6 Players Who Should Have Been All-Stars This Year
Xander Bogaerts
If Salvador Perez was the start of the problem of fan voting, Alcides Esobar just magnifies it even more. Escobar's body of work as a whole has not been on par with some other shortstops in the American League.
Defensively is where Escobar provides most of his value as his DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) of 4 is tied with J.J. Hardy, though Hardy hasn't played as many innings. Xander Bogaerts has a DRS value of 3, but statistically, all three players are considered barley average defensively this year.
We could use UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) as well, but that wouldn't make a convincing case for Escobar. Escobar's 3.5 UZR is fourth among qualified shortstops. Jose Iglesias, Hardy and Asdrubal Cabrera own UZR scores under 5.0 as well, again indicating an average value defensively of these four shortstops. Because defensive stats aren't as predictive or reliable as offensive stats, let's see what value each shortstop brings offensively.
| Top SS by nERD | Team | HR | RBI | SB | wOBA | wRC+ | WAR | nERD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xander Bogaerts | Red Sox | 3 | 43 | 4 | 0.328 | 106 | 2.3 | 0.77 |
| Brad Miller | Mariners | 8 | 27 | 9 | 0.322 | 109 | 1.8 | 0.59 |
| Jose Iglesias* | Tigers | 1 | 15 | 9 | 0.326 | 106 | 1.6 | 0.38 |
| Marcus Semien | Athletics | 8 | 22 | 7 | 0.304 | 95 | 0.7 | -0.18 |
| Alcides Escobar* | Royals | 2 | 33 | 5 | 0.307 | 94 | 2.0 | -0.22 |
| Erick Aybar | Angels | 2 | 27 | 6 | 0.300 | 95 | 1.6 | -0.39 |
| Didi Gregorius | Yankees | 4 | 19 | 4 | 0.276 | 71 | 0.6 | -1.03 |
| Asdrubal Cabrera | Rays | 5 | 22 | 3 | 0.272 | 76 | 1.0 | -1.46 |
| Elvis Andrus | Rangers | 3 | 29 | 9 | 0.277 | 68 | 0 | -1.44 |
| Alexei Ramirez | White Sox | 2 | 27 | 10 | 0.238 | 43 | -1.0 | -2.42 |
Escobar gains an advantage when we look at the fWAR metric, as his 2.0 mark is second to Xander Bogaerts among qualified shortstops. However, that is the only good note for him as that metric wraps in his defensive abilities too. Offensively, Escobar is more on par with Marcus Semien, who happens to be tied with Brad Miller for most home runs among qualified shortstops.
Jose Iglesias is already on the roster for the American League, so it really comes down to Xander Bogaerts or Brad Miller. However, you could argue that Bogaerts could be penciled in as the All-Star at shortstop over Escobar while Miller is an afterthought besides his home runs. Bogaerts' nERD, wOBA and fWAR are either first or second among qualified shortstops and his wRC+ is third, and better than Escobar's by a good margin. Bogaerts may have been the biggest All-Star snub this season.
