Vote for Pablo, Chone

Posted by Eric Polsky on Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at 4:26 am

Who are you gonna vote for? I’m voting for Pablo Sandoval, who do you think?

I am also voting for Chone Figgins. Like, what are their skills, you ask? Well, they have sweet bikes, and they are really good at hooking up with chicks. Plus, they are like the only guys at school who have a mustache.

I’ll spare you from further references to Napoleon Dynamite and his presidential candidate Pedro Sanchez, but I am voting for Pablo Sandoval and Figgins for the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote.  I’ll explain below, but first lets take a look at which players were snubbed from the All-Star teams and the questionable decisions that managers Joe Maddon and Charlie Manuel made in their selection process:

American League

First, here’s who was selected for the AL as broken down by team:
Boston – Kevin Youkilis, Josh Beckett, Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Jason Bay, Tim Wakefield
New York – Mark Teixeira, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter
Tampa Bay – Jason Bartlett, Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford, Ben Zobrist
Toronto – Roy Halladay, Aaron Hill
Baltimore – Adam Jones
Detroit – Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson, Curtis Granderson
Chicago – Mark Buehrle
Minnesota – Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan
Kansas City – Zack Grienke
Cleveland – Victor Martinez
Los Angeles – Brian Fuentes, Torii Hunter
Texas – Josh Hamilton, Michael Young
Seattle – Ichiro, Felix Hernandez
Oakland – Andrew Bailey

Here are the biggest snubs:

Miguel Cabrera, DET – At first base in the AL, Teixeira was voted in by the fans as the starter and Youkilis and Morneau were selected as reserves. Then, Maddon selected Rays 1B Carlos Pena for the 33rd man Final Vote. Cabrera has a right to be upset, as he definitely has better numbers than Pena, and arguably has better numbers than Youk’:
Cabrera: .324 BA, 16 HR, 47 RBI, .951 OPS;
Pena: .232 BA, 23 HR, 55 RBI, .901 OPS;
Youkilis: .301 BA, 14 HR, 47 RBI, 1.008 OPS. 
Perhaps some favoritism is involved here in Maddon’s selection of Pena over Cabrera for the fan vote.  Let’s see if Miguel puts that in his back pocket for next time he faces the Rays.

Jermaine Dye, CHW – Granderson was selected as a reserve, and Adam Lind was selected for the 33rd man final vote. But lets look at the numbers:
Dye – .291 BA, 49 R, 20 HR, 51 RBI, .935 OPS
Granderson – .255 BA, 51 R, 18 HR, 43 RBI, .802 OPS
Lind – .310 BA, 49 R, 18 HR, 57 RBI, .944 OPS
Dye clearly has better numbers than Granderson, and his numbers are just a notch below Lind’s, but Lind’s primarily a DH.  In addition to the numbers, the White Sox should have more than one representative (Buehrle). Detroit (44 wins), Toronto (43 wins) and Chicago (42 wins) have nearly the same record, and Detroit’s got two reps in Verlander and Jackson, and Toronto’s already got two in Halladay and Hill.  A selection of Dye here would have evened things out.  Either Dye should have been selected as the ChiSox’s second rep, or…

…Bobby Jenks, CHW should have. Jenks’ numbers are arguably better than Fuentes’ numbers:
Jenks – 28.2 IP, 28 K, 19/21 Save opps, 1.05 WHIP, 3.14 ERA
Fuentes – 29.1 IP, 32 K, 24/27 Save opps, 1.23 WHIP, 3.38 ERA
But, Fuentes stands as the Angels’ second rep (with Hunter), and given that the Angels are in first place, they need at least two. Although a better solution would have been if the AL selected this next snub…

…Jered Weaver, LAA instead of a different starter, Wakefield. This should have been done anyway. Here’s the numbers:
Weaver – 8-3, 113.1 IP, 92 K, 1.12 WHIP, 3.02 ERA
Wakefield – 10-3, 102.2 IP, 53 K, 1.35 WHIP, 4.30 ERA
I understand that Wakefield probably got consideration because he had never made an All-Star team, but the truth is that Wakefield wasn’t deserving of the spot over other players. His ten wins mask a high ERA and WHIP, and he’s the sixth selection for the Red Sox. No other team else comes close to that number, not even Maddon’s boys with four.  The BoSox have 49 wins, which is nice, but not deserving of two or three more players than everyone else.

