It has been the policy of Major League Baseball to assure the annual mid-season All Star squads select at least one player from each of its leagues' teams. This has produced plenty of "token" players over the years and this season the Mariners definitely face the prospect of having to sift through the roster of this poorly performing team to find a worthy representative.
Forget the starting pitchers. Most likely candidates Gonzalez and Kikuchi have been horrible in some of their starts, simply too unreliable to merit All Star consideration. The bullpen? Nevermind.
Position players having outstanding years are limited by injury or underperformance. Only three candidates realistically qualify to make the team: Edwin Encarnacion, Daniel Vogelbach and Omar Narvaez. From the perspective of a Mariner's fan, the first two options are problematic: EE has the numbers but he's s rentaplayer just waiting to be traded and Vogie is in his first full season and his performance so far too fresh and untested to earn an All Star bid. Narvaez stats are very good, but possibly anomalous, too - plus his defensive skills are less than All Star calibre.
Forced to choose? I'd go with Encarnacion. He's earned it. He'll be forgotten, the answer to a Mariner's trivia question in two years. He's been selected to three other teams. A nice return to Cleveland and better times. I feel kind of sorry for him, dead-ended here, hoping to catch on somewhere with chances for a postseason. Let's just hope, for the M's sake, he doesn't get traded before the big game on July 9.
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