Neither Awards Nor Big Contracts Guarantee Spots On All-Star Teams

Beyond the injured Aaron Judge, none of last year’s six top award winners or recipients of the richest free-agent contracts will be in uniform for the All-Star Game.

The 93rd Midsummer Classic, scheduled for Seattle’s T-Mobile Park on July 11, will include two rookie starters – one from each league – and at least one man from each of the 30 clubs.

Barring potential injury replacements, both the World Champion Astros and National League champion Phillies will have only one available player, Houston pitcher Framber Valdez and Philadelphia outfielder Nick Castellanos.

That’s because Yordan Alvarez, like Judge, is injured and unable to participate. Both players will be replaced on the American League roster.

Missing from both rosters are last year’s Most Valuable Players, Paul Goldschmidt (NL) and Judge (AL); Cy Young Award winners Sandy Alcantara (NL) and Justin Verlander (AL); and Rookies of the Year Michael Harris II (NL) and Julio Rodriguez (AL).

Also omitted are the highest-priced signees of the last free agent season: Manny Machado ($350 million for 10 years), Rafael Devers (10 years, $331 million), Trea Turner (11 years, $300 million), Xander Bogaerts (11 years, $280 million), Carlos Correa (6 years, $200 million), and Jacob deGrom (5 years, $185 million).

The only other player who received a contract that big during the last off-season was Judge, re-signed by the Yankees for $360 million.

Three other players with $300 million deals not chosen for the 2023 All-Star squads are two-time MVP Bryce Harper (13 years, $330 million), Francisco Lindor (10 years, $341 million), and Fernando Tatis, Jr. (10 years, $340 million).

In addition, two pitchers earning the highest annual average this year ($43.3 million apiece) will have a mini-vacation during the All-Star break. Verlander and Max Scherzer, teammates with the struggling New York Mets, have three Cy Youngs apiece but are not 2023 All-Stars.

Apparently, money may buy happiness but not necessarily a spot in the All-Star Game. Victories do, however, and the Atlanta Braves, with the best record in baseball, will have a franchise-record eight players (including their entire infield) in Seattle.

Each league will have 32-man rosters, chosen through a combination of fan and player balloting, and must include 20 position players and 12 pitchers.

Pitchers who start games of July 9, the last regular-season contests before the All-Star break, will be replaced, as will any players injured on or before that date.

One of those is Tampa Bay lefty Shane McClanahan, who started the 2022 All-Star Game for the AL and might have started again if he had not gone the 15-day IL Saturday with tightness in his back.

Since the American League needs replacement outfielders for Judge and Alvarez, top candidates include Red Sox rookie Masataka Yoshida and Rodriguez, a hero to legions of Seattle fans after his 2022 debut.

If the AL needs infield help, Houston manager Dusty Baker could pick his own Jose Altuve, a former MVP who led the league in hits four years in a row, or Wander Franco, whose stellar play at shortstop has kept the Tampa Bay Rays at the top of the tough AL East all season.

On the National League side, former MVPs Christian Yelich, Andrew McCutchen, and Harper could be last-minute additions. Harper, strictly a designated hitter in the wake of Tommy John elbow surgery, returned from the IL May 2 but has yet to find his usual power stroke.

Cincinnati infielders Elly de la Cruz and Matt McLain, rookies making strong first impressions, and slick-fielding third baseman Ryan McMahon of the Rockies could catch the eye of NL pilot Rob Thomson if he needs to find injury replacements.

Pitchers who could be added include World Series hero Cristian Javier (Astros), Clay Holmes (Yankees), and Will Smith (Rangers) in the American League and Eury Perez (Marlins), Blake Snell (Padres), and David Robertson (Mets) in the Senior Circuit.

Thanks to a nine-game winning streak, the American League has won 47 All-Star Games, four more than the National League. Two games finished with tie scores.

Next year’s game will be played at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers.