Increasing the popularity of the game amongst the younger fans has been one of the main concerns for commissioner Rob Manfred and the rest of MLB as many rule changes have been proposed and many have been instated. One thing that I think could help this concern is not a change to the game, or a new rule, but a change to the All Star game, instead of just having all the players set on the A.L. and N.L. teams, why not have them drafted onto a team picked by the player who got the most votes in the A.L. and the most votes in the N.L? The draft would also be televised, and I believe that this would definitely increase viewership for the game, because who wouldn’t want to watch their favorite players get drafted onto teams that would play each other?
Sure this is piggybacking off of what the NBA has done, but the way I see this is that it will garner more fans and viewers to watch both the draft and the game.
In this article, I will be looking at a scenario where this actually happens with the 2019 All Star rosters as I, and another contributor to Diamond Digest, will be drafting teams to see how this scenario would play out.
The captains for each team will be the two players who got the most votes for the A.L. and the N.L., so Mike Trout for the A.L., and Christian Yelich for the N.L.
First, a few rules
- The starters will be voted on first to respect the fan vote and honor those who garnered the most votes per position.
- Once we move onto the reserves, each team will get to pick two players each.
- There will be a separate round to pick the DHs and starting pitchers for each team after the starting positions are picked.
Note: This draft will not include any replacement players as the draft was completed once the first rosters were announced.
I will be picking as Team Yelich and Jordan Lazowski will be picking as Team Trout.
Starters Round
Team Trout: Cody Bellinger, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
2019 First Half Stats: .336/.432/.692, 30 HR, 70 RBI, and 5.7 fWAR
Team Yelich: Nolan Arenado, 3B, Colorado Rockies
2019 First Half Stats: .312/.377/.562, 20 HR, 67 RBI, and 3.2 fWAR
Team Trout: Javier Baez, SS, Chicago Cubs
2019 First Half Stats: .289/.324/.556, 22 HR, 62 RBI, and 3.4 fWAR
Team Yelich: Ronald Acuna Jr. OF, Atlanta Braves
2019 First Half Stats: .292/.377/.506, 21 HR, 53 RBI, and 3.2 fWAR
Team Trout: Freddie Freeman, 1B, Atlanta Braves
2019 First Half Stats: .309/.394/.584 23 HR, 68 RBI, and 2.9 fWAR
Team Yelich: Gary Sanchez, C, New York Yankees
2019 First Half Stats: .245/.315/.556, 24 HR, 57 RBI, and 1.7 fWAR
Team Trout: George Springer, OF, Houston Astros
2019 First Half Stats: .303/.384/.589, 18 HR, 46 RBI 2.8 fWAR
Team Yelich: Michael Brantley, OF, Houston Astros
2019 First Half Stats: .324/.383/.511, 12 HR, 46 RBI, and 2.6 fWAR
Team Trout: D.J. LeMahieu, 2B, New York Yankees
2019 First Half Stats: .336/.383/.518, 12 HR, 63 RBI, and 3.4 fWAR
Team Yelich: Carlos Santana, 1B, Cleveland Indians
2019 First Half Stats: .297/.418/.540, 19 HR, 52 RBI, 2.9 fWAR
Team Trout: Alex Bregman, 3B, Houston Astros
2019 First Half Stats: .265/.393/.533, 23 HR, 56 RBI, and 2.5 fWAR
Team Yelich: Ketel Marte, 2B, Arizona Diamondbacks
2019 First Half Stats: .311/.359/.559, 20 HR, 53 RBI, and 3.8 fWAR
Team Trout: Willson Contreras, C, Chicago Cubs
2019 First Half Stats: .264/.381/.556, 18 HR, 52 RBI, and 2.4 fWAR
