Pat Burrell the All-Star

I completely agree, jonk. I made the case for Burrell way back on May 6. Then, his OPS was 1.080, and it hasn’t really dropped much—it’s now 1.027 (excluding last night’s game against the Red Sox).

I hate the way the All-Star Game is run pretty much through and through. I don’t think fans should get to vote for the starting lineup, because they currently have Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Ken Griffey, Jr. as the starting three in the outfield. The former two are semi-deserving (behind Burrell, Bay, and Ryan Ludwick) and, sadly, Griffey is not even close.

The Cubs and Astros seem to have come out and voted in full force, as they each have a player in the top-five at every non-outfield, non-pitcher position, and two apiece in the top nine among outfielders. The Cubs have played a lot of home games though (37) and the Astros have not (33). The Phillies have played 35 at home.

I think, because of all of the homer votes, Burrell will probably be undeservingly sitting on the bench in the first inning of the All-Star game. So will Ludwick, unfortunately.

As much as I used to hate Pat, he is playing well this year. Actually I would add that I would consider extending his contract a few more years. If he leaves, how are you gonna get to replace him, and at what price. Heck, Feliz makes 7 mil and Eaton is making more than that.

Burrell’s VORP is up to 33.1 with last night’s performance even. He’s not just someone who should be considered for the all-star game. He should be getting MVP mentions. If MVP is supposed to at least be partially related to the effect you have on the outcome of games nad not just numbers out of context, it should be noted he leads the league in Win Percentage Added by a sizable margin. He’s at 4.48, ahead of Berkamn at 4.14. No other NL player is even above 2.85.

BTW, Feliz only makes $3MM, not $7MM.

Burrell’s performance this year has been a delight and he’s fully deserving of an all-star game start. I hope he makes it, though sadly it doesn’t seem like the fans will put him in.

Every year, I get less and less outraged by the “popularity contest” aspect of the fan vote. It’s a little annoying, but not a huge deal. If the fans want to give a lifetime achievement award to Griffey, I can live with it.

Even if you went by merit alone, the system would still be flawed because there are different ways to interpret merit. Most people assume that whoever has the best stats at the break should get in. But lots of mediocrities have had great first halves over the years. Oftentimes those guys will fall back to earth in the second half. I think a steady performer should get priority over someone like that, even if his first-half performance in one given year might be a little inferior.

This is especially common for starting pitchers. You’re judging all-star eligibility every year based on only 15-20 starts, and there can be a tremendous amount of variance. You end up with situations where the best pitchers of their generations sometimes make it to very few all-star games. Bert Blyleven only made the all-star team twice in his very long career, for instance. Tim Hudson’s only made it twice.

But anyway, I agree that Burrell should make it, though I think he should be compared to all outfielders, not just left fielders. Probably won’t change the final analysis.