Aramis Ramirez turns down All Star spot

So last week I wrote about how Aramis Ramirez deserved to be the starting third baseman in the All Star game. He is hitting .300 with 15 HRs and 51 RBIs. And with Placido Polonco and Chipper Jones on the DL, Ramirez was asked to be the replacement starter and ..... he turned it down. Which I took as a personal slap in the face.

Now, I know its becoming posh to skip the All Star game and chalk it up to wanting to spend more time with the family. But I can't help but feel that this guy owes it to the Cubs and their fans to go play in this game. We've had nothing to cheer for all year, except for the occasional Carlos Pena bomb, so having a chance to see Ramirez and Starlin Castro play side by side in the mid summer classic, would have been nice for the die hard fans out there, namely my grandmother and her 80 year old friends.

But the real problem I have is that everyone knows if Ramirez was a free agent after this year he would go. He would definitely want that All Star tag on his resume. But since he has a player option for 16 million next year, he isn't too worried about this year. He could have helped his trade value by going as well, but selfish players do selfish things I guess.