In 2017, Major League Baseball reversed a controversial decision about the All-Star Game. For 13 seasons, the fate of the Midsummer Classic determined home-field advantage in the World Series.

It sounds like fiction, but yes, an exhibition game in the middle of the season played a factor in how a championship might be decided.

Luckily, MLB came to its senses, and the All-Star Game is back to what it should be: a fun thing for the fans. Regardless of how a player is performing, you can vote for them all you want. That’s the beauty of baseball democracy, I guess.

But that also means there may be some less-than-deserving candidates who slide their way into the conversation, either by reputation, previous play, or the team they play for.

That means some Blue Jays players have earned a starting All-Star nod, and others are still banking on the residuals of past performances.

Over the last calendar year, it’s been a meteoric rise for Ernie Clement. The man who set a new MLB record for most hits in the postseason is the Blue Jays’ best chance at having a starting representative at the All-Star Game in Philly. Clement also leads the league in doubles and is second in the AL in overall hits.

Clement leads his next closest competitor — Ezequiel Duran of the Texas Rangers — by over 600,000 votes. Unless there’s a last-minute ballot-stuffing campaign for someone like Jazz Chisholm Jr. or Jose Altuve, Clement should coast to an appearance at the Midsummer Classic.

Among American League second basemen, Clement sits third overall in fWAR at 1.4, with Chase Meidroth of the Chicago White Sox leading with 1.7 fWAR. It’s a tight race on the FanGraphs WAR rankings, but Clement’s postseason cache has earned him extra notoriety this season across Major League Baseball.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has no business being an All-Star this year. This is not a rage bait attempt, I promise. But his play in 2026 doesn’t justify being named the best player at his respective position.

Umpteen players have been better than Guerrero at first base, both at the plate and defensively. Ben Rice is Vladdy’s closest competition on the voting ballot, but in actuality, Nick Kurtz leads all first basemen with 3.3 fWAR, compared to Guerrero’s 1.1 fWAR.

Guerrero’s name recognition and stellar performance in the postseason last year have earned him some goodwill with voters this season, and there’s a scenario where he starts the All-Star Game at first base, despite having middling results at the plate.

Is it a good look to reward a guy who probably doesn’t deserve to be there? Probably not. But the All-Star Game is an exhibition for the fans, and if that’s what they want, then so be it.

After Alejandro Kirk went down with a thumb injury earlier in the season, Brandon Valenzuela was thrust into the spotlight as the Blue Jays’ starting catcher. His reward for being one of the best backstops in the AL? Not even appearing on the All-Star ballot.

Fans can add Valenzuela as a write-in candidate, but it would take a typhoon of a grassroots campaign to get Valenzuela within spitting distance of the top five vote-getters.

With more than 400,000 ballots separating Kirk from Shea Langeliers, chances are Kirk will not overtake the Athletics backstop in the pursuit of the starting spot as catcher in the American League. The fact that Kirk has played only seven games this season, but still has close to 300,000 votes, is mind-boggling.

Kirk has four hits in his two games back off the IL, so he’s hit the ground running after a long absence. Even with just a fraction of games played compared to his counterparts, the 27-year-old could parlay his hot bat into an All-Star starting nod for the second time in his career.

What on earth is going on with voting for American League third basemen? Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Guardians is the clear favourite at the hot corner, and yet Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays is the early leader in the All-Star ballot standings.

Third base is one of the deepest talent pools in the American League this year, with Miguel Vargas of the Chicago White Sox and Josh Jung of the Texas Rangers making strong cases to represent the AL at the Midsummer Classic. But is Kazuma Okamoto of the Blue Jays among those names?

With less than 70,000 ballots separating Caminero from Okamoto for the top spot, there’s the potential for Toronto’s rookie third baseman to earn starting honours. Okamoto leads all AL third basemen in RBIs and is only one behind Caminero in the home run column, so Okamoto warrants consideration.

Unless Yordan Alvarez experiences a freak injury between now and July 14, he is the runaway favourite at designated hitter in the American League. He is one of the easiest slam dunks on the ballot at 3.2 fWAR, and Alvarez leads most offensive categories in the junior circuit. He occupies the AL’s triple crown statistics, and the only major category he isn’t leading is on-base percentage.

And then there’s George Springer. Shockingly, he was not named to the AL All-Star team in 2025, despite a strong first half and some of the best numbers for a DH. This year, it’s the opposite, as Springer, along with Guerrero Jr., has failed to propel the Blue Jays’ lineup as they have in the past.

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