Imagine a world, if you will, in which MLB‘s All-Star Game, as you know it, does not exist.
The game has gone back to being an exhibition, no longer tied to the World Series, and the way teams are selected have changed.
Instead of fans voting for only the starting lineup from each league, they now have the power to send 30 deserving players—one from each team—to the Midsummer Classic. The voting does not take a player’s position into account, opening the door for fans to select pitchers for the first time.
How would the voting play out? Would fans vote for the most deserving player from each team, or would the voting remain a popularity contest, one that resulted in some deserving candidates being passed over?
Operating under the assumption that the most deserving player from each team would find his way to Minnesota in mid-July, here’s a look at how the voting might play out.
*Unless otherwise noted, all statistics courtesy of FanGraphs and are current through June 16.