celebrates scoring a run in the ninth inning during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
May 16, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) celebrates scoring a run in the ninth inning during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /

If you use the fangraphs offensive component of WAR*, then here are your actual All-Stars as of yesterday:

* – I used this value since – excepting extraordinary circumstances – All-Stars are based on offensive prowess and not their defensive abilities.  That’s also (unfortunately) the reason Ender Inciarte doesn’t appear anywhere.

As you can see, some of the results in this early update are actually right.  Others, however, aren’t even close.

Let’s take Jason Heyward, for instance.  3rd-highest vote-getter despite a horrid season in 2016 and only passable now.

Using those fangraphs numbers (min 150 PA), Heyward is the twentieth ranked NL outfielder right now.  Matt Kemp is actually 4th.  Heck, the Pirates’ Gregory Polanco is better!

At shortstop, the Reds Zack Cozart is leading by a mile… by he’s mired well back in third place.

This is just bad.

So How Can This Ever Change?

With MLB allowing 35 votes per person (or technically per email/per IP address), if I were a conniving General Manager, I would hire an army of high school students to create email addresses and vote 35 times each on every device they could find.

Or, suppose I’m an agent and my clients gets a bonus for making the All-Star team.  It’s then worth the effort to hire the same army to push my player several thousand – maybe even hundreds of thousands – of votes closer to the game.

You know somebody is going to exploit these ballot-stuffing rules… heck, entire cities of partisan fans are clearly doing that already.

So I say… join ’em.

The only way to fix such issues is to show everyone just how ridiculous they actually are.  It’s an exercise in illustrating absurdity by being absurd.

I want to vote in the WORST players on the ballot.

If you can’t overcome a pack of rabid fans, then perhaps the rest of the country needs to unite behind a slate of misfits.  Make the All-Star starters so bad that Something Will Have To Be Done.

So here’s the list… the worst players on the ballot:

Position – NL representative / AL representative

C –   Austin Hedges*/Mike Zunino

1B – Tommy Joseph/Mike Napoli

2B – Jonathan Villar/Rougned Odor

3B – Maikel Franco/Nick Castellanos

SS – Dansby Swanson (gulp)/Alcides Escobar

OF – Carlos Gonzalez, Odubel Herrera, Kyle Schwarber** /

        Alex Gordon, Kole Calhoun, Rajai Davis

DH – Brandon Moss**

* – Yadi Molina is actually worse offensively, but he’s also wanted by the masses… which is exactly what we don’t want!

** – Even Cubs’ fans couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Schwarber, though he beats out Gorkys Hernandez only because Hernandez isn’t on the ballot.

*** – Moss is hitting .190; Beltran is worse, but people would want him too.

Yep – sorry, Braves fans, but Dansby is making this dubious list too.

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