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The "Correct" All-Star Team Rosters

USA TODAY Sports

Based on fWAR, I have devised the "correct" All-Star rosters for both the American and National Leagues. This doesn't take roster-building into account, and was made only with the following considerations:

  1. Minimum of 2 players for each infield position
  2. Minimum of 6 outfielders
  3. Minimum of 4 relief pitchers
  4. Representation rule enforced

So, here are the lineups:

American		fWAR	National		fWAR
C  Joe Mauer		3.3	C  Yadier Molina	4.0
1B Chris Davis		4.5	1B Paul Goldscmidt	3.9
2B Dustin Pedroia	3.5	2B Matt Carpenter	4.0
3B Miguel Cabrera	5.7	3B David Wright		4.5
SS Jhonny Peralta	2.5	SS Evereth Cabrera	3.4
LF Mike Trout		5.1	LF Carlos Gonzolez	4.2
CF Jacoby Ellsbury	3.3	CF Carlos Gomez		5.0
RF Jose Bautista	3.5	RF Gerardo Parra	2.6
DH David Ortiz		2.5		
P  Max Sherzer		3.9	P  Adam Wainwright	4.4
				
C  Jason Castro		2.2	C  Buster Posey		3.0
1B Edwin Encarnacion	2.6	C  Russell Martin	3.9
2B Jason Kipnis		3.3	1B Joey Votto		3.6
2B Robinson Cano#	3.1	2B Brandon Phillips	1.8
3B Evan Longoria	4.3	3B Pedro Alvarez	2.4
3B Josh Donaldson	4.2	3B Todd Frazier		2.4
3B Manny Machado	4.2	SS Ian Desmond		3.2
SS Yunel Escobar	2.0	SS Jean Segura		3.0
OF Colby Rasmus		3.0	OF Andrew McCutchen	4.0
OF Alex Gordon		2.4	OF Starling Marte	3.3
OF Brett Gardner	2.4	OF Dexter Fowler	2.6
				OF Shin-Soo Choo	2.5
				
SP Derek Holland	3.7	SP Matt Harvey		4.3
SP Felix Hernandez	3.4	SP Clayton Kershaw	3.6
SP Chris Sale		3.4	SP Cliff Lee		3.5
SP Yu Darvish*		3.1	SP Homer Bailey		2.9
SP Justin Verlander^	3.0	SP Mat Latos		2.8
SP Doug Fister		2.5	SP Mike Minor#		2.0
SP Bartolo Colon^	2.5	SP Patrick Corbin	2.6
SP Justin Masterson	2.4	SP Jeff Samardzija	2.4
SP James Shields	2.4	SP Jose Fernandez#	1.8
SP Hiroki Kuroda@	2.2	RP Jason Grilli		1.7
SP Bud Norris@		2.1	RP Mark Melancon	1.5
SP C.J. Wilson@		2.1	RP Bobby Parnell	1.3
RP Jessie Crain*	2.0	RP Trevor Rosenthal	1.2
RP Greg Holland		1.5
RP Joe Nathan		1.5
RP Drew Smyly		1.5	
RP Addison Reed@	1.3

*Injured
^Inactive
@ Injury/Inactive Replacement
# "Unqualfied" representation rule addition.

The American league has one "representation" player, and it's a New York Yankee of all things! The victim of Cano's inclusion is Kyle Seager (3.5 WAR)... who would have been off the roster anyway since there are already 3 3B reserves on the team (Longoria, Machado, and Josh Donaldson). Cano is the 3rd highest WAR among AL 2B.(Note: With the Yu Darvish injury, the Yankees Hiroki Kuroda gets included as his replacement)

The National League has two players who got in only because of the need to represent all 15 teams. One is not a surprise, it's the Miami Marlins. The direct victim of Fernandez's presence is Jordan Zimmerman (2.6 WAR). There are, however, 6 other pitchers who have higher WAR than Fernandez:

Player			fWAR
Jhoulys Chacin		2.4
Jorge de la Rosa	2.3
Shelby Miller		2.2
Travis Wood		2.1
Stephen Strasburg	1.9
Madison Bumgarner	1.8

While it is somewhat sad to see our best player that far down the totem pole, it is nice to see that he is almost as qualified (based on WAR) as "snub" Strasburg and as well as All-Stars Madison Bumgarner and Shelby Miller. Also "forcing" his way onto the NL pitching staff is Mike Minor, who leads the Braves with 2.0 WAR. Lance Lynn is his victim (2.5 WAR).

In either case, I'd like to know what you think of these rosters, how they compare to the "real" All-Star rosters, and how (if at all) this affects your opinion on how All-Star rosters are selected.

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