St. Louis Cardinals: The All-Star voting conundrum

Every year, All-Star voting can be greatly skewed and distorted by a variety of unworthy votes, and some of the biggest offenders outside of the St. Louis Cardinals all fall into the same category.

Exhibit A: Loving a legend

While it sometimes happens because fans are attempting to pay homage to legends like with Cal Ripken in 2001, there are also situations like in 2010 where a legend coming up on the end of his career is given a pass in favor of another great player who clearly deserved to make it over.

A prime example of this is Derek Jeter‘s election to the team in 2010 and 2011. While his election in 2012 had some merit, Jeter was clearly undeserving in these two years. He was 9th among shortstops in both WAR and batting average while playing below league average on defense in the first half of 2010.

2011 was even worse. Jeter was not 9th, but 19th in WAR among shortstops at the break. His OPS was just .683, and he was once again below average on defense. People will favor the names of legends simply because that legendary status makes casual spectators assume that they’re playing great.

If Jeter announced his retirement in one of those years and got elected like he did in 2014, that would be understandable. But here, he didn’t earn his All-Star spot based on merit, but on reputation.

In the St. Louis Cardinals’ case, Buster Posey‘s reputation as an offensive player is more appealing for an All-Star Game than Yadi’s defensive talents, despite Yadi having more home runs. However, it’s the reputation of Posey as a hitter that pushes him over Yadi in this case