Fantasy baseball - Eric Karabell's weekend recap - ESPN

Now that major league baseball has announced the initial All-Star game rosters and touted the biggest stars in the sport, from Los Angeles Angels DH/SP Shohei Ohtani to (checks notes) Oakland Athletics OF Brent Rooker, it is time for everyone's other favorite pastime: discussing the snubs. There were some notable ones, but then again, it is all a bit arbitrary.

We do things a bit differently in the fantasy baseball world. Every player is already ranked, either via our ESPN Player Rater for roto leagues or in terms of total points in points formats. That's why we can, without bias, highlight those deserving of All-Star attention. Note that some of these players will still end up in the All-Star game due to injuries to others (such as New York Yankees OF Aaron Judge).

Regardless, our Player Rater has spoken! Here are just a few of the players that did not get the initial nod from the weekend. You may be surprised.

Wander Franco, SS, Tampa Bay Rays (6th on Player Rater): This is surprising. Franco is a potential candidate for No. 2 AL MVP honors — because Ohtani is, of course, first again — and a top-10 fantasy option, though his most valuable fantasy category is stolen bases, which often get overlooked. Still, Franco may hit .300 with 20 home runs, 90 RBI, 100 runs and 50 steals, and show up in Round 1 of 2024 drafts. Fantasy investors love him.

Rays SS Wander Franco is already a top-10 fantasy talent, and should continue improving, but it wasn't enough to get him named to the AL All-Star team.

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Esteury Ruiz, OF, Oakland