2020 MLB All*Stars

As much as I'm not a fan of there being 16 playoff teams, I have to admit that yesterday was glorious.  Eight playoff games, starting at noon and ending more than 13 hours later at roughly 1:15 a.m.  There was one point in the middle of the afternoon where five separate games were going on at once (Braves-Reds, Astros-Twins, Cubs-Marlins, White Sox-A's and Rays-Blue Jays)!

Of course, the reason for the expanded playoffs was the shortened regular season.  While it's playoff time on the calendar, in terms of the actual number of games played, it's only right around Memorial Day.  And Memorial Day is usually the time we start thinking about the All*Star Game.

The All*Star Game, of course, was a casualty of 2020.  This was just the second time since the All*Star Game began in 1933 that it didn't happen.  The other was 1945, when there were World War II travel restrictions.

Obviously, it wasn't going to be possible to have an All*Star Game this season.  I know that.  The longer they went without playing, the less likely it was going to happen.  (The season didn't even start until after the All*Star Game was scheduled.)  It also would've been kind of pointless to play it without any fans in the stands, and it would've defeated the purpose of the COVID-friendly regionalized schedules.  So it made complete sense that this year's All*Star Game was cancelled.  That doesn't mean I didn't miss it!

It's even more of a bummer that there was no All*Star Game this season because it was supposed to take place at Dodger Stadium.  The Dodgers will now host in 2022, but that means we have to wait two more years for that wonderful combination of Vin Scully and the All*Star Game to make us feel great about the game again.

But, just because there was no All*Star Game, doesn't mean I can't still choose rosters for both teams.  Like I said, it's usually right around the 60-65-game mark that people really start looking at numbers and trying to determine potential All*Stars, while the actual selections are usually based on stats thru roughly 80 games.  However, since this season was only 60 games, that's our sample size.  So my All*Star teams are based on full season stats.

Same rules as the regular selections.  One starter and one backup at each position (which does include DH for the National League this year), with the five starting pitchers and three relievers that are required to be chosen.  I'm one of the few people who likes the mandatory team reps, too, so the team reps are staying!

I did do a few things differently, though.  Since there was no fan voting and it's impossible to determine who would've been chosen, I based my selections simply on numbers without worrying about who might've won the fan vote.  For that reason, I'm not naming any starters either (although with the game at Dodger Stadium, it would finally be the time for Clayton Kershaw's first All*Star start). 

Likewise, the final player on the roster is also determined by a fan vote.  MLB puts out a ballot with five names, and the fans choose one for the last spot (usually after some creative campaigning).  I didn't do that, either.  I just took that last spot and used it as a regular selection.  So, instead of five "manager selections" in each league, I have six. 

And, since this is fictitious, I didn't have to worry about injuries.  Thus, no injury replacements.  No replacements for Sunday starters or guys who simply don't feel like playing and would rather have the four days off, either.  Because, again, these teams aren't real.

So, without further ado, here they are, the 2020 Joe Brackets All*Star Teams for both the American and National Leagues.  The small sample size made it tough to choose at some positions where guys have similar numbers, where, in some cases, the fan vote would've been helpful (seriously, how do you choose who starts at first base in the AL between Luke Voit and Jose Abreu?).  Which means that there are still some "snubs" (I would've loved to include Rays reliever Nick Anderson, but I needed a Tiger, so Daniel Norris got that spot).

With all that out of the way, here we go.  The players with an asterisk are the "manager selections."  And, if you want, you can consider the first player listed as the nominal "starter" at each position.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
C: Christian Vazquez (BOS), Salvador Perez (KC)
1B: Luke Voit (NYY), Jose Abreu (CWS)
2B: DJ LeMahieu (NYY), Hanser Alberto (BAL), *Brandon Lowe (TB)
SS: Tim Anderson (CWS), Xander Bogaerts (BOS)
3B: Jose Ramirez (CLE), Anthony Rendon (LAA)
OF: Mike Trout (LAA), Teoscar Hernandez (TOR), Eloy Jimenez (CWS), Whit Merrifield (KC), Randal Grichuk (TOR), Kyle Tucker (HOU), *Kyle Lewis (SEA)
DH: Nelson Cruz (MIN), Franmil Reyes (CLE)
SP: Shane Bieber (CLE), Gerrit Cole (NYY), Dallas Keuchel (CWS), Kenta Maeda (MIN), Chris Bassitt (OAK), *Hyun-Jin Ryu (TOR), *Lance Lynn (TEX), *Tyler Glasnow (TB)
RP: Brad Hand (CLE), Liam Hendriks (OAK), Alex Colome (CWS), *Daniel Norris (DET)

NATIONAL LEAGUE
C: J.T. Realmuto (PHI), Travis d'Arnaud (ATL)
1B: Freddie Freeman (ATL), Paul Goldschmidt (STL)
2B: Ketel Marte (ARZ), Donovan Solano (SF)
SS: Fernando Tatis Jr. (SD), Trea Turner (WSH), *Corey Seager (LAD)
3B: Manny Machado (SD), Brian Anderson (MIA)
OF: Mookie Betts (LAD), Charlie Blackmon (COL), Juan Soto (WSH), Wil Myers (SD), Michael Conforto (NYM), Mike Yastrezmski (SF), *Starling Marte (MIA)
DH: Marcell Ozuna (ATL), Jesse Winker (CIN)
SP: Yu Darvish (CHC), Trevor Bauer (CIN), Jacob deGrom (NYM), Max Fried (ATL), Clayton Kershaw (LAD), *Dinelson Lamet (SD), *Zach Davies (SD)
RP: Josh Hader (MIL), Kenley Jansen (LAD), Raisel Iglesias (CIN), *Jeremy Jeffress (CHC), *Richard Rodriguez (PIT)