To Puig or not to Puig that is the question.

[Tbonewannabe]

Do you think he should be in the Allstar game?

He has been probably the best player in baseball the last month but he has only been up a month. Depends if you look at the Allstar game as a career thing or just this season.

I say yes. I want to see Manchado, Trout, Harper and Puig. These guys are the future of MLB.

[msstate7]

I'm not crazy about him making it after only a month, but I like the fans choosing who they want. Puig is very good, but he will cool off as team adjust their pitching.

[Will James]

Puigs an All Star in my book.

[The Croom Diaries]

Absolutely not. One month doesn't justify being an all-star. If he had to play three months like everyone else other teams will have adjusted to him. Jeff Francoeur was just as hot his first month in the majors. After one month this year Justin Upton had 12 homers was hitting .330, etc. now he's got 15 homers and hitting .250 because he's played two more months. Gattis would be in there too.

[M.Fillmore]

Kevin Maas says he should be on the All-Star team.

[BoomBoom]

If his season totals merit it (HR, runs etc), then why not? But yes, his average, OPS etc should all be taken with a grain of salt, and his season totals don't justify it. But let's not call it just one month either. He dominated in Spring Training, and in AAA too. On the other hand, i felt Evan Gattis deserved a nod before he got hurt, and it's inconsistent to say he shouldn't get the nod because he missed a couple weeks yep Puig gets in despite missing 2 months.

But i'm a believer in the AS game being based on that season, not on careers. Though IMO i'd prefer it to be a little later in the season. Why does it have to be right in the middle? Justin Upton almost squeeked in based solely on his April numbers/early votes, and that's not right. delay the game a few weeks and you can delay the start of voting too.

[bobcat91]

The All Star game is about the fans, and not only the players. When Randy Johnson throws behind Kruk's head, then you know it is a step above a circus out there. Let him in.

[CrazyEyeKilla]

I understand that all star games are about the fans and for that reason Puig should be an all star.
However, my question is why the **** did the MLB decide to make this game determine home field for the World Series... That has never made any sense to me.

[BoomBoom]

well everyone hated the alternating home field advantage, and MLB claims that they can't let it be decided by the League champion with best record, because of the logistics of booking hotels. i call BS on that one. if you don't even know what city(ies) it will be played in until the conclusion of the LCS, then why does it matter which city you're playing 3 or 4 in? i guess it means that when the LCS starts, you have only two possibilities of where each game would be played, because you know which League will be hosting each game. But if you base home field advantage on best record, then there are 4 possible destinations for each game date. big deal. if that's the issue, then set the first six games league hosts regardless of who makes it, then set the 7th possible game as hosted by the team with the best record. you'd still have people bitching about 2-2-1-1-1 or 2-3-2 etc.

[CrazyEyeKilla]

I agree.... Alternating is bullshit, but so is making it the winner of the all star game.
It just doesn't make any sense to me why they can't go off the best record.

[The Croom Diaries]

The all star game is for the fans, yes, but when the media constantly uses a player's all star game appearances for their career as one of the barometer's of how good they are, I think the players who have had the best seasons to date should be in. I don't really care all that much, I never even watch it. It does seem pretty stupid that the braves are in 1st place and have one all star. And then in this voting the Puig guy will win and Freddie Freeman won't get to go. So I guess I'm just a spiteful Braves fan.

[msstate7]

The all star game is for the fans, yes, but when the media constantly uses a player's all star game appearances for their career as one of the barometer's of how good they are, I think the players who have had the best seasons to date should be in. I don't really care all that much, I never even watch it. It does seem pretty stupid that the braves are in 1st place and have one all star. And then in this voting the Puig guy will win and Freddie Freeman won't get to go. So I guess I'm just a spiteful Braves fan.
FF not getting in is a shame. The 1st place braves have 1 all-star (kimbrel).

[Todd4State]

I think Puig should be in the All-Star game. It's for the fans, and the fans want to see him. It's not his fault that the Dodgers had their heads in the sand and decided not to bring him up even though he absolutely destroyed everyone in spring training and couldn't evaluate that he was ready based on that performance. I would imagine that he is going to have All-Star numbers by the end of the year anyway.

