And my point isn’t that I believe Plouffe SHOULD have been named (didnt I say that? oh… why, yes I did), but that the teams who get most of their deserving players actually named All Stars are the teams that are winning the most games.

Plouffe is riding an impressive 6-week hot streak, but Mike Trout could win both the ROY and MVP awards this year. Right now, Trout is the best player in the American League.

Anyway, yeah, if Ron Washington wanted to find room for a super-utility guy currently swinging a hot bat, who might hit a homer in the late innings for the AL team, Plouffe might be an attractive option. But if he’s just looking at deserving 3rd basemen to add to the reserves, well, Plouffe currently ranks 6th in fWAR among AL 3B, and the guy at the top of that list, Brett Lawrie, isn’t already on the All-Star roster. Looking at total value, I think Lawrie or Mike Moustakas should be next in line if a 3B spot opens up.

Btw, the Rangers chosen to be lineup reserves are Elvis Andrus and Ian Kinsler. I think Andrus was a good choice; by fWAR, he rates as the best all-around SS in the league right now. Kinsler is having a good year (2.1 fWAR) and he has an All-Star track record; plus, he’s the only 2B reserve on the roster. If he hadn’t been picked, the honor would have gone to another 2nd baseman–probably either Jason Kipnis or Ben Zobrist.