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Tommy Pham: MLB All-Star Game Voting Process Is 'Never Going to Be Fair'

Kyle Newport

Major League Baseball overhauled its All-Star Game voting system for 2019 and beyond, but Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Tommy Pham still believes he and his teammates are at a major disadvantage when it comes to receiving proper recognition. 

"We won't get credit, man," Pham told The Athletic's Josh Tolentino on Tuesday. "It's always unfair. Big market versus small market. It's never going to be fair."

Starting this year, voting will consist of two rounds: the Primary and the Starters Election.

The primary round will consist of fans voting for who they want to see in the Midsummer Classic. However, in a new twist, that vote will not determine the starters the way it did in years past. Instead, the top three vote-getters at each position (top nine for outfielders) will advance to the election round.

Votes on Election Day, which features a clean slate, will then determine the starters.

Tampa Bay (41-26) currently sits just a half-game behind the New York Yankees in the American League East and owns a seven-game advantage in the Wild Card race. While players on the team should be rewarded for that strong start, the team only had one player (outfielder Austin Meadows, third in voting) who would have qualified for Election Day through one ballot update.

For Pham, who is hitting .288/.399/.463 with nine home runs and 26 RBI, the lack of votes could be attributed to the dearth of exposure small-market teams receive from a national standpoint. As he said, per Tolentino:

"When you look at the NL, too, you see all the big-market teams dominating the voting. It's never going to be fair. It has to change because when you go into arbitration, that's a big thing that's talked about with accomplishments. Baseball has to be better to fix it. We're not getting any help either from ESPN. We haven't had an ESPN game all year. That's a way for fans to see us by putting us on one of those big-time games. But we continually never get put on, so all they see is the same players. The Cubs, Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox—the same teams are always on there.

"When you look at it, all right, we're in a small market, we're never on ESPN. We don't have a ton of national TV games. We're at a disadvantage."

It's worth noting some contracts around the league include bonuses for All-Star selections. According to MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince, bonuses will be awarded to players who advance beyond the Primary round.

Fortunately for Pham and his fellow small-market players, fans aren't the only ones who determine All-Star rosters. Reserves and pitchers will be selected by players and the Commissioner's Office.

   

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