Yes, there are Giants on the All-Star ballot

Remarkably, and perhaps because of the collective bargaining agreement, there are multiple Giants on this year’s All-Star Game voting ballot. You can start voting right here, right now, if you want.

If you recall, there’s a new wrinkle to All-Star voting this year. There are two phases now. This first one is the “Primary” and runs from May 28-June 21st (ending at 1pm Pacific). More from MLB.com:

For fans voting on MLB.com there is a limit of five (5) ballot submissions per single, valid email address during any twenty-four (24) hour period (with that twenty-four (24) hour period to begin tolling at the time of such fan’s first ballot submission; following the expiration of the initial twenty-four (24) period, the next twenty-four (24) hour period begins tolling at the time of such fan’s next ballot submission).

After the Primary ends, we move on to “The Election”. That begins at 9am Pacific on Wednesday, June 26th and ends at 12:59pm Pacific on Thursday, June 27th. This Primary, then,

will decide the top (3) three players for each of the infield positions in each League, the top nine (9) players for outfield positions in each League, and the top three (3) players for the one (1) designated hitter spot for the American League. Those players will remain on the 2019 Google MLB All-Star Ballot during the second phase of voting, The Election.

Here are the list of Giants on the Primary ballot:

C — Buster Posey
1B — Brandon Belt
2B — Joe Panik
SS — Brandon Crawford
3B — Evan Longoria
OF — Tyler Austin
OF — Steven Duggar
OF — Kevin Pillar

Buster Posey is 14th in catcher fWAR at 0.9 and technically doesn’t yet deem a “qualified” designation when it comes to full-time batting stats status. Brandon Belt’s 0.3 fWAR is 20th-best in MLB for first baseman. Joe Panik’s 0.5 fWAR is good for 25th among all second baseman.

Yes, the outlook is grim. Someone from the team is contractually obligated to travel to Cleveland to appear in this year’s All-Star Game and it will very likely be Will Smith, unless he’s traded before then, in which case... Reyes Moronta? Madison Bumgarner? But what if they’re traded before then? Trevor Gott? Tony Watson? But what if they’re traded before then...

Buster Posey has a very slim chance of getting into that top three if he can get hot over the next two weeks, but that seems... unrealistic. Realistically, The Election for catcher will be a three-way deal between Willson Contreras, Yasmani Grandal, and J.T. Realmuto, with Yadier Molina and Brian McCann as dark horse candidates.

So, yeah, go vote. Show your team spirit! The Giants are on a six-game losing streak, have a 21-32 record, and have lost 58% of their games over the past two and a half years, but they still might have an All-Star or two!

Who do you want to see as your the final three candidates at each position for the National League in The Election?

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3B —
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