Are you kidding? Jayson Werth? I joked about this yesterday at McCovey Chronicles, but I didn’t really think Charlie Manuel would take Werth over Pablo Sandoval to replace Carlos Beltran.
Alright Charlie, if you thought the fans in Philadelphia knew how to boo (and I don’t think Philly fans are really that amazing, they just boo the wrong things, like injuries, Donovan McNabb and kittens), just wait until the Mays Field faithful catch first glimpse of you and your tremendously large boiler on July 30. And at the end of the month, this wound will still be VERY fresh.
Oh, Manuel will have some excuse about needing to take another outfielder to replace Beltran, and since Sandoval isn’t an outfielder he just wouldn’t give the old-timer enough of that managerial flexibility.
What a load of B.S.
If Werth was such a great candidate, why wasn’t he listed as one of the FIVE candidates to fill the final spot on the National League All-Star Team?
I know Werth has been fantastic over the last month; he’s on my fantasy team. I know Werth has 20 homers and 12 stolen bases (compared to 13 HR and 3 SB for Sandoval). I know Manuel earned the right to choose whoever he wants to be on the All-Star team, just like Joe Torre took advantage of that right in near obscene fashion for years back when the Yankees were good (Scott Brosius, anyone?).
I also know the Giants have performed above everyone’s expectations this season to have the second-best record in the NL, making Pablo Sandoval a legitimate MVP candidate (well, if Albert Pujols suffers a season-ending injury, anyway). I know that Sandoval has an OPS of .940 compared to .894 for Werth and .838 for Victorino. I know that the NL All-Star team now has seven healthy outfielder’s on the roster, compared to two third basemen, two catchers and two shortstops.
Couldn’t Sandoval at least be a backup catcher/third baseman? Yadier Molina and Brian McCann (who never plays more than five consecutive games in a row, another fact I know from having him on my fantasy team) are expected to catch all nine innings, if not more. Isn’t catching a tad more physically taxing than standing in the outfield and pretending to hustle? Really, we couldn’t possibly expect Ryan Braun, Raul Ibanez, Hunter Pence, Brad Hawpe and Shane Victorino can’t handle the outfield duties?
The only way Manuel saves face is if Ibanez — who might come off the DL tonight — decides to sit out the All-Star Game due to his strained left groin. Then Manuel’s decision to include Werth — who has actually had a better season than Victorino in every way besides batting average — isn’t so awful…as long as Manuel throws a bone to the West Coast and replaces Ibanez with Sandoval if that situation arises.
Of course, Manuel would probably take Matt Kemp over Sandoval anyway, which would cause an even more vitriolic reaction from Giant fans who’ve already been worked into a frenzy over this whole American Idol-style “final vote.”
There’s nothing we can do anymore; we campaigned, we voted and we lost to the East Coast. The only thing left to do is for the Giants to tweak the team a little in the next month, win the World Series and send Aaron Rowand, Nate Schierholtz and John Bowker to the All-Star team next year. Along with Edgar Renteria, Travis Ishikawa, Jeremy Affeldt and…Pablo Sandoval.
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lol, you think because you run a fantasy baseball team and a blog that you know baseball? You’re dreaming if you think that Jayson Werth doesn’t have the stats to be an allstar. Does Sandoval deserve to be an allstar? Maybe. But you can’t argue that Werth DOESN’T deserve to be on the team.
Sandoval doesn’t catch anymore, and I know that the Giants (had Sandoval been in the AS game) would not be pleased about manuel using their starting 3B as a catcher.
The “pick-a-player” phenomenon is a good idea, regardless of who wins. As you can see, it encourages fans to come out in support of their player, and it garners a lot of attention for both the teams and players involved.
In case you didn’t know, MANUEL is the one who selected the final 5 NL players to go up for the vote, and even if there isn’t a rule against having two players from the same team in the final 5 (which there probably is), do you really think he’s going to pit two of his OFs against each other in a vote? Think again.
Oh my god, what a surprise that the WORLD CHAMPIONS have 5 allstars? Can you make the argument that ANY of those 5 are NOT worthy? Not unless you use crazy, backhanded logic (which apparently runs rampant in SF).
You compare adding a guy with 20 HRs, 54 RBIs, and, what, 13-14 SBs? to the AS star with adding rowand, schierholtz, bowker, renteria, ishikawa, and affeldt? Even your attempts at humor are lame.
Get a life, man, and try WATCHING baseball games every so often. I didn’t realize fans were so ignorant in the bay area.
P.S. way to separate yourself from every other journalist by categorizing philly as “boo-central”.
What an idiot.
Do you really believe Manuel actually chose the Final Five himself? Like Manuel thought to himself, “You know, Christian Guzman really deserves a shot here. So does Mark Reynolds and some fat third baseman in SF I’ve never seen.”
Here’s what happened: MLB said, “Here are your candidates,” and Manuel said, “I get per diem for managing the All-Star Game, right?”
Sandoval has only caught 3 games this year, but the Giants would have gladly let him throw on the tools of ignorance if it meant a couple innings of work in the All-Star Game. They’re worried about Lincecum and Cain getting overworked in the game, not their 22-year-old 3B/1B/C.
I know it doesn’t take anything more than an internet connection to own a fantasy team; I was just making the point that I understand why Werth has a valid All-Star argument. He did deserve to be an All-Star, more than Shane Victorino. Not more than Pablo Sandoval.
Ryan Howard is a borderline All-Star at best, a guy making it based on his rep and the World Series win (which is fair, if the Giants ever win a damn Series I’ll gladly take the advantages you guys got this season). Still, Howards’s offensive stats of .253/.332/.522 don’t compare to .328/.380/.561. If you’re going to give your 1B an All-Star spot due to his reputation, it doesn’t look as great when you add Werth as an injury replacement after Victorino just won a crazy vote-off the day before.
But you know what? I don’t give a damn about any of this right now, because Jonathan Sanchez just threw a no-hitter. Yeah, I just watched that. We do watch baseball here in Northern California, and not just games that start at 7pm EST.
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