The trade that sent Luke Voit to New York and Giovanny Gallegos and Chasen Shreve to St. Louis looked like a slam dunk for the Cardinals at the time.
Sure, it was sad to see the Lafayette grad leave his hometown team, but the Cardinals looked to have acquired the lefty bullpen arm they needed in Shreve.
Now, Shreve is in the minors, Gallegos appears to be coming into his own in the Cardinals bullpen and Voit is one of the top sluggers in baseball.
Even though he's been the main force in an oft-injured Yankees lineup, Voit was snubbed from the 2019 American League all-star roster.
Luke Voit deserved to be an all-star.
Voit is in the at least the top four of AL first basemen in average, OBP, SLG, OPS, hits, runs, RBI and walks.
When Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez and pretty much the rest of the Yankees were on the injured list, Voit was the one carrying the team. Without him, the Yankees wouldn't be anywhere close to the perch on top of the AL east they currently hold.
Carlos Santana (fan vote) and Jose Abreu were the two AL first basemen selected for the midsummer classic this year.
Santana, who will be playing in front of his hometown fans, is very deserving. His stats best Voit in almost every category.
Abreu over Voit on the other hand, is a bit of a head-scratcher. Voit has a higher average, OBP, SLG and OPS than Abreu, and just two fewer home runs at the time of this posting.
It's not like the White Sox didn't have an all-star either. Pitcher Lucas Giolito and catcher James McCann will represent the pale hose in Cleveland.
The Yankees are also well represented, with catcher Gary Sanchez and second baseman D.J. LeMahieu being selected as starters, and Aroldis Chapman taking a spot in the bullpen.
Regardless of the amount of spots either team got, Voit deserves on of them.
He actually finished second in the final standings behind Santana, earning 25.8 percent of the vote.
The Cardinals could certainly use some of Voit's impressive stats during the team's offensive slump.
If you took Marcell Ozuna out of the picture, Voit would currently be leading the St. Louis regulars in home runs, RBI, hits, on base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS and runs.
There's still hope Voit could find his way onto the AL all-star roster as an injury or pitcher replacement, but it's just a slight chance.
He hasn't yet been ruled out as a home run derby participant, though. Voit's been outspoken about wanting to compete in the derby. How fun would that be?
Although we're not sure what grandma Joan's payment for home run derby homers would end up being.
(Fellow Lafayette grad Ryan Howard actually won the home run derby at the 2006 all star game)
