We should all be voting for the Mets to make the All-Star Game. I know some fans think they should just stay home and rest, but in most cases the players themselves don’t want to stay home and rest, would rather have the honor of an All-Star appearance, would be running around doing media appearances anyway, and if they really need the rest they’d bow out. So let’s vote our Mets into the game. More All-Star appearances by Mets just increases their presumed value to the national audience and their overall resume.
David Wright has a chance at catching Placido Polanco of the hated Phillies, and would certainly be a deserving starter. Additionally, the Mets have announced that the first 20,000 fans at Citi Field for Wednesday’s game against the Tigers will receive a Blue “Make Wright #1” Foam Finger.
Jose Reyes got a slow start to the season off the thyroid issue, but he’s back to playing ball like an All-Star, and there is no reason we shouldn’t vote for him to be there.
Rod Barajas has been a great addition to our team. Why not honor him with a vote?
Most importantly, Angel Pagan has been an amazing fill-in for Carlos Beltran and extremely valuable. Everyone reads stats differently, but there are categories where Angel Pagan excels. WAR, Wins Above Replacement, a stat that tries to calculate how much a player contributes to the success of a team over an easy to find replacement, lists Angel Pagan as the top centerfielder in the National League. Not just that, but he’s tied for 7th overall! (Wright is second). So voting for Pagan wouldn’t be a homer pick, he actually deserves it.
Since the ballot contains the AL portion too, my general philosophy is to vote for guys that have a chance to beat out Yankees. Justin Morneau is one that can, and should, beat out Mark Texiera. Andrus for SS and Pedroia for 2B are both long shots, but they’re the runners up at the moment.