Omar Infante? Really?!? The super-utility guy for the Atlanta Braves an All-Star?
Joey Votto? Ryan Zimmerman? Where for art thou, Charlie Manuel?
The problem is, Infante, a nice Swiss Army Knife type of a player, is, well, not even a full-timer on his own team.
For Manuel to skip over obvious All-Star-deserving players like Votto (19 HR, 57 RBI, .313), who might be the N.L.'s first-half MVP, or Zimmerman (13, 40, .280) or teammate Adam Dunn (17, 49, .276) is not just a cause for concern.
It may be a cause to change the way All-Stars are chosen.
Yes, the fans vote in the starters and we've often thought that to be mostly a popularity contest. But even the fans wouldn't have whiffed so bad on this one. Check out the full rosters here.
So, what's so wrong with tabbing Infante? Let's look at his numbers:
1 HR, 22 RBI, 23 runs, .311, 9 doubles, 1 triple, 3 SB.
Get your science lab microscopes out, scrape off the sodium phosphate debris there, and tell me if you can find anything that says All-Star.
Maybe I need my prescription triple-checked by Clark Kent's eye doctor.
But the most startling number is 164: number of at-bats, or about half what most every-day players have.
This head-scratcher will go on for some time. May live in infamy. Even Infante, when he got the call, thought first that he was traded and secondly that it was a joke.
Other notable omissions who likely have been keeping your fantasy team afloat: Mat Latos, Carlos Gonzalez, Carlos Marmol, Jered Weaver and Andy Pettitte.
Who do you think was 2010's biggest snub?
4 comments:
Totally Agree! If a player is a free-agent in 99% of all "fantasy leagues" how can he be an all-star? Manual's argument of finding somebody with the ability to play multiple positions holds no weight when you have an expanded roster already. Votto, Zimmerman, Gonzalez, and Glaus were all NL snubs. I think Jered Weaver was the biggest ommission in the AL. If I were an Angels fan with All-Star tix I'd be ticked! Paying big dollars for tickets for a game without Weaver but with Omar Infante would push any paying fan over the edge!
You do realize Infante is an EMERGENCY player who will not play until and unless the final player at a position gets injured, right? MLB instituted a rule requiring such a player for each roster. Wigginton is the AL's rep in that role.
Obviously you spend more time on fantasy baseball than reality baseball. Infante is a natural choice for reality baseball, due to the very reasons that you think he should not have been chosen, his ability to perform at an all star level at multiple positions or come off of the bench and provide that game changing at bat that he has done all season! I think Charlie Manuel may have a little better understanding of the game and his team's needs than you do!
No way Infante is even close to an All-Star. You need an emergency All-Star name Zimmerman, Glaus, or any EVERYDAY player that the novice baseball would would pay to see play. I think All-Star's are guys we pay to see play. I don't think anybody outside the Infante Family pays specifically to see him play baseball.
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