Team Yelich: Jorge Polanco, SS, Minnesota Twins
2019 First Half Stats: .312/.368/.514, 13 HR, 42 RBI, and 2.9 fWAR
Starting Pitcher and DH Round
Team Yelich: Max Scherzer, SP, Washington Nationals
2019 First Half Stats: 2.30 ERA, 2.00 FIP, and 5.5 fWAR
Team Trout: Hyun Jin Ryu, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers
2019 First Half Stats: 1.73 ERA, 2.88 FIP, and 3.1 fWAR
Team Trout: J.D. Martinez, DH, Boston Red Sox
2019 First Half Stats: .304/.376/.541, 18 HR, 48 RBI, and 1.8 fWAR
Team Yelich: Hunter Pence, DH, Texas Rangers
2019 First Half Stats: .294/.353/.608, 15 HR, 48 RBI, and 1.6 fWAR
Reserves Round
Team Yelich: Justin Verlander, SP, Houston Astros
2019 First Half Stats: 2.98 ERA, 4.19 FIP, and 2.2 fWAR
Anthony Rendon, 3B, Washington Nationals
2019 First Half Stats: .304/.386/.611, 20 HR, 62 RBI, and 3.3 fWAR
Team Trout: Matt Chapman, 3B, Oakland Athletics
2019 First Half Stats: .265/.353/.534, 21 HR, 52 RBI, 3.6 fWAR
Pete Alonso, 1B, New York Mets
2019 First Half Stats: .280/.372/.634, 30 HR, 68 RBI, 3.6 fWAR
Team Yelich: Francisco Lindor, SS, Cleveland Indians
2019 First Half Stats: .296/.356/.511, 14 HR, 32 RBI, and 2.5 fWAR
Gerrit Cole, SP, Houston Astros
2019 First Half Stats: 3.09 ERA, 3.00 FIP, and 3.4 fWAR
Team Trout: Lucas Giolito, SP, Chicago White Sox
2019 First Half Stats: 3.15 ERA, 3.20 FIP, 3.1 fWAR
Jacob deGrom, SP, New York Mets
2019 First Half Stats: 3.27 ERA, 3.14 FIP, and 3.1 fWAR
Team Yelich: Walker Buehler, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers
2019 First Half Stats: 3.46 ERA, 2.84 FIP, and 3.1 fWAR
Joey Gallo, OF, Texas Rangers
2019 First Half Stats: .275/.417/.643, 20 HR, 46 RBI, 3.5 fWAR
Team Trout: Mike Soroka, SP, Atlanta Braves
2019 First Half Stats: 2.42 ERA, 3.09 FIP, 2.3 fWAR
Trevor Story, SS, Colorado Rockies
2019 First Half Stats: .292/.358/.549, 19 HR, 50 RBI, and 3.1 fWAR
Team Yelich: Zack Greinke, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks
2019 First Half Stats: 2.73 ERA, 3.15, and 3.1 fWAR
Charlie Blackmon, OF, Colorado Rockies
.330/.378/.632, 20 HR, 57 RBI, and 2.0 fWAR
Team Trout: Kirby Yates, RP, San Diego Padres
2019 First Half Stats: 1.15 ERA, 1.38 FIP, and 2.1 fWAR
Ryan Pressly, RP, Houston Astros
2019 First Half Stats: 1.36 ERA, 2.60 FIP, and 1.2 fWAR
Team Yelich: Clayton Kershaw, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers
2019 First Half Stats: 3.09 ERA, 3.59 FIP, and 2.1 fWAR
Mookie Betts, OF, Boston Red Sox
2019 First Half Stats: .272/.392/.467, 13 HR, 40 RBI, and 2.9 fWAR
Team Trout: Kris Bryant, 3B, Chicago Cubs
2019 First Half Stats: .297/.403/.552, 17 HR, 44 RBI, and 3.7 fWAR
Marcus Stroman, SP, Toronto Blue Jays
2019 First Half Stats: 3.18 ERA, 3.81 FIP, and 2.0 fWAR
Team Yelich: Aroldis Chapman, RP, New York Yankees
2019 First Half Stats: 1.84 ERA, 1.82 FIP, and 1.4 fWAR
Austin Meadows, OF, Tampa Bay Rays
2019 First Half Stats: .289/.364/.502, 12 HR, 41 RBI, and 1.8 fWAR
Team Trout: Yasmani Grandal, C, Milwaukee Brewers
2019 First Half Stats: .259/.372/.525, 19 HR, 48 RBI, and 3.2 fWAR
Luis Castillo, SP, Cincinnati Reds
2019 First Half Stats: 2.29 ERA, 3.66 FIP, and 2.1 fWAR
Team Yelich: Josh Hader, RP, Milwaukee Brewers
2019 First Half Stats: 2.09 ERA, 2.62 FIP, and 1.8 fWAR
Whit Merrifield, 2B, Kansas City Royals
2019 First Half Stats: .306/.355/.495, 11 HR, 44 RBI, and 2.3 fWAR
