MLB All Star Game Starters and the Fantasy All Stars

Yesterday, MLB announced the results of the voting for the 86th MLB All Star game, and below are the starters for the American League and National League, along with my thoughts on some of the voting results. The fans vote for the players, but sometimes the best players do not get voted in to start the All Star game. I recall Yankees Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter being voted in as the American League starting shortstop when he wasn't the best player at his position. He is certainly not the only player who didn't deserve to start, but he is the player that comes to mind first for me.

Here are the starters for the American League and National League, per MLB.com:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
C: Salvador Perez, Royals
1B: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
2B: Jose Altuve, Astros
3B: Josh Donaldson, Blue Jays
SS: Alcides Escobar, Royals
OF: Mike Trout, Angels
OF: Lorenzo Cain, Royals
OF: Alex Gordon, Royals
DH: Nelson Cruz, Mariners

NATIONAL LEAGUE
C: Buster Posey, Giants
1B: Paul Goldschmidt, D-backs
2B: Dee Gordon, Marlins
3B: Todd Frazier, Reds
SS: Jhonny Peralta, Cardinals
OF: Bryce Harper, Nationals
OF: Matt Holliday, Cardinals
OF: Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins

My All Star game thoughts

From a fantasy point of view, we want to see the best hitter at each position start in the All Star game, so here is what the All Star game rosters would look like if the best hitter, as measured by wRC+, were voted in:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
C: Stephen Vogt, Athletics - 145 wRC+
1B: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers - 184 wRC+
2B: Jason Kipnis, Indians - 162 wRC+
3B: Josh Donaldson, Blue Jays / Manny Machado, Orioles - 142 wRC+
SS: Jose Iglesias, Tigers 113 wRC+
OF: Mike Trout, Angels - 180 wRC+
OF: Jose Bautista, Blue Jays - 152 wRC+
OF: J.D. Martinez, Tigers - 149 wRC+
DH: Nelson Cruz, Mariners - 158 wRC+

NATIONAL LEAGUE
C: Buster Posey, Giants -  149 wRC+
1B: Paul Goldschmidt, D-backs - 189 wRC+
2B: Joe Panik, Giants - 134 wRC+
3B: Todd Frazier, Reds - 158 wRC+
SS: Brandon Crawford, Giants - 129 wRC+
OF: Bryce Harper, Nationals - 223 wRC+
OF: Andrew McCutchen, Pirates - 147 wRC+
OF: Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins - 155 wRC+

As you can see the voters missed out on some excellent individual players in both leagues. Here are a few thoughts on players voted in.

American League

• Salvador Perez was voted in over A's catcher Stephen Vogt even though his wRC+ is 4% below league average right now, while Vogt is 47% above league average.
• Jason Kipnis is having the best year of his career, even though his power and speed totals are down, he is hitting .341 with a .419 OBP and a 4.8 fWAR
• Josh Donaldson has received more love from the national media, but Orioles young third baseman Manny Machado is having just as good a season as Donaldson is through the first three months. They are both hitting in the .290 range, and while Donaldson has one more home run and more RBI and runs scored, Machado's 13 stolen bases make his an excellent all star candidate.
• Royals fans did their job and voted for their favorite players, but Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain don't deserve to be all stars based on their wRC+ to date. Jose Bautista and J.D. Martinez are quietly having solid seasons at the dish.