Third baseman David Wright was named to the NL All-Star team yesterday as a replacement for the injured Alfonso Soriano.  Wright, who finished second to the Brewers Corey Hart in MLB’s online Final Vote, is hitting .285 with 17 home runs and 70 RBI’s.  This will be David Wright’s third consecutive appearance at baseball’s Midsummer Classic.

As baseball fans, it’s not enough to celebrate the achievements of a great player getting selected to the all-star team.  We have to speculate.  Was Wright the right selection for the spot vacated by Soriano?  If you talk to any Mets fan they will say yes, and tell you how they don’t understand how he wasn’t selected right from the beginning. But given the implications that the All-Star Game now holds (home field advantage in the World Series), Clint Hurdle’s selection could be called into question.  If not Wright, who’s a better option?

The Astros Carlos Lee has been tearing the cover off the ball. Currently hitting .295 with 21 home runs and 72 RBI’s, he trumps Wright in all three offensive categories.  Might Lee have been a better choice?  Looking at the the NL roster, they could use a boost in power and Lee possesses a lot more power than Wright.  On the flip side, Lee is on a last place ball club.  Last place clubs normally don’t have more than one all-star, and the Astros already have their token representative (shortstop Miguel Tejada).

Speaking of power, what about the Phillies Ryan Howard?  Now I know Mets would never want to see a Phillie getting an all-star nod over one of the Mets young studs, but Howard is hard to overlook.  Sure he’s batting a putrid .236, but he leads the National League in home runs (28), and RBI’s (84).  Even though his average is so low, he’s hitting .333 with runners in scoring position.  When Howard hits the ball, he produces runs.  Hitting the ball is the problem, given his major league-leading 126 strikeouts.  Even with those negatives, if you lead the league in two of the three categories for the triple crown you make the team.  Howard is the first player since Hank Sauer in 1948 to lead the league in home runs and RBI’s not to make the All-Star team.

All-Star selections will spark debate and be over-analyzed even after the game has past.  Fans of each team will justify why their favorite player should make the team and knock players they don’t like.  Although I do have my own personal opinions, I do think overall Hurdle did a good job.  There’s no doubt Wright is an amazing ballplayer, and probably the best selection for Hurdle to make.  Not based on numbers and who may “deserve it”, but how his roster is set up.  When Hart won the final vote, Hurdle found himself with a surplus of outfielders.  With Soriano out, and Wright in, the NL’s bench breaks down to two bench players for every infield spot except second base (Dan Uggla), and three outfield reserves.  Should it be a tight game, Hurdle gave himself the balance he needed to go for the long haul.