Six Kansas City Royals Are Candidates For The 2014 All-Star Game

Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Greg Holland (56) Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Voting is winding down for the 2014 All-Star Game and there are no Kansas City Royals anywhere near the top of the fan vote.

While pitchers are not voted on by the fans, several position players should at least be in the running. Unfortunately, they still play in obscurity in Kansas City, and even a recent 10-game winning streak wasn’t enough to thrust them far enough into the national spotlight to garner votes outside of their fan base.

The Royals just aren’t drawing enough fans to stuff the ballot boxes like some other teams. The organization has to be slightly disappointed that attendance hasn’t been higher as they are coming off a rare winning season in 2013, and have their highest payroll in team history this season.

The Royals themselves are at fault here, both on and off the field. They returned home recently just off a 10-game hot streak, and promptly lost 4 games in a row at Kauffman to dampen the fans’ enthusiasm. Also, for some reason, the Royals scheduled two Saturday home games in June in the afternoon instead of the evening.

By looking at Wins Above Replacement, courtesy of Fangraphs.com, the Royals have several players among the league leaders for that stat at their respective positions.

Regardless, the Royals have several players who should garner consideration for the 2014 All-Star team. This season, it will not be the case that a player has to be picked, but which, and how many players, will be selected for the roster.

By looking at Wins Above Replacement, courtesy of Fangraphs.com, the Royals have several players among the league leaders for that stat at their respective positions.

Six players should at least make the conversation. Let’s take a closer look at the candidates for the Kansas City Royals.