Why Konerko, Humber didn't make the All-Star Game

Both Paul Konerko and Phil Humber failed to secure a trip to the midsummer classic thanks to logjams at their respective positions.

Adrian Gonzalez is starting at first base—and deservedly so. Miguel Cabrera had to make the game. We can scream Yankee bias all we want, but Mark Teixeira deserved a nod as well. That put three first basemen on the American League roster.

Konerko certainly deserved an All-Star bid. Somebody was going to be snubbed out of these four players, and it ended up being Konerko. Such is life.

That being said, Konerko is having a much better offensive season than Teixeira. Konerko has a .317/.387/.567 slash line with 21 home runs. His wOBA is .405. Compare that to Teixeira, who owns a .244/.353/.538 slash line with 25 home runs. His .385 wOBA, though is 20 points lower than that of Konerko's.

Teixeira plays better defense than Konerko, who is about average with the glove. What Teixeira has over Konerko is range, so the offensive gap between the two players is narrowed a bit thanks to that.

But, if you feel like having beef with a player picked over Konerko, it shouldn't be Teixeira (edit: Teixeira didn't make the team—sorry for any confusion). Look no further than Michael Young, who was selected as a designated hitter to the game.

Young is having a fine offensive season, posting a .313/.349/.462 slash line. But his .353 wOBA is over 50 points below Konerko's, making this pick—which was not made by Rangers manager Ron Washington—a little more curious in the face of Konerko's snub.

The players picked Young, so if we're looking at more traditional stats, Young has a .313 batting average with seven home runs and 54 RBIs. Konerko has a higher batting average (.317), triple the home runs (21) and more RBIs (62). Maybe it's because Young "does the little things" and is a dirtbag/grinder or whatever.

Konerko will go up against Alex Gordon, Adam Jones, Victor Martinez and Ben Zobrist in the final vote. Something tells me Konerko will win that, so everything will be resolved shortly.

Humber not a snub

With a 2.69 ERA, Phil Humber has the seventh-best ERA in the American League. At sixth-best is Michael Pineda, the young Mariners starter who also didn't make the All-Star roster. Just below Humber is Ricky Romero, with a 2.82 ERA and no All-Star bid. Justin Masterson, Dan Haren and Alexi Ogando all are in the same ERA range and didn't make it.

C.C. Sabathia didn't make the roster, either. He and Haren are much more significant omissions than Humber, as both own a FIP lower than 2.70. Sabathia has a 3.05 ERA, Haren a 2.85 mark.

Humber isn't better than Sabathia. He isn't better than Haren. He's probably not better than Pineda. That's not to say Humber wasn't deserving. He was. But there were a few pitchers more deserving ahead of him. What it really speaks to is the depth of pitching in the American League.

Comments

[The Wizard]

"We can scream Yankee bias all we want, but Mark Teixeira deserved a nod as well."

but did he deserved it more than PK?

is Texeira's defensive advantage worth 20 wOBA points?

[JJ -- White Sox Beerleaguer]

No, he didn't. But Teixeira at least was deserving, unlike Michael Young.

[The Wizard]

agree 100%

[Crazy Uncle Dave]

Teixeira didn't make team and he didn't make the final vote. And I don't think he was snubbed either. He has only 4 more homers than Pauly but his batting average is more than 60 points lower. I mean he's not exactly Adam Dunn out there, but he is batting less than .250 and Konerko is at .317.
If he was picked in theas afinal vote nominee, i could handle it. But if he made the team today on those stats it would definitely be because of Yankee bias.