By: Nick LaPorte, 7/3/2019
When the MLB All-Star reserves were announced on Sunday, overshadowed by the start of NBA Free Agency, one mistake was so glaring it was hard to forget. Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts was left off the team, with the AL instead going with Francisco Lindor. There were other opportunities for the MLB managers to correct this, but somehow Bogaerts slipped through the cracks and missed the All-Star team.
At the time, it was nothing short of a disaster, in my eyes. Bogaerts has been one of the best players in baseball this season, with 3.8 WAR. He trails only Cody Bellinger, Christian Yelich, and Mike Trout, all of whom were voted in as starters by fans. The very first reserve spot should have gone to Bogaerts, before making any decisions about positional fit, the minimum number of players per team, or any other reason. Simply put, with Bogaerts’ 2019 resume, his numbers speak loudly enough to justify an automatic bid. While Red Sox teammates JD Martinez and Mookie Betts did make the team, Bogaerts has the strongest case of any player in Boston.
One issue that led to this failure to choose Bogaerts was the positional setup of the team. Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco has a case, as the 4th best shortstop in the AL and the starter on a first-place team. The fact that Polanco made it is no issue. But Francisco Lindor, the Indians’ phenomenal young shortstop, was chosen as a reserve instead of Bogaerts. Last year, Lindor was an MVP-candidate, finishing 3rd in baseball in WAR. But this year, in an injury-shortened season, Lindor has been the 7th best shortstop in the AL, with 2.2 WAR. Lindor is closer to Manny Machado than Bogaerts this season, and his All-Star selection is a sham.
The All-Star Game will be held in Cleveland this season, in a ballpark where Lindor happens to be the star player. In years past, the supposed “Star” of a team generally makes the All-Star team and acts as a pseudo-host for the festivities. Bryce Harper, last year in DC, made the All-Star team in a year in which he was not a top-20 player in the NL. But the difference here is that Harper was voted in by fans; at least you can argue he deserved to go because the fans demanded it. The fans, this year, did not demand Lindor to be in the game. In fact, Cleveland fans probably would have voted more if Lindor was at the level we have grown accustomed to. But the fact of the matter is Lindor took Bogaerts’ spot when he did not deserve it.
Now, with the news of Angels All-Star Tommy La Stella missing the next 8 weeks on the IL, the MLB had a chance to make up for their poor decision to leave Bogaerts off the team. Reason prevailed, and Bogaerts has been added to the team as an injury replacement. Bogaerts’ hard work, and impressive numbers will be noticed when he’s among the game’s great players in Cleveland early next week. But this is baseball making amends for their incorrect decision to snub Bogaerts in the first place, and it comes off insincere to me.
Xander Bogaerts is an All-Star, and maybe that’s all that matters now. But the fan vote failed him, and the managers failed him. It shouldn’t take an injury to another star player to get Bogaerts in the All-Star game; a game which he deserves to start.
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