Brian Dozier: All-Star after all

There are always players who should be at the All-Star Game who don't get voted in or invited to attend. In 2015 you'd have been hard-pressed to find a more deserving snub than Brian Dozier. That changed yesterday afternoon, when it was announced that Jose Bautista wouldn't be attending due to a sore shoulder. Dozier himself found out in the middle of the game.

That has to be a pretty special moment for Dozier. He'll join starter Jose Altube and backup Jason Kipnis as one of three American League second basemen on the roster, making the first of what will hopefully be a handful of All-Star appearances as Minnesota's second baseman. Having already accumulated 3.4 wins above replacement to date, Dozier is tied with the Giants' Joe Panik as baseball's second-most valuable player at the position - behind, of course, Kipnis (4.8 fWAR).

Mike Moustakas, the fine player that he is, isn't having nearly as an impressive of a season as Dozier. It's difficult to argue that Moustakas didn't deserve to win the fan vote - y'know, since he did win - but how you feel about that probably depends on how you feel about the voting process anyway. Brock Holt's nomination from Yost is the bigger joke. How you give a utility player a roster spot and claim it's because of his versatility - as though that's an issue with a roster with 30-odd players - is beyond me. Holt is having a good year - but he obviously wasn't as deserving as Dozier.

Yet here we are. Dozier joins Glen Perkins as Minnesota's representatives at the All-Star Game, and all is as it should be. Let's hope they both get to see the field.

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