Did Manny deserve to make the starting lineup? What about Jeter? And Ichiro too! These are some of the players who will be starting in the All-Star game based on reputation - we'll call them the flubs. And read about which players we thing were snubbed.

Well the Major League Baseball All-Star team has been announced, so now it’s time to start complaining about who was elected, and who was snubbed.

I’ve never been a big fan of the rule that states every team has to have at least one representative.  Why?  Either you are an all-star or you are not.  Now that this game decides which league will have home field in the World Series, shouldn’t the best players be playing?  Evan Longoria doesn’t make the team because Detroit has to be represented by Carlos Guillen.  I don’t believe the fans should be voting either, as that  turns it into one big popularity contest.  How many Red Sox, Yankee, and Cubs players can we put on the team?

Starting with the American League, what were the players thinking when they elected Jason Varitek to the game?  He’s batting .215 for crying out loud! He has 15 hits in his last 117 at-bats.  A.J. Pierzynski is certainly a more deserving candidate and Dioner Navarro, is having a solid season.

David Ortiz being voted in by the fans wasn’t such a great selection either.  He will have missed six weeks worth of game action by the time games resume after the All-Star break, but that situation took care of itself when Milton Bradley was asked to replace him in the game.

Michael Young deserved the starting nod over Derek Jeter, but he still made the team.  Shortstop is not so strong in the American League, so we will leave Jeter on the team. 

Manny Ramirez is living off reputation and a hot first six weeks.  He’s done very little since Ortiz went down.  Jermaine Dye is certainly a more deserving selection.

Not much to complain about with the pitching selections.  They seemed to have gotten it right, although they did lean heavily on closers and not so much on starters.

Read the National League Snubs & Flubs and the rest of the news around the majors here at The Fantasy Sports Forum