Fantasy Baseball Manager of the Year

2006 American League “All Snubs”

July 12, 2006 — As usual, this year's American League All-Star team is an excellent squad. Still, based on MOTY#s, there were a handful of players who were passed over for, to be blunt, less deserving guys.

Happens every year, for several reasons:

• The starting lineups are determined by the fans’ vote, and let's be honest, while a majority of the players who the fans pick are deserving, there are always some who get the nod based on reputation. It's a popularity contest.

• Players on large market teams (i.e. New York, Chicago) enjoy the obvious advantage of having more fans stuffing the ballot box for them. Small market players … “Sorry, what was your name again? … Thanks for playing. Don't call us, we'll call you.”

• The MLB “every team must be represented” mandate to help ensure small market teams have a representative. While we understand the rationale, epsecially from a marketing stand point, there's always a more deserving player left off the team so that teams like the Royals, Rays and Bucs can have a representative.

Admittedly, MOTY#s don't take a player’s defense into account, so that does call for something of a disclaimer, most especially for hitters. Pitchers, not as much, but hitters, yes, defense needs to be given its due. Then again, Alfonso Soriano’s (WAS) 2006 election by the fans makes him a five-time All-Star despite his historical defensive liabilities, notably at 2b. So, go figure.

With that, this MOTY Talk highlights the players who really should have made the All-Star team, but didn’t. (Keep in mind, stats are through Sunday July 2, the end of Week 13, — the deadline for the fans' vote.)

American League “All Snubs”

Instead of making the All-Star team, these guys got a 3-day fishing trip or golf vacation … also known as “the short end of the stick.”

Didn't ANYONE in Cleveland vote? How is Travis Hafner, the #1 AL hitter in the MOTY Week 13 YTD rankings, not an All-Star? He should be there. End of story. If not via the fan vote or reserve selection, certainly by the Final Man Vote. Of course, someone's going to say he's just a DH, but … so are Big Papi and Thome. While both hit more homers than Travis, he leads them in avg. and ops., and scored more runs than Ortiz.

Okay, so he doesn't supplant those two fan favorites, but what about Konerko? Hafner beats him in 3-of-5 categories plus ops, and only trails in avg. by 0.002 pts. At the very least, there is no way — none — that Pierzynski should be in Pittsburgh and Hafner not.

Carl Crawford should be an All-Star. Magglio Ordonez and Gary Matthews, Jr. are having very nice years. And reputation carried Vlad to Pittsburgh despite a terrible fist-half slump. Truth is, one of these guys should be at home and Crawford should be in Pennsylvania.

Raul Ibanez has a decent case, too. As does Carlos Guillen over Michael Young, who, remarkably, has only hit 7 hr through July 2.

We love Pudge Rodriguez, arguably the greatest defensive catcher ever, which has a lot to do with his selection. That and his role in the maturation of Detroit's young starting rotation. But this is a “reputation” vote — Mauer should be starting, and Victor Martinez should be the backup.

Why is Tad Iguchi on this list? Because Mark Loretta's 3 hr and 2 sb don't feel like All-Star numbers. And Iguchi bests Loretta, MOTY#-wise, by more than 5.00 points.

True, Jered Weaver has only started 6 games in this his rookie season. But they were all starts — and all wins — for a 100% winning pct. And check out those crazy good ratios. Keep in mind, he started the season in the minors, got the call, was sent back, called back up and never missed a beat.

While we understand Weaver “The Younger” not making the team, Joe Nathan got the big snub. Yes, he only posted 14 saves through Week 13, but that number, in large part, is due to how the Twins started the season — terribly. Not his fault the save opps weren't there. Notice, too, that he's won 5 games, which for a closer smells like “blown saves.” Not so. Nathan's yet to lose a game. As if that wasn't impressive enough, what would you give for a 11.75 K/bb? An All-Star vote maybe?

Of the remaining guys, pick a starter, any starter, and you've got a better All-Star candidate than either Barry Zito or Mark Redman. Yep, Zito has posted 8 wins and 88 strikeouts, but he's also walked 56 batters and lost 5 games for a 62% winning percentage. Quick hint as to why these two pitchers made the roster — no other Athletics or Royals did. So Schilling, Mussina, Ervin and Bonderman are at home so that Oakland and K.C. can have a hat in the lineup. Oh, well.

Starting Lineup

Manny Ramirez was actually elected to the starting lineup by the fans, but bowed out to rest his knee. While Magglio Ordonez got the nod to replace him on the roster, Vernon Wells takes his spot in the starting lineup.

Also, Kenny Rogers was the AL starting pitcher by manager Ozzie Guillen.

Reserves

Alex Rios won't play due to injury. So Gary Matthews Jr., who had a really nice first half, will replace hime — Matthews was the next-highest vote getter among outfielders. Similar situation for Jose Lopez, who is replacing Robinson Cano after he went on the DL. Truthfully, Lopez could easily be the starter at 2b for the AL.

And, justice being served, Francisco Liriano, who should've made the team easily (forget the Final Man Vote), made the squad last minute, replacing Jose Contreras, who pitched Sunday.

Final Man Candidates

A.J. Pierzynski won the AL Final Man Vote. How he beat any and all of the other four guys in the running is a mystery. And a testament to the White Sox fans voting en masse. By MOTY#, he's not even the best catcher on this list. Way to go Baltimore fans! Fortunately, Liriano found his way to PNC Park, where he deserves to be.

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