What if instead of the traditional All-Star game we took an entire week off from the 2022 MLB regular season and played a division-vs-division round robin All-Star tournament? Sounds pretty cool, huh?
The prize for the winning division could be something like the ability to break uniform dress code, a greater share of the league’s revenue, or guaranteed wins in tiebreaker scenarios versus non-divisional teams.
Divisional All-Star teams are an intriguing idea for 2 reasons. One, lots of teammates will get to play alongside each other in an All-Star format, which fans always like to see. Two, the weaker teams in the division will be better represented.
So who would win if we did this in 2022?
Which division is the strongest in baseball? Looking at overall records in the standings is not always an accurate representation of the strength of the teams in that division. Good teams can beat up against each other and keep the records right around .500 when in reality they are very good.
A better way to look at relative divisional strengths is to compare interdivisional MLB records – which we did here.
A quick synopsis is that the following teams are terrible against non-division opponents. These teams gobble up the bulk of their wins versus the weak intradivsional teams they play.
And these teams are the best OOD. Teams who excel OOD tend to hail from the stronger divisions around baseball.
Today, we will explore which divisions sport the strongest All-Star lineups.
Our roster consists of 3 starting pitchers, 3 outfielders, 1 player at each remaining position, and 1 designated hitter. This is a one-of-a-kind experiment that you will not find anywhere else!
MLB Divisional All-Star Lineups
In many cases the decision for each position was very straightforward but in the case of a close race for highest WAR at a position the player with the better offensive stats received the start.
Just like the real All-Star game lineup, the outfield starters are positionless. We did not choose the best left fielder, center fielder, and right fielder but instead the 3 best outfielders overall.
The designated hitter for each division does not have to be an actual designated hitter for his team – although we did typically relegate a poor defender to the DH position, as he would be in real life.
In the case of players like Tommy Edman who qualify at multiple positions, we decided to put them in the least confrontational spot – meaning the position that will not create a major snub of a deserving candidate.
We decided that 3 starting pitchers was the right number for this type of experiment. In a true round-robin tournament of 6 teams they would obviously need more pitchers than 3, but this is just a fun thought experiment (for now).
AL East All-Star Team
SP1 Shane McClanahan / TB / 2.9 WAR / 1.73 ERA / 12.2 K/9
SP2 Kevin Gausman / TOR / 3.7 WAR / 2.86 ERA / 10.2 K/9
SP3 Alek Manoah / TOR / 2.1 WAR / 2.34 ERA / 8.1 K/9
C Alejandro Kirk / TOR / 13.9 Off / 2.9 WAR / .312 avg / 10 HR
1B Anthony Rizzo / NYY / 12.6 Off / 1.5 WAR / .223 avg / 22 HR
2B Gleyber Torres / NYY / 7.8 Off / 1.9 WAR / .264 avg / 13 HR
3B Rafael Devers / BOS / 30.8 Off / 4.4 WAR / .330 avg / 19 HR
SS Xander Bogaerts / BOS / 16.3 Off / 3.4 WAR / .309 avg / 7 HR
OF Aaron Judge / NYY / 28.6 Off / 4.2 WAR / .284 avg / 30 HR
OF George Springer / TOR / 10.9 Off / 1.9 WAR / .247 avg / 16 HR
OF Cedric Mullins / BAL / 4.2 Off / 2.1 WAR / .262 avg / 7 HR
DH Giancarlo Stanton / NYY / 8.4 Off / 1.3 WAR / .232 avg / 21 HR
AL Central All-Star Team
SP1 Shane Bieber / CLE / 2.5 WAR / 3.44 ERA / 9.2 K/9
SP2 Dylan Cease / CHW / 2.4 WAR / 2.45 ERA / 13.0 K/9
SP3 Tarik Skubal / DET / 2.2 WAR / 3.99 ERA / 9.2 K/9
