Posted 12:57 PM by Sean
In the latest AL All-Star balloting, Troy Glaus continues to lead Eric Chavez at third base. It's close between them, but the Rangers' Hank Blalock may be the real All-Star at this position (currently fourth), and Tampa Bay's Aubrey Huff (not in the top five) deserves some consideration. Here's how they break down offensively - as always, sorry for the crappy formatting:

Name - ABs - OPS - HR - SB - Votes

Glaus - 178 - .959 - 11 - 6 - 145,729

Chavez - 195 - .769 - 10 - 5 - 136,622

Blalock - 182 - .978 - 9 - 0 - 83,801

Huff - 217 - .921 - 14 - 1 - <50,463

Seems obvious to me that Chavez doesn't really have much of an argument. His OPS is significantly worse, his ABs are middle of the pack, he's no better than the rest in terms of going long (which, yes, is already taken into account in OPS, but deserves some singling out as a statistic for the "excitement factor," considering it's the All-Star Game and that's what a lot of fans want to see), and five stolen bases doesn't mean much.

Clearly, we've got yet another case of talent lag, the tendency of All-Star voters to reward players for previous good seasons rather than the ones they're having now. Glaus is enjoying the effect, too - there's no way he'd be close to the top spot if the Angels hadn't won the World Series last year - but he also happens to be putting up the numbers to justify his selection.

The other Angels seem to be polling respectibly, but don't have a realistic shot at being voted in. Scioscia, of course, has control over a few roster slots as the AL Manager, and will almost certainly take Salmon and Donnelly (provided he stays healthy and doesn't melt down in the next few weeks), and might take Garret Anderson, Scot Shields, or even Ben Weber. Erstad and Fullmer would have to have incredible Junes to warrant consideration, while Percival - deserving as he is for his many years of unsung brilliance - will probably stay home because of the low numbers resulting from his stint on the DL.