The All-Star teams were just announced, and fans and players were not pleased with some of the snubs. The two most popular snubs were Rays pitcher Blake Snell and Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar. Aguilar is likely to get in on the final ballot, but you would think that the NL leader in home runs would get in right away. There are many reasons why the All-Star voting is not good, so here are three ideas to fix it:
Open the Voting Later
Voting for the All-Star game begins way too early. It opens a month before the All-Star game, so players can get hot or cold in that time. Voting should open two or three days before the rosters are revealed. Fans would know the best players are, making snubs less likely. Justin Verlander tweeted, “we vote waaay too early. Could easily punch in our votes on an iPad a couple days before instead of the old school envelope weeks before.”
Alex Cora said that he and his staff voted when the Red Sox were in Seattle. The Red Sox were in Seattle from June 14th-17th. Since then, previously mentioned snub Jesus Aguilar is hitting .351 with 12 home runs, most in the MLB in that span. If the voting was later, Aguilar would most likely be on the initial team.
Make It Clear Who Votes
The overall voting for the game is a mess. Players, fans, and coaches vote, and who votes for what positions and starters or reserves are very confusing. If it was up to me, I would cut off fan voting. Fans are biased, and casuals will only vote for their favorites and do not know the league well enough. Most snubs are from small market teams because fans never hear about them and do not know their stats. Players and coaches have a deep understanding of the game and every player in the league. Assuming they take it seriously, player and coach voting would get the most deserving players in the game. Going back to the Verlander quote, the players and coaches should just vote online in a few minutes a couple days before the team is revealed.
Have Nobody Vote
Carlos Pena of the MLB Network suggested that someone make a formula to get the best players in. Basically, whoever has the best stats gets in. It doesn’t matter what team you are on, and what the record of your team is. Not a single person votes and the best players get in, simple as that. It takes out all human error of fan and market bias. I do not think coaches and players would be biased because they should be professional, but the formula would take out any bias. This is my favorite idea because all human error is taken out. Only the stats matter, so it is basically impossible to have any snubs. I like all the ideas and hope the MLB, and all other leagues find a way to get the most deserving players in the All-Star game.
Agree or disagree? Let me know your thoughts on twitter @Pr1m3_Kyr1e