Rob Neyer conducts an interesting exercise: what would happen if you had to make an all-time All-Star team following the same roster rules to which today’s All-Star are subject? Specifically, a 33-man roster, picking from players’ individual seasons, and a rule that every team -- including historical teams like the Boston Braves and New York Giants -- has to have a representative. The linked piece is for the NL selections. Presumably the AL will follow later today.
Rob does a good job, but man, Chad Cordero of the Nats sure sticks out, doesn’t he? Especially given that Bob Gibson’s 1968 season, among many other excellent ones, is left off. Not that it’s Rob’s fault, of course, because who else are the Nats going to have on that team?
Which leads me to believe that, in addition to simply being fun, the point of this exercise is to show just how stupid the every-team-has-to-have-an-All-Star rule truly is.