C MJ Melendez / KC / 0.9 Off / 0.2 WAR / .222 avg / 9 HR
1B Jose Abreu / CHW / 16.7 Off / 2.4 WAR / .290 avg / 10 HR
2B Luis Arraez / MIN / 20.4 Off / 2.4 WAR / .354 avg / 4 HR
3B Jose Ramirez / CLE / 25.8 Off / 3.9 WAR / .285 avg / 16 HR
SS Carlos Correa / MIN / 8.1 Off / 1.9 WAR / .283 avg / 10 HR
OF Byron Buxton / MIN / 12.1 Off / 2.5 WAR / .215 avg / 22 HR
OF Luis Robert / CHW / 7.8 Off / 1.7 WAR / .291 avg / 10 HR
OF Andrew Benintendi / KC / 8.3 Off / 1.8 WAR / .317 avg / 3 HR
DH Andrew Vaughn / CHW / 8.4 Off / 0.4 WAR / .296 avg / 8 HR
AL West All-Star Team
SP1 Justin Verlander / HOU / 2.6 WAR / 2.00 ERA / 8.5 K/9
SP2 Martin Perez / TEX / 2.4 WAR / 2.72 ERA / 7.3 K/9
SP3 Framber Valdez / HOU / 2.1 WAR / 2.64 ERA / 7.9 K/9
C Jonah Heim / TEX / 5.5 Off / 1.9 WAR / .257 avg / 12 HR
1B Ty France / SEA / 18.5 Off / 2.2 WAR / .315 avg / 10 HR
2B Jose Altuve / HOU / 16.2 Off / 2.7 WAR / .280 avg / 17 HR
3B Alex Bregman / HOU / 10.1 Off / 2.2 WAR / .239 avg / 10 HR
SS Corey Seager / TEX / 7.1 Off / 2.4 WAR / .241 avg / 18 HR
OF Yordan Alvarez / HOU / 33.3 Off / 3.9 WAR / .306 avg / 26 HR
OF Mike Trout / LAA / 24.7 Off / 3.7 WAR / .268 avg / 24 HR
OF Julio Rodriguez / SEA / 16.3 Off / 3.0 WAR / .274 avg / 15 HR
DH Shohei Ohtani / LAA / 13.8 Off / 1.7 WAR / .260 avg / 19 HR
NL East All-Star Team
SP1 Sandy Alcantara / MIA / 3.4 WAR / 1.82 ERA / 7.8 K/9
SP2 Max Fried / ATL / 3.2 WAR / 2.52 ERA / 8.4 K/9
SP3 Zack Wheeler / PHI / 3.1 WAR / 2.46 ERA / 9.9 K/9
C William Contreras / ATL / 7.3 Off / 1.2 WAR / .265 avg / 10 HR
1B Pete Alonso / NYM / 18.9 Off / 2.2 WAR / .277 avg / 22 HR
2B Jeff McNeil / NYM / 14.1 Off / 2.5 WAR / .316 avg / 4 HR
3B Austin Riley / ATL / 18.3 Off / 2.8 WAR / .276 avg / 21 HR
SS Dansby Swanson / ATL / 17.5 Off / 4.0 WAR / .299 avg / 14 HR
OF Juan Soto / WAS / 19.0 Off / 2.4 WAR / .242 avg / 17 HR
OF Starling Marte / NYM / 13.9 Off / 1.7 WAR / .291 avg / 9 HR
OF Jeff McNeil / NYM / 14.6 Off / 2.5 WAR / .315 avg / 4 HR
DH Kyle Schwarber / PHI / 12.9 Off / 2.1 WAR / .219 avg / 27 HR
NL Central All-Star Team
SP1 Corbin Burnes / MIL / 2.6 WAR / 2.20 ERA / 11.3 K/9
SP2 Luis Castillo / CIN / 1.8 WAR / 2.92 ERA / 9.4 K/9
SP3 Tyler Mahle / CIN / 2.0 WAR / 4.48 ERA / 9.9 K/9
C Willson Contreras / CHC / 18.6 Off / 2.9 WAR / .274 avg / 13 HR
1B Paul Goldschmidt / STL / 40.7 Off / 4.4 WAR / .342 avg / 19 HR
2B Tommy Edman / STL / 8.8 Off / 3.4 WAR / .261 avg / 7 HR
3B Nolan Arenado / STL / 19.7 Off / 4.2 WAR / .292 avg / 17 HR
SS Willy Adames / MIL / 2.0 Off / 2.0 WAR / .216 avg / 17 HR
OF Bryan Reynolds / PIT / 8.5 Off / 1.4 WAR / .262 avg / 15 HR
OF Ian Happ / CHC / 11.7 Off / 2.2 WAR / .277 avg / 8 HR
OF Christian Yelich / MIL / 6.8 Off / 1.3 WAR / .248 avg / 8 HR
DH Brandon Drury / CIN / 12.3 Off / 2.3 WAR / .278 avg / 18 HR
NL West All-Star Team
SP1 Carlos Rodon / SF / 3.7 WAR / 2.70 ERA / 11.2 K/9
SP2 Joe Musgrove / SD / 2.4 WAR / 2.09 ERA / 8.9 K/9
SP3 Logan Webb / SF / 2.3 WAR / 2.98 ERA / 7.5 K/9
C Will Smith / LAD / 7.7 Off / 1.9 WAR / .253 avg / 13 HR
1B Freddie Freeman / LAD / 20.9 Off / 3.0 WAR / .297 avg / 10 HR
2B Ketel Marte / ARI / 7.9 Off / 1.5 WAR / .265 avg / 5 HR
3B Manny Machado / SD / 24.2 Off / 4.4 WAR / .315 avg / 13 HR
SS Trea Turner / LAD / 16.0 Off / 3.1 WAR / .300 avg / 11 HR
OF Mookie Betts / LAD / 21.2 Off / 3.6 WAR / .276 avg / 20 HR
OF Gavin Lux / LAD / 9.1 Off / 1.9 WAR / .295 avg / 3 HR
OF Jurickson Profar / SD / 5.9 Off / 1.8 WAR / .242 avg / 8 HR
DH CJ Cron / COL / 14.2 Off / 2.2 WAR / .295 avg / 20 HR
Kreighton loves sports, math, writing, and winning — he combines all of them as a writer for WagerBop. His favorite sports to review are MLB, NFL, NBA, NCAAF, and NCAABB.
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