David Aardsma, SEA – An even better case could also be made for Aardsma over Fuentes or Wakefield.  Compare his numbers to Fuentes’s and Wakefield’s above:
Aardsma – 38.1 IP, 48 K, 17/18 Save opps, 6 holds, 1.15 WHIP, 1.41 ERA.

So those five players should have been selected for the team. But these next five players were selected for the final man vote:

3B Chone Figgins, LAA – .311 BA, 63 R, 25 RBI, 24 SB, .797 OPS 
3B Brandon Inge, DET – .266 BA, 19 HR, 54 RBI, .867 OPS  
2B Ian Kinsler, TEX – .253 BA, 20 HR, 53 RBI, 16 SB, .831 OPS    
DH Adam Lind, TOR – .310 BA,  49 R, 18 HR, 57 RBI, .944 OPS  
1B Carlos Pena, TB – .231 BA, 23 HR, 55 RBI, .898 OPS 

Based on merit and numbers alone, Lind or Figgins should get your vote. Then if we consider that the Tigers have three reps and Rays have four, while the others here have two each, then we should only be looking at Lind, Figgins and Kinsler.  Kinsler would be a bigger name than Lind or Figgins, but his numbers just aren’t as worthy this year. It’s pretty clear to me that either Lind or Figgins deserve your vote. I give the edge to Figgins here for a few reasons:

1. Lind plays mostly as DH (while the game’s being played in an NL park without a DH). Figgins plays a decent third base (.963 FP, 8 errors) and has two games at second base and one in the OF to boot. The AL could really use the multi-position eligibility later on in the game, especially because they are currently carrying only four middle infielders.
2. Figgins is an eight year veteran who has played well throughout his career and deserves an All-Star nod, while this is only Lind’s first full season as a regular.
3. If elected, Figgins will pay tribute to his favorite player, Ozzie Smith, and do a backflip when arriving at his position.  That would be great for hometown Cardinals fans and it would be worth the price of admission alone.

National League

The AL’s selection process was sloppy, but the NL and Charlie Manuel had some blunders of their own. First, here’s a breakdown of All-Stars by NL team:

Philadelphia – Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Raul Ibanez
Florida – Hanley Ramirez, Josh Johnson
New York – David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Francisco Rodriguez, Johan Santana
Atlanta – Brian McCann
Washington – Ryan Zimmerman
St. Louis – Albert Pujols, Bengie Molina, Ryan Franklin
Milwaukee – Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun
Chicago – Ted Lilly
Cincinnati – Francisco Cordero
Houston – Miguel Tejada, Hunter Pence
Pittsburgh – Freddy Sanchez
Los Angeles – Orlando Hudson, Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton
San Francisco – Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum
Colorado – Brad Hawpe, Jason Marquis
San Diego – Adrian Gonzalez, Heath Bell
Arizona – Dan Haren, Justin Upton

Here are the NL’s biggest snubs:

Pablo Sandoval, SF & Mark Reynolds, ARZ – Both of these guys were snubbed in favor of Zimmerman as the backup third baseman to starter-elect Wright. Here’s the numbers:
Sandoval – .332 BA, 13 HR, 48 RBI, .958 OPS
Reynolds – .269 BA, 24 HR, 61 RBI, .918 OPS
Zimmerman – .293 BA, 13 HR, 47 RBI, .840 OPS
Sandoval and Reynolds are clearly having better seasons than Zimmerman. Both are in the 33rd man vote (see below). Zimmerman was selected as the Nationals’ representative, but that problem could have been solved by selecting the next snub…

