What has become clear ever since he took the reins of the league is that Rob Manfred does intrinsically want to make baseball better for its fans and players, but because he only comes at this from an executive point of view his perspective is completely adverse to what the reality of what these people want actually is. He's come in and his goal has been to revitalize the game and fix all the problems people have had with it, and it's really admirable, but I don't know how many casual fans he really talks to. A real baseball fan won't tell you a game is too long, or that the players at the All-Star game should all wear one uniform. But he's so caught in the realm of focus groups and accessibility and the corporate brand thinking that he simply cannot please the majority of the fandom. Thus I pity him.
You've gotten the sense that Manfred has really wanted to revamp and change the All-Star Game, which honestly didn't really need that much retooling. He took away the 'home field advantage' gimmick, which helped, and they're beginning to phase back into players wearing their own uniforms, but problems still persist. And the biggest problem with the All-Star Game, and the festivities surrounding it, is that nobody wants to fricking participate anymore.
Now, it is one thing to have injuries creep up and prevent people from partaking, and enough of that has happened. Big pieces like Chris Sale, Jeremy Pena and Brandon Lowe got injured since being named, they're missing the game, that's fine. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the fact that people genuinely don't want to do it this year. It feels burdensome for people. It didn't always feel like that, that's why Cal Ripken did like 20 of them. But now you've seen two different players make official statements saying 'I would rather not play in the game this year, because I would rather focus on the rest of the season and my own health'. Jose Ramirez, who was supposed to start, and Julio Rodriguez, have both dropped out of the game, because it's not worth the risk to go to Atlanta and potentially risk not helping their teams compete.
The one case that pisses me off is Alex Bregman, who came second in the fan voting for 3rd base, yet was announced to be missing the game due to injury. So Isaac Paredes was nominated, as was Junior Caminero in place of Ramirez. But...now Bregman just got activated, and can make the game...and because he already called in a sub, there's nothing anyone can do about it. Hell, the AL even added ANOTHER third baseman, namely Maikel Garcia. And let me specify that Garcia is having a nice season, hitting around .300 and providing some consistent multi-tool support in Kansas City, before I say that when the FIFTH CHOICE FOR THIRD BASEMAN IS GETTING ON, there is a problem! Paredes and Caminero getting on is fine, they were in the mix before, but now Garcia is getting ridiculous, because now you're nominating people that arguably wouldn't have deserved an ASG nod unless all this bullshit happened.
As for the usual bullshit of people pitching Sunday not being able to play in the game, that part is fine, we've been over this, it's a necessary evil. But this year this has grown to include the Saturday before, meaning SEVERAL pitchers who I would say are the best in the league, including Zack Wheeler, Max Fried, Garrett Crochet and Jacob deGrom, can't play in the game. Or, moreover, don't want to. In some cases I get it, deGrom and Crochet really don't want to risk injury, that's fine. But at a certain point it just gets excessive. Cause now Wheeler can't play in the All-Star game during the best season of his career, and you're putting up Adrian Morejon as a consolation. Plus, Yusei Kikuchi can't pitch in this, and now there's no Angels eligible for the game. If you're gonna do the 'every team needs a nod' thing, stick to it.
That's what's pissing me off. The actual All-Stars either don't want to play or can't play due to overtaxing themselves, and thus people who honestly shouldn't be All-Stars are stuck in there. This is some NBA All-Star Game shit, where you vote in Giannis and Durant and then Donte DiVincenzo plays for like 20 minutes. Nobody is lining up to watch an All-Star Game where David Peterson pitches to Zach McKinstry. It's just 'The People Who Can Make It: Live from Atlanta" now.
And yes, there are people who this doesn't apply to who will no doubt play in the game, there will be Skenes and Judge and Acuna and Ohtani, by law pretty much. But the sense of fun and excitement from 50 years ago, or even 25 years ago, seems to be gone. Getting a field of 8 for the Home Run Derby was like herding cats this year. The All-Star Celebrity Softball Game features 20 people I'm convinced were made up by AI. It feels like they're really trying to make this something special but too many people just aren't into it. And the way things are going organization-wise in the league, who can blame them?
One cool thing I will say about this ASG? They're gonna be using an ABS system. Meaning if Manfred knows what's good for him, he'll seriously consider utilizing it down the road in MLB games. Because if your legacy is continuing to let 67-year-old men who can't see halfway across the field judge balls and strikes instead of automating it, that won't exactly get you a plaque in Cooperstown. Unless you buy it.
And we'll be lucky if guys like Otani play 3 innings, so we'll see as many Maikel Garcia at bats as Judge. And I didn't know Saturday starts means no ASG became a thing. The Cubs' Matthew Boyd isn't going so Jacob Misiorowski and his 5 starts goes in his place. He essentially says they want to watch his workload for the rest of the season and take advantage of rest days, but common, if they drop the minimum batter rule for the ASG, Boyd (and the Sunday starters) can't come in a face a guy?
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to hear that some player's would rather stay home than play in the ASG. You'd think that being nominated would be a huge honor.
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