Nationals James Wood’s All-Star snub shows the deep flaws in the fan voting system

Washington Nationals star James Wood deserves to start in the All-Star game but is being robbed by a silly fan voting system

The MLB announced the results for the All-Star finalists Yesterday. Top vote getters advanced to the next phase of the weirdly complicated All-Star fan voting. The top 2 catchers and infielders advanced and the top 6 outfielders from each league advanced. James Wood was not one of those top six outfielders.

This means that Wood will not be an All-Star starter, which is ridiculous. Andy Pages and Teoscar Hernandez both advanced despite not having had seasons remotely comparable to Wood. The only reason those guys advanced is because the Dodgers have a bigger fanbase than the Nats.

I understand that this event is for the fans, but All-Star game appearances and starts are important parts of a players legacy. After guys retire, fans will look at All-Star stuff to see what people at that time thought about the player. For that reason it is an absolute injustice that James Wood is not an All-Star starter.

There is a reason other legacy defining awards like MVP’s and Cy Young’s aren’t decided by the fans. Say what you will about the media, but I trust them more than the masses to make the right call on these sorts of things.

The case for James Wood to be an All-Star starter is just overwhelming. He leads NL outfielders in home runs, OPS and RBI’s. He is also second in bWAR among all National League outfielders. Instead of him, a good not great player in Teoscar Hernandez advanced and Ronald Acuna, who has played just 31 games advanced as well.

It is just not a great look for baseball to have one of the best young players in baseball on the bench to start the All-Star game because he does not play in New York or Los Angeles. There is already a good amount of pent up frustration growing due to the growing gap between the haves and have nots in MLB. It is why we are likely to see a lockout after next season.

It is just ridiculous to see 8 of the 9 Dodger starters be finalists. Yes, they are a good team, but they are not that good. I think it is time for the baseball writers to determine the All-Star starters. The top fan vote getter should get an automatic spot, like they are doing right now. For the most part, the fans get that right. This year the top vote getters in each league were Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, obvious All-Stars.

However, punishing lesser known phenoms like Wood because of the market they play in is ridiculous. He will get in the All-Star game at the end of the day, but it will be as a reserve rather than a starter.

The All-Star game is about pitting the best against the best. If James Wood is not a starter because of the fan vote, can you really say it is the best against the best? It is sad to see James Wood’s super human season get discounted because he is not a Dodger.