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The chances of seeing Omar Infante suit up for the American League All-Star squad are getting slimmer by the hour. On Thursday, MLB Advanced Media CEO Bob Bowman announced the cancellation of between 60 and 65 million ballots for the upcoming All-Star Game. The decision was made after Royals fans (and probably other fans looking to create chaos) exploited the online voting system earlier this week, putting a total of eight Kansas City players in line to start for the American League. While 60 million votes sounds like a sizable chunk of the 300-some million ballots that have been collected so far, Bowman insisted that the 20 percent cut was on par with results from previous seasons.
Nevertheless, MLB still stands to gain an additional 200 million votes by the deadline on July 2, 2015, providing a wide berth for fans who haven’t yet figured out how to capitalize on their voting impact with false email addresses or rudimentary hacking skills. Even after MLB culled the suspicious-looking ballots, Royals players appeared to have the edge on many deserving competitors, including Tigeres slugger Miguel Cabrera and Astros second baseman Jose Altuve.
Balancing the All-Star election process would require limiting fan input, but that doesn’t appear to be a step MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is willing to take. “In general over time fans have done a pretty good job,” he told the press on Tuesday. “We’ll see how it all turns out.” Should Manfred change his mind, he wouldn’t be the first commissioner to interfere with the All-Star selections.
Maybe it’s not the integrity of the Midsummer Classic that matters — if it ever did — but how much attention MLB can grab before fans realize just what it is they’re fighting about.
- Astros’ general manager Jeff Luhnow is the latest to weigh in on the Cardinals’ hacking scandal, and, in case you’re wondering, he does know how to create a secure password.
- Alex Rodriguez is still one hit shy of his 3,000 career mark.
- Pirates reliever Arquimedes Caminero holds the sixth-highest WAR among National League relievers, due in part to his exceptional velocity and control. Now, the question isn’t how Caminero became a “ridiculous baseball-emitting laser cannon,” but whether he can sustain the skills that earned him the title.
- If White Sox general manager Rick Hahn is considering a front office shake-up, he’s unlikely to make any drastic moves before the trade deadline.
- Pablo Sandoval was benched on Thursday after perusing Instagram during Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the Braves, but social media etiquette is the least of the Red Sox’ problems right now.
- Two weeks after Robert Alvarado leaked some less-than-savory ticketing strategies, the Angels’ vice president of marketing and ticket sales resigned his 15-year post. As it turns out, you can’t go around telling people that the front office plays favorites with their fan base.
- Are MLB players ready to welcome an openly gay team member? Sonny Gray and Justin Upton think so.
- Carlos Correa stole three bases during Thursday’s 8-4 win against the Rockies, making him the second-youngest player to do so in the last 100 years.
SB Nation presents: Can A-Rod become MLB’s all-time home run king?
