No All-Star Game? No Problem – 3 Cleveland Indians who could of been All-Stars in 2020
By Chad Porto
Baseball will be without an All-Star Game in 2020 but could be the team’s All-Stars?
It was announced on Friday that the 2020 All-Star Game would not be happening in Los Angeles as planned, and they’ll instead host the 2022 All-Star Game instead. With no game, there will be some questions that revolve around if there’ll be All-Star awards. Will the league still name All-Star players without a game to play in?
Honestly, nothing that’s been put out there says one thing about any ceremonial All-Star announcements. After all, a lot of contracts have All-Star incentives written in. Do players not get the opportunity at those incentives? Noticeably most all-star games across sports always have players that opt-out, and they’re still rewarded. Why should this year be any different? It wouldn’t be too crazy to do a ceremonial selection; after all, this will only be a 60 game season. So while a ceremonial selection is unknown currently, it’s still fun to think about who could’ve gone.
If there aren’t any formal selections, then these three Cleveland Indians will of been robbed of an award. Just for a little fun, we’ll also be selecting an alternate selection as someone who maybe could have made an All-Star team but maybe won’t for some reason.
Francisco Lindor
This one is the most obvious. Until he leaves, via free agency or a trade, Lindor will be a near-lock to make an All-Star team every year he’s in the league. He’s a career .288 hitter and would’ve been on his way to a fifth straight All-Star game. He’s an 80 RBI, 30 HR average hitter over the last four years, and there’s no doubt he’ll be able to reduplicate that type of production. In this shortened season, 30 RBI’s and 11+ HR’s seem very doable.
Lindor missing out on this All-Star game maybe hurts the most of all on this list, mostly because of how likely it is that he’ll be wearing a different club’s hat next year. If this is his last year with the Tribe, at least his last All-Star game will have been played as an Indian in the home of the Indians. That’s pretty poetic.
Alternate: Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana had a huge season last year. Career highs in home runs, RBI’s, average, OPS and so many other key statistics. Rightfully, he was awarded a slot in the All-Star Game for his efforts. Yet, at 34, the odds that Santana keeps that pace or even improves upon it seem unlikely. He’s by no means a lock to make a second All-Star game and it’s more likely he drops off in 2020 some.