Going the Rounds

By Rick Anderson

You know things are going well for the Seattle Mariners when one of their players wins a worldwide popularity contest from members of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

Despite ranking second in the majors in hits, Seattle shortstop Jean Segura was bypassed in both fan balloting for American League All-Star starters and the selection of reserves by Major League Baseball.

Twenty years ago, Segura’s All-Star hopes would have been toast. But MLB officials, in an effort to increase fan voting, instituted a process early in this century that allowed online voters to choose from among five designated candidates in each league to fill the final roster slots. That’s called the Final Vote contest.

Not surprisingly, this system has historically favored high-profile players from major media markets. Thanks, however, to an aggressive social media campaign orchestrated by the Mariners’ public relations staff, Segura got the nod this year over Yankee slugger Giancarlo Stanton and Boston outfield Andrew Benintendi, among others.

While the process might be flawed, this year’s Final Vote participants rectified what would have been a travesty of justice.

Always an outstanding hitter, Segura this season has also greatly exceeded his previously undistinguished reputation as a defensive shortstop. With the possible exception of relief pitcher Edwin Diaz, he might be the most valuable component in Seattle’s surprising success story during the first half of the season.

Like most Northwest teams, the M’s are adept at playing the “we get no respect” card in terms of national recognition.

They can’t lodge that complaint in All-Star selections this year. Four Mariners (Segura, Diaz, outfielder Mitch Haniger and designated hitter Nelson Cruz) were selected to represent the American League in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. That’s as many — or possibly one more player — than they deserve.

Seattle management had lobbied for a fifth selection in starting pitcher James Paxton.

The big southpaw from Canada has authored a no-hitter and several double-digit strikeout performances this season, but his consistency has fallen short of other staff aces. He deserved All-Star consideration, but I wouldn’t have voted for him.

Paxton’s candidacy is now likely moot after he left Thursday’s loss to the Angels with a lower back injury — the type of ailment that has traditionally sidelined the Mariner lefty for weeks.

When it comes to All-Star selections, my perspective is admittedly different than many younger baseball observers. During my formative years as a fan, a player’s overall stature in the game took precedence over his statistics during the first 80-odd games of the current season. Regardless of their first-half numbers, I expected to see the likes of Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Henry Aaron not only start but play the majority of All-Star games.

In the first midsummer classic I can remember watching (in 1959), Aaron drove in the tying run and Mays tripled home the winning marker for the National League — in the eighth inning. Players of their caliber probably would be headed for the airport by the eighth inning of an All-Star Game these days.

Cruz’s selection this year represented a refreshing throwback to that era.

Playing through several injuries, Cruz struggled for the first month of the season. Even now, his first-half statistics are slightly below his customary standard. But the selectors wisely acknowledged that he remains (along with Boston’s J.D. Martinez) as one of the two best DHs in baseball.

The major league leader in saves, Diaz was a no-brainer choice. Haniger’s case was more marginal.

The Seattle right fielder is enjoying a fine season, ranking among the league leaders in RBIs. His overall credentials, however, don’t exactly scream All-Star, at least to me.

Haniger’s selection means that both key players Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto acquired in a late 2016 trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks made the American League All-Star team. The M’s obtained Haniger and Segura in exchange for pitcher Taijuan Walker and infielder Ketel Marte.

Honesty compels me to report that I was initially lukewarm about that deal.

While Segura was clearly an upgrade over Marte at shortstop, Haniger was an unknown quantity. The talented Walker (then only 24 years old) represented in my mind a better long-term bet than the older and seemingly more brittle Paxton, also rumored to be on the trading block at the time.

I wasn’t alone in my viewpoint. The majority of respondents in an online survey conducted a few days after the trade believed that the Diamondbacks got the better of the deal.

As it developed, Walker has experienced more health issues than Paxton since the trade and will miss the remainder of the 2018 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

All of which demonstrates that Dipoto — and the people who participated in the Final Vote balloting— are smarter than some sports writers.