Cleveland Indians All-Star Jason Kipnis Thinks Fans Shouldn’t Vote, Is He Right?

Jason Kipnis Thinks Fans Shouldn’t Vote For All-Star Starters, Is He Right?

Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis was recently named to the All-Star team as a reserve infielder for the American League squad.  There never was much doubt in this as he’s been one of the best overall players in all of baseball, let alone the best second baseman in the American League.  However, despite this he was not voted in as the starting second baseman by the fans. Instead, Jose Altuve will be the starting after leading the fan voting.  Kipnis finished just third in the fan voting, behind Kansas Royals second baseman Omar Infante.  This prompted Jason Kipnis to make the following comments in regards to changing the fan voting process:

"“I hope they do,” he said. “Not because I didn’t win it this year, but because once they decided that the All-Star means something (the winning league has the home-field advantage in the World Series), I think you have to take the voting out of the hands of the fans. They should still get to vote, but maybe not for the starters. Fans are always going to vote for their favorite players, whether they are having a good year or not.”"

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard someone call for the end of fan voting (and it won’t be the last). Kipnis does bring up a good point about the All-Star game “mattering” now.  He’s right that because of this the best players need to be in the game to try and win for that home-field advantage in the World Series.  However, is taking the selection of All-Star starters away from the fans the right move?

In my opinion, no and here are a few reasons why…

Next: Begin Slideshow: It's the All-'Star' Game and It's For the Fans