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Buster Olney, ESPN Senior Writer 8y

An early list of potential All-Star snubs

Over the next couple of weeks, the All-Stars for both leagues will be selected, and this will launch a discussion about snubs -- which really isn't fair to the managers who have to help with the picking, the Royals' Ned Yost and the Mets' Terry Collins. No matter what combination of players they choose, worthy players will be left off the teams, despite the fact that Yost and Collins would probably like nothing more, in their positions of ceremony, to make everybody happy.

Here's a list of players who should be considered but may wind up being left behind because of a ballot crunch -- and yes, it's a partial list, because as with the All-Star selections, there can be no perfect accounting for the snubs.

1. Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks of the Cubs, Bartolo Colon of the Mets, Joe Ross of the Nationals.

The most impossible task for either manager this year might be Collins' assignment of picking from the field of starting pitchers, because you probably start with these guys: Clayton Kershaw, Jake Arrieta, Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Noah Syndergaard, Jon Lester, Jose Fernandez, and Stephen Strasburg. Those guys are all huge stars.

Not to mention Collins' own Jacob deGrom, the Cardinals' Carlos Martinez, the Cubs' John Lackey, Mr. No-hitter Max Scherzer and Julio Teheran.

In this case, track record might count, as Collins tries to sort through his options.

2. Michael Saunders, Blue Jays

He's hitting .303 with 36 extra-base hits, and could be the leading candidate for AL Comeback Player of the Year, after being limited to 31 at-bats last season and then nearly being traded in spring training. But Saunders happens to share the same lineup with Josh Donaldson, the AL MVP last season who's currently third in the league in fWAR and Edwin Encarnacion, who has compiled 19 homers and 66 RBIs. The Jays also have some starting pitchers would could be picked as well: Marco Estrada, J.A. Happ and Aaron Sanchez. Closer Roberto Osuna has had a good season, with 41 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings.

They're not all going to get picked, and it would be a shame if Saunders wasn’t selected.

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