[Todd4State]

I agree.... Alternating is bullshit, but so is making it the winner of the all star game.
It just doesn't make any sense to me why they can't go off the best record.

It's because the players were not taking the All-Star game seriously enough. They had to give them something tangible to play for. And MLB was right in this instance if you watched the last All-Star game before they started doing home field. You had guys on the opposing team high fiving guys for getting hits and stuff like that on both sides. I don't think there should be intense hatred there either, but just be competitive like normal.

[War Machine Dawg]

I'm guessing the decision not to bring him up wasn't the Dodgers not knowing he was ready. I'd bet a hefty sum it was a money issue - not wanting him to come up and be a "super 2" they'd have to pay a truckload to in the near future. As a fan, I think it's kinda dumb. If the guy is that good and can help your team, he needs to be playing. But more and more teams are leaving guys down for a couple months to avoid it.

[tenureplan]

I may be wrong, but I believe he came up too early and will be Super 2. The reason he came up late was Ethier, Kemp, Crawford and their contracts.

[Tbonewannabe]

I like that MLB let the fans vote if they want to see him in the game.

[Will James]

I may be wrong, but I believe he came up too early and will be Super 2. The reason he came up late was Ethier, Kemp, Crawford and their contracts.

I think you're right and I also think money is no issue with new Dodger ownership.

[Todd4State]

He would be eligible to be a Super 2, but he is also under contract for the next seven years already.

[War Machine Dawg]

My bad then. Still, when your outfield is Kemp, Crawford, and Ethier, who do you sit? 2 of those guys are potential MVP candidates when they're right. Ethier is an All-Star caliber player. Puig may be great, but there's no way you sit one of those guys for a hotshot rookie. The only thing you might do is shop one of those guys for pitching to create room.

[Todd4State]

My bad then. Still, when your outfield is Kemp, Crawford, and Ethier, who do you sit? 2 of those guys are potential MVP candidates when they're right. Ethier is an All-Star caliber player. Puig may be great, but there's no way you sit one of those guys for a hotshot rookie. The only thing you might do is shop one of those guys for pitching to create room.

A lot of people around baseball are wondering if Kemp will ever be the same again. I'm just throwing that out there.

Having four outfielders is not that bad of a problem in MLB- especially with most of them being injury prone in this case. More than likely I doubt they will make a move unless they can get a really good deal for one of those guys. I can't see that happening. If I were the Dodgers, I would just let one of them walk, make them a qualifying offer and get a draft pick out of it. Probably Crawford or Kemp. You can always count on the Angels to take one of them off of your hands in free agency for you.

The Angels are going to be a dumpster fire in about three years. That or they are going to look like an Old Timer's Game All-Star team. I can't wait to see Mike Trout go to arbitration knowing what they are paying Pujols and Hamilton right now.

[Will James]

My bad then. Still, when your outfield is Kemp, Crawford, and Ethier, who do you sit? 2 of those guys are potential MVP candidates when they're right. Ethier is an All-Star caliber player. Puig may be great, but there's no way you sit one of those guys for a hotshot rookie. The only thing you might do is shop one of those guys for pitching to create room.

Well Crawford and Kemp are made of glass and Ethier should never be in the lineup when a LHP is on the mound. Puig's not just some hotshot, he is supposed to do this.

Ethier against lefties in his career has comparable offensive production to Dontrelle Willis' career at the plate. He is the ultimate platoon. I'd still play Puig over him vs RHP though. Let him ride pine until Crawford or Kemp come up lame running to 1st base. It will happen within 2 weeks probably.

[tenureplan]

Well Crawford and Kemp are made of glass and Ethier should never be in the lineup when a LHP is on the mound. Puig's not just some hotshot, he is supposed to do this.

Ethier against lefties in his career has comparable offensive production to Dontrelle Willis' career at the plate. He is the ultimate platoon. I'd still play Puig over him vs RHP though. Let him ride pine until Crawford or Kemp come up lame running to 1st base. It will happen within 2 weeks probably.

shoulder