Team Trout: Brad Hand, SP, Cleveland Indians
2019 First Half Stats: 2.17 ERA, 1.92 ERA, and 1.5 fWAR
Mike Moustakas, 2B, Milwaukee Brewers
2019 First Half Stats: .263/.334/.551, 25 HR, 53 RBI, 2.4 fWAR
Team Yelich: Mike Minor, SP, Texas Rangers
2019 First Half Stats: 2.54 ERA, 3.77 FIP, and 2.8 fWAR
Josh Bell, 1B, Pittsburgh Pirates
2019 First Half Stats: .302/.376/.648, 27 HR, 84 RBI, and 2.8 fWAR
Team Trout: Charlie Morton, SP, Tampa Bay Rays, SP
2019 First Half Stats: 2.32 ERA, 2.84, and 3.1 fWAR
David Dahl, OF, Colorado Rockies
2019 First Half Stats: .308/.352/.530, 12 HR, 51 RBI, and 1.5 fWAR
Team Yelich: Jake Odorizzi, SP, Minnesota Twins
2019 First Half Stats: 3.15 ERA, 3.59 FIP, and 2.2 fWAR
James McCann, C, Chicago White Sox
2019 First Half Stats: .316/.371/.502, 9 HR, 30 RBI, and fWAR
Team Trout: Paul Dejong, SS, St. Louis Cardinals
2019 First Half Stats: .258/.343/.442, 13 HR, 36 RBI, and 2.8 fWAR
J.T. Realmuto, C, Philadelphia Phillies
2019 First Half Stats: .273/.328/.438, 10 HR, 42 RBI, and 2.8 fWAR
Team Yelich: Jeff McNeil, 2B, New York Mets
2019 First Half Stats: .349/.409/.509, 7 HR, 36 RBI, and 2.5 fWAR
Will Smith, RP, San Francisco Giants
2019 First Half Stats: 1.98 ERA, 2.02 FIP, and 1.3 fWAR
Team Trout: Tommy La Stella, 2B, Los Angeles Angels
2019 First Half Stats: .300/.353/.495, 16 HR, 44 RBI, and 2.2 fWAR
Shane Greene, SP, Detroit Tigers
2019 First Half Stats: 1.09 ERA, 3.72 FIP, and 0.7 fWAR
Team Yelich: John Means, SP, Baltimore Orioles
2019 First Half Stats: 2.50 ERA, 3.93 FIP, and 1.9 fWAR
Jose Abreu, 1B, Chicago White Sox
2019 First Half Stats: .278/.316/.522, 21 HR, 66 RBI, and 1.0 fWAR
Team Trout: Sandy Alcantara, SP, Miami Marlins
2019 First Half Stats: 3.82 ERA, 4.61 FIP, and 1.0 fWAR
Daniel Vogelbach, 1B, Seattle Mariners
2019 First Half Stats: .238/.375/.505, 21 HR, 51 RBI, and 2.1 fWAR
Final Rosters:
Team Trout Starters
C: Wilson Contreras
1B: Freddie Freeman
2B: D.J. Lemahieu
3B: Alex Bregman
SS: Javier Baez
OF: Mike Trout
OF: Cody Bellinger
OF: George Springer
DH: Hunter Pence
SP: Hyun Jin Ryu
Reserves:
C: Yasmani Grandal and J.T. Realmuto
1B: Pete Alonso and Daniel Vogelbach
2B: Mike Moustakas and Tommy La Stella
3B: Matt Chapman and Kris Bryant
SS: Trevor Story and Paul Dejong
OF: David Dahl
P: Jacob DeGrom, Lucas Giolito, Mike Soroka, Marcus Stroman, Luis Castillo, Charlie Morton, Sandy Alcantara, Ryan Pressly, Kirby Yates, and Brad Hand
Team Yelich Starters:
C: Gary Sanchez
1B: Carlos Santana
2B: Ketel Marte
3B: Nolan Arenado
SS: Jorge Polanco
OF: Christian Yelich
OF: Ronald Acuna Jr.
OF: George Springer
DH: Hunter Pence
SP: Max Scherzer
Reserves:
C: James McCann
1B: Jose Abreu and Josh Bell
2B: Whit Merrifield and Jeff McNeil
3B: Anthony Rendon
SS: Francisco Lindor
OF: Michael Brantley, Joey Gallo, Mookie Betts, Charlie Blackmon, Austin Meadows
P: Gerrit Cole, Walker Buehler, Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, Josh Hader, Aroldis Chapman, Will Smith, John Means, Jake Odorizzi, Mike Minor
Conclusion:
Adding in the All Star game draft would certainly increase the popularity of not only the MLB All Star game, but would also increase the popularity of the game itself. But what do you think? Should the MLB add in a draft? And for this draft, who picked the better team? Which players were picked too high? Or too low?
Featured Photo: Arturo Pardavila III
