The Players You Should Vote For For The 2014 All Star Game

Currently, voting is underway for the 2014 All-Star game in Minnesota. Fans across the nation, and across the globe can vote on who they think should start the All-Star game. Many fans will just be homers and vote for players who play on their favorite team. However, if you do vote for this or any All-Star game, I ask that you take this seriously and vote on who you genuinely believe is the best at every position. The reason for this is the same reason I loathe the fact that Derek Jeter is probably going to start at SS for the AL this year. Being honored with the designation of an "All Star" matters. Not only is it a great personal achievement for that particular player, but its used as a determining factor for a player's legacy. One extra All-Star game for Derek Jeter may not matter, but if he steals that vote from say Jose Reyes or Alexei Ramirez, that does matter. You can give me all of the bullshit excuses of "this is a fan's game, so the fans should determine who they personally want to see" or "Derek Jeter's selection is not for this year, but for the great career he had" and you'd just be wrong. You're wrong. At the end of the day, who is an All-Star matters solely as recognition for how great of a player you were. Nobody will say in 10 years, hell in 5 years, Derek Jeter went to the All-Star game 14 times, but it's really 13 and a bonus year representative for his entire career. No. They'll say Derek Jeter is a 14x All-Star, and that's that. Players should be rewarded for how they perform on the field to determine if they're worthy of becoming an All-Star.