Did anyone read this piece of garbage?

http://espn.go.com/blog/keith-law/insider/post/_/id/5283/five-players-who-belong-on-all-star-roster-and-five-who-dont

Keith Law has to be the worst ESPN (or any sports site) has to offer - and that's saying a lot. Everything he writes is opinionated and full of his arrogant attitude, with some random metrics sprinkled in to make him sound smart.

"My philosophy on the All-Star Game is simple: It's a marketing event for baseball -- not a popularity contest and not a way to reward first-half flukes. A lot of folks have grown up thinking selection is about who has the best stats on the day you vote, even if it's someone who has just had the best 50 games of his life, rather than getting the actual stars -- the word that is in the name of the game -- on one field at one time."

Actually Keith, it's precisely about who's having a good year this year. Trout is a star, but if he happens to be hitting .240 at the break one year, he's not an all-star. And of course, when confronted, he starts insulting people on Twitter like a 5-year old.

He needs to just disappear already.

Also, this:

"Polanco belongs in the game every which way from Sunday. He's an emerging superstar and a former top prospect having a clear breakout season. "

He wants guys with track records, not flukes or guys having the best season of their lives - but he's advocating for a guy having a breakout season, who's got potential to be a superstar? No contradiction there at all.

Kinda hard to get worked up about the A/S game.

I'm not even sure I disagree. If you throw out the "This one counts" nonsense, I think I'd rather see a group of established players, regardless of the season they're having, play a bunch of up-and-comers having great starts. And, of course, that's throwing out league affiliation. Sort of an old vs. new game.

It's an exhibition. Give everybody something.

And that's fine. But to argue the current format isn't designed to reward those having great seasons this year is kind of foolish. That's exactly how it's currently designed. Is it good for the game to have a struggling/injured Trout, hitting .240 with 7 homers, out there in the AS game? His name probably helps marketing, but the product on the field may not be pretty.

Regardless, Law totally contradicts himself by claiming someone like a Brad Brach shouldn't be there because he's only been great for his 45 innings this year, but then advocates for someone like Polanco, who also hasn't done much prior to this season.

I don't read Law so I'm pretty immune to his dumbassery but, if you're going to let fans vote, you're not taking it serious anyway.

I agree - I can't stand fans who blindly vote for all their team's players. I'm an O's fan and I don't want to see Joey Rickard or Nolan Reimold in an all-star game.

I'd be totally fine if MLB came up with some kind of statistical criteria for determining players. If you're going to keep the vote, guarantee vote winners a spot on the team, but let managers pick the starters.

Fan vote vs Player/Manager vote.

Career accomplishment vs. Big year.

Over 30 vs under 30.

Whatever. It's an exhibition game. Make it fun for players and fans.

Posted by Jtpsops on 7/6/2016 9:41:00 AM (view original):
Did anyone read this piece of garbage?

http://espn.go.com/blog/keith-law/insider/post/_/id/5283/five-players-who-belong-on-all-star-roster-and-five-who-dont

Keith Law has to be the worst ESPN (or any sports site) has to offer - and that's saying a lot. Everything he writes is opinionated and full of his arrogant attitude, with some random metrics sprinkled in to make him sound smart.

"My philosophy on the All-Star Game is simple: It's a marketing event for baseball -- not a popularity contest and not a way to reward first-half flukes. A lot of folks have grown up thinking selection is about who has the best stats on the day you vote, even if it's someone who has just had the best 50 games of his life, rather than getting the actual stars -- the word that is in the name of the game -- on one field at one time."

Actually Keith, it's precisely about who's having a good year this year. Trout is a star, but if he happens to be hitting .240 at the break one year, he's not an all-star. And of course, when confronted, he starts insulting people on Twitter like a 5-year old.

He needs to just disappear already.

Yeah, **** this Keith Law guy for doing this job by writing an opinion piece.

I'm not shocked that you'd back him up, as you two are cut from the same cloth. Take a stupid position, throw some advanced metrics at it, and declare anyone who disagrees with you to be an idiot.

He told someone on Twitter today that WHIP is a useless stat because it doesn't account for defense, and that LOB% is not within control of the pitcher. He's got his head so far up Bill James's ***, he's lost all common sense.

I didn't even read the piece. But his job is to write his opinion. You seem to be upset at him for writing the opinion.

You're just butthurt because there was one Orioles on his "doesn't belong" list. I didn't expect Brach to make it, frankly. I also don't see how Trumbo misses the "doesn't belong" list. But I think you're clearly 100% wrong about who should be in the All-Star game. There's a reason why guys like Jeter and Ripken keep getting elected long after they're even close to being the best players at their positions.They're stars. It's about stars.

Posted by dahsdebater on 7/6/2016 12:57:00 PM (view original):
You're just butthurt because there was one Orioles on his "doesn't belong" list. I didn't expect Brach to make it, frankly. I also don't see how Trumbo misses the "doesn't belong" list. But I think you're clearly 100% wrong about who should be in the All-Star game. There's a reason why guys like Jeter and Ripken keep getting elected long after they're even close to being the best players at their positions.They're stars. It's about stars.

You do realize only 5 year olds use the word "butthurt", right?

And believe me, I hated Keith Law long before this list came out. My first post above doesn't even mention Brach. I only brought up Brach to show the contradiction between him railing against one player's lack of prolonged success, but promoting another young player for having a "breakout year".

"There's a reason why guys like Jeter and Ripken keep getting elected..." Key word: ELECTED. Fan vote. None of the 5 players Law names were selected by the fans. They were selected by players and managers.

If you don't think Trumbo belongs, I'm guessing you also have a problem with JBJ and Betts, since neither did anything of note prior to this year (especially JBJ). If the game is just about stars "in name", then why have any process at all? Just pencil in Trout, Jones, Bautista, Cabrera, Cano, Bogaerts, Donaldson and Perez every year and call it a day.

Does anybody really care about the A/S game?

Posted by tecwrg on 7/6/2016 2:13:00 PM (view original):
Does anybody really care about the A/S game?

BL does...but only if A/S refers to "anal/sex"

Posted by Jtpsops on 7/6/2016 2:16:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tecwrg on 7/6/2016 2:13:00 PM (view original):
Does anybody really care about the A/S game?

BL does...but only if A/S refers to "anal/sex"

That's not a game to him.