I haven't commented on the blather about an All-Star appearance for Stephen Strasburg because I haven't wanted to dignify the discussion by perpetuating it. But the talkosphere persists, so I'll just point out the following.
Players don't earn All-Star berths on six good weeks of play. If Strasburg's reputation of supernova is justified, he'll collect plenty of All-Star appearances. If he's a flash-in-the-pan, we'll feel pretty stupid about giving him someone else's slot based on six lifetime starts.
It's also worth noting that Nationals management would chew their own arms off before allowing Strasburg to throw in a meaningless exhibition. (Sorry, Bud. Truth to power.) So even if you buy the argument that his selection would goose interest in the contest, he'd likely not pitch, leaving unfulfilled fans grousing.
Between the every-team rule, the lack of definition of what an All-Star is and the myopia of managers, players and fans, it's hard enough for deserving players to claim their spots. If the nation wants to see Strasburg perform, the real alternative is for Fox and ESPN to show an occasional Nats game.
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The trade deadline is looming, so the discussion has begun about which team cashes in the 2010 season and dessicates its lineup. I don't know where the notion derived that the alternative to contending is selling off all your parts, but it's a fallacy.
Certainly, teams that have no chance this year might be wise to parlay half a year of value in a veteran who won't resign for some young potential. (This isn't always true. Increasingly, front offices are deciding that the two high draft picks they receive when losing a top free agent are more valuable than whatever they can return in trade.) The obvious example is Seattle, where Cliff Lee could bring back some strategically-placed stufmuffins from the Twins, Mets, Red Sox, etc.
On the other hand, it makes no sense for the Mariners, who are probably just a few players away from duking it out for the division, to back up a truck and unloading everything of value from the roster. If they're going to have any chance in 2011, 2012 and beyond, the current stars are going to have to play a role.
On the other end of the spectrum are bottom-feeders like Cleveland, Houston, Washington and Pittsburgh. Darkening their rosters with a anyone over 30 is a mis-allocation of resources that should be remedied by trade whenever possible. Of course, that has nothing to do with the trade deadline, as the Pirates' brass has demonstrated on numerous occasions. The sooner those clubs excise older stars -- cough royoswalt cough -- from their lineups, the more they can get in return. The real issue is that if Houston, Cleveland, etc had any star players, they wouldn't be in their current predicaments.
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The ground ball fairy smiled on Edwin Jackson yesterday, turning every ball hit into an out. Jackson earned a no-hitter against the hit-challenged Rays with a performance that could hardly be called excellence. Jackson struck out six, put nine men on base -- eight via walk and one via HBP -- and needed a sparkling defensive play to prevent a run from scoring and leaving a bases loaded, one out situation. He also got a boost from a forgiving official scorer who posted E-4 on a ball that might have been a hit in any other game.
Jackson needed 149 pitches to get through nine frames, so subtract a sterling defensive stop or two and he gives up runs, takes the loss and doesn't finish the game.
This will be recorded as the fourth no-hitter of the season and will be remembered as the fifth, but it was not one of the 25 best pitching performances of the year. Such is the life of a no-hitter, another piece of trivia that has value only because we notice it.
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