Does MLB need to fix All-Star Game selection process rules? Players are split on who gets to go
Should every team have a representative? Did Jacob Misiorowski pitch enough? CBS Sports polled current All-Stars

ATLANTA -- The MLB All-Star Game is just asking for complaints. "How is (insert good player having a good year) not an All-Star?" they cry. The loudest protests typically come from fans whose favorite athlete missed the cut, but managers and players can rarely resist, usually in defense of a teammate. This season in particular, the grumbles and moans were pretty raucous leading up the All-Star workout on Monday.
Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo called the process "broken." "I don't think every team should get a person," he told the New York Post. "It's supposed to be All-Stars. It's not supposed to be, 'Who is the best player on every team?' It's supposed to be, 'Who are the best players in the major leagues?'"
The Phillies clubhouse in particular was peeved that starting pitchers Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez didn't make the team. There was also plenty of chirping about Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski being named to the team despite having only started five games in his MLB career.
"Oh well," Brewers closer Trevor Megill told CBS Sports Monday of complaints about his young teammate making the team. "The kid is a talent. A lot of people's schedules don't line up to pitch an inning and he's good to go an inning. Why not have him here, I mean, the guy's already got stuff in Cooperstown. He's got a special arm, so let's see it on the big stage."
National League All-Star Game manager Dave Roberts, called Misiorowski's inclusion an "easy answer."
"I think for me, kind of my North Star is the All-Star Game should be the game's best players. It's about the fans and what the fans want to see," the Dodgers manager said. "So for this young kid to be named an All-Star, I couldn't be more excited for him. He's thrilled to be here. I'm going to get him in there probably the fifth or the sixth inning, something like that, the seventh. And it's going to be electric. So the fans, the media, you're going to love it.
"So, for me, it's an easy answer because if it brings excitement, attention to our game, then I'm all about it."
Misiorowski, the 23-year-old rookie with a sparkling 2.81 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 25 ⅓ innings, deflected the criticism.
"I don't think the guys are coming after me," he said. "I don't think there's anything that I did in particular that they're coming after, but it's a decision that was made and you gotta live with it."
Generally speaking, most players polled by CBS Sports Monday were in agreement that anything exciting -- even a rookie with five starts to his name -- is good for the sport, especially on a national stage like the All-Star Game.
But while MLB has improved at finding what's new and hot and fun, one antiquated rule still mars the Midsummer Classic: the mandate that every team gets one representative. Back when games were rarely seen outside specific regions, the All-Star Game was a good opportunity for the national audience to see some of the best players from every team. In this streaming era, though, anyone who wants to see players from the Athletics, White Sox or Pirates is generally able to do so, not to mention highlight shows and social media.
Still, there's something positive about every single fan base having a player from their favorite team to root for.
"I think it's good for baseball," said Diamondbacks star Corbin Carroll. "Each fan base has something to be excited about."
"I think it's great," Tigers representative Zach McKinstry said of the rule. "To have every team here to represent is definitely the way to go."
Fellow Detroit All-Star Casey Mize has seen it from both sides.
"It's tough," Mize said. "I think back to my early time in Detroit when we weren't a very good team and if we didn't have somebody represent us, I know our fans would be disappointed. But now, vice versa, we are a good team and I want some more of our players here, like [Spencer Torkelson]. I understand the argument for both. Would I like to just see the very best players be the All-Stars? Yeah, I would."
Mize's teammate Riley Greene, too, wants to see the best of the best, rather than trying to please everyone.
"I think it should be the best players because those guys deserve it," he said.
Giants lefty Robbie Ray can see both sides, sort of how Mize laid it out.
"I'm kinda torn on this," Ray said. "It's nice to see a representative from every team, but I think a lot of good guys get overlooked and miss out because there has to be a rep from every team. For me, it's 50-50, I'm kind of torn right down the middle of it."
Hunter Goodman of the Rockies and Kyle Stowers of the Marlins are the lone reps for their teams on the NL squad.
"I think there's usually one guy on every team that's pretty deserving," Goodman said. "As far as the rule, that's not really in my control... I think it's tough. There are a lot of guys who are deserving that don't make it, but no matter what you do that's gonna happen. There's always gonna be somebody who gets left out."
Added Stowers: "I think it's cool to have representation. It's what makes the game special, even if it means expanding rosters or whatever. I think having representation from each team is a good thing and obviously I think it's also a good thing with teams that have more representation because they're on a winning team.
"I don't know what it would look like to change it. There just needs to be some sort of statistical measure, right? Those Phillies starting pitchers, it's a bummer for them because they're having amazing years. I definitely feel for those guys, they are really tough pitchers to face, but it doesn't take away, in my opinion, what they've accomplished this year."
Starting pitcher Shane Smith, the lone White Sox rep, said he's going to take the opportunity to pick the brains of his fellow All-Stars. He wouldn't get that chance had he not been sent to Atlanta.
"I think almost every pitcher here I could learn something from," he said. "Whether or not I get the opportunity to do that, we'll see. I'm just trying to make an introduction and go from there."
Of 81 total All-Star selections, the Angels, Rangers, Cardinals, Orioles and Pirates also each had just the one representative.
At the end of the day, the All-Star Game is a fun exhibition event. It doesn't affect the World Series anymore. It'll be enjoyable for all and while there are snubs, there are plenty of superstars on hand to make the game exciting. And it never hurts to see if a player from a bad team can leave a mark on the Midsummer Classic.