Marlins Complain To MLB Because Greg Dobbs, Justin Ruggiano, And Steve Cishek Didn't Make The All-Star Team

Giancarlo Stanton, the hulking Marlins right fielder, is having one hell of an age-22 season—19 home runs, a .284/.364/.554 batting line, an all-star spot, solid gold stuff. Or, well, Stanton's season was solid gold until he hurt his knee. He underwent surgery today and pulled out of the home run derby and all-star game. But no Marlin came to replace Stanton. The Pirates' Andrew McCutchen replaced him in the derby, and the Bryce Harper replaced him in the game.

Did this anger the petulant twerps in the Miami front office? The answer is not no. Here's team president David Samson, as quoted by Joe Capozzi:

There were a lot of different ways that Tony or MLB could have gone. I think it's unfortunate. I think that every team shouod be presented on the line at the all star game. [...] "If you look at the fact that this game counts and you need people to win games. Having (Greg) Dobbs as an All Star as a pinch hitter off the bench, having (reliever Steve) Cishek [above] come in and get some righties out. Having Ruggiano coming who is completely clubbing the ball right now. I think he may have as much service time as the guy they named to replace Stanton this year, although I don't know actually. "For me it would have been natural to have Ruggiano in who has absolutely played as well as anyone since he was called up. Obviously MLB or Tony or whoever makes the decision has their own view of it and it's certainly disappointing."

Justin Ruggiano has played in 32 games (only 20 starts). He's been great, sure, but it's 32 games. The Marlins have five relievers who've appeared in more games than Ruggiano has. Harper has 63 games under his belt. It's funny how Samson uses "service time," as though Ruggiano's 98 mediocre Rays games from 2007-2011 ought to have any bearing on his 2012 all-star candidacy.

The Marlins stink, and that comforts us all. They stole from San Diego (Heath Bell), from New York (Jose Reyes), and from Chicago (Mark Buehrle), and—while players getting raises is in general a good thing—the Marlins only had the money to do it because they stole from Miami taxpayers. They're getting the comeuppance the Yankees never got.

If they stunk less, Samson, they'd have that second all-star and wouldn't need to worry about who would replace Stanton. But instead they've been outscored by 56 runs in their first 85 games, with two "superstars" on the left side of their infield who can't crack a 100 OPS+ and no starters besides Buehrle with an ERA under 4. Here's a temporary fix, pal: Fly that sculpture out to Kansas City and have it stand in for the Kauffman waterfalls. If Stanton's hurt, it's the best thing about your franchise.

Marlins complain to MLB about no Miami All Star to replace Stanton [Palm Beach Post]