…Adam Dunn, WAS, over a group of players named Pence, Upton, Howard and Hudson:
Dunn – .266 BA, 22 HR, 59 RBI, .948 OPS
Pence – .302 BA, 11 HR, 34 RBI, .862 OPS
Upton – .300 BA, 15 HR, 48 RBI, .927 OPS
Howard – .252 BA, 20 HR, 61 RBI, .841 OPS
Hudson – .288 BA, 5 HR, 41 RBI, .770 OPS
While we’re discussing this group, lets also toss in the snubbed Matt Kemp, LAD:
Kemp – .305 BA, 10 HR, 44 RBI, .843 OPS
Its strange to think in terms of an outfielder being considered as a snub over a first baseman or second baseman. But that is because Manuel selected his boy Howard as a fourth first baseman behind starter Pujols and reserves Gonzalez and Fielder, and because Hudson was selected as a third second baseman behind starter Utley and reserve Sanchez.  Unless the game goes well into extra innings, how can Manuel find game time for all four of the first basemen? It seems that Manuel and Maddon (with his selection of Lind) mistakenly thought DH rules applied (or that St. Louis is in the AL). And if another utility player is what the NL wanted, then they could have left O-Dog for the final vote.
Dunn and Kemp also have better numbers than Pence, and an argument can be made that they are better selections than Upton of the last place Diamondbacks, who already had Haren as a representative. What is definitely clear is that Dunn would have been a better representative of Washington than his teammate Zimmerman.  Dunn wasn’t even given consideration for the 33rd man vote, and somehow teammate Cristian Guzman was selected (more on that below).  Unlike Dunn, Kemp is in the 33rd man vote.
Yovani Gallardo, MIL & Johnny Cueto, CIN – There were a lot of deserving pitchers (but mostly Gallardo and Cueto) that were snubbed in favor of Jason Marquis. Just look:
Gallardo – 8-5, 104.2 IP, 114 K, 2.75 ERA, 1.15 WHIP
Cueto – 8-4, 103.2 IP, 78 K, 2.69 ERA, 1.12 WHIP
Marquis – 10-5, 109.1 IP, 51 K, 3.87 ERA, 1.31 WHIP
Marquis was tied for the lead in wins and is playing in Coors, but in what dehumidified world does two additional wins outweigh that difference in strikeouts and more than a run of ERA? With the credit given to Wakefield for his wins by the AL, and the credit given to Marquis for his, it seems that wins are being terribly overvalued. Wins are arguably meaningless statistics as compared to the other pitching stats. Wins are determined by numerous factors aside from the starting pitcher’s performance, including the pitcher’s team’s offense, defense, bullpen, strength of schedule, and the opposing pitcher.  But even if wins were considered valuable, we’re only talking about a difference of two more wins for the All-Star selections than the players they snubbed. 

Finally, lets look at the NL’s Final Vote candidates:
SS Cristian Guzman, WAS – .318 BA, 41 R, 21 RBI, .752 OPS
OF Matt Kemp, LAD – .305 BA, 10 HR, 44 RBI, .843 OPS
3B Mark Reynolds, ARZ – .269 BA, 24 HR, 61 RBI, .918 OPS
3B Pablo Sandoval, SF – .332 BA, 13 HR, 48 RBI, .958 OPS
OF Shane Victorino, PHI – .300 BA, 60 R, 6 HR, 39 RBI, 13 SB, .839 OPS

The fact that Guzman was selected for this vote in the first place is questionable because he’d be the second rep for the 24-win Nationals. But if Manuel just had to pick a second National, the fact that he selected Guzman over teammate Dunn is a complete joke. The NL already has five middle infielders, with Sanchez able to play some shortstop if needed (55 career games there).
Victorino is pretty comparable to Kemp in terms of production, and the Phillies and Dodgers each have three reps. But if you take into account that the Dodgers have 9 more wins than the Phillies, you’d have to give the edge to Kemp if you wanted a sixth outfielder for this squad.  You also have to question Manuel’s selection of Victorino here and Howard as the fourth first base reserve and say he’s blatantly showing favoritism for his own players. But he did earn the right to do that, so if anyone wants to complain, then they should manage a team to the World Series…
Sandoval and Reynolds play the same position and the edge there goes to Sandoval, even if you just consider that his Giants lead the wild card with 44 wins and that Arizona’s in last place in the NL West with 33 wins. 
So, the choice comes down to Kemp vs. Sandoval. My vote is for Pablo, based on the following:

1. Sandoval is having a better season statistically. 
2. Sandoval can also play catcher (3 games this year, 11 last year), and the NL is surprisingly only carrying two of those when All-Star teams often carry three catchers. And even though they wont need him at first base unless the game goes into the 20th inning, he can play there too.  At his regular position, third base, Pablo’s solid (3 errors, .978 fielding percentage). Kemp’s not too shabby in the outfield (2 errors, .991) and can play all three spots, however.
3. LA’s in first place by 8 games, and they currently have three selections while the Giants have two. Selecting Kemp would give the Dodgers a 4-2 edge, but selecting Pablo would even out the Dodgers-Giants rivalry at 3-3.
4. While Kemp’s a solid player, with “Kung Fu Panda” Pablo, MLB could be looking at a marketable stud in the mold of a young David Ortiz.  We all know that we need more of those types of guys around.  So Vote for Pablo. And Chone. I really want to see that backflip.