There has been probably no better free-agent signing last offseason than Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Erick Fedde.
Fedde was so bad with the Washington Nationals that he had to Korea to salvage his professional career. He made some adjustments in the KBO and won that league's equivalent of the Cy Young.
That earned him a two-year deal with the Sox where he was brought in to be a back-end of the rotation pitcher. Instead, he has been outstanding this season to where he should get All-Star consideration.
However, he will likely not get voted in by his fellow players or get selected by the league office and that is a darn shame.
The main reason is Garrett Crochet has overshadowed him. After a rough three starts in April, Crochet has been nearly untouchable. He has emerged as a bonafide ace for the Sox and is dominating the headlines with the team's desire to trade him.
The Crochet rumors are burying Fedde's trade value as he should be among the top five pitchers available on the trade market with his production and team control for next season.
Since the White Sox are awful this season, Crochet likely gets the nod over Fedde. It is hard to imagine the worst team in baseball get two All-Stars.
Plus, you have to factor in the league mandate that all teams get a representative, and some of the fellow awful AL teams will have pitchers fulfilling that requirement.
It is sad as Fedde's numbers are worthy of being an All-Star.
He is 15th in fWAR at 2.4 ahead of potential selections such as Logan Gilbert and Tyler Anderson. If bWAR is more your number, Fedde ranks second among all pitchers.
Fedde is 19th in ERA and the league's top 30 for FIP. He has given the White Sox a shot to win in every game he is starting ((he is in the top 40 in the old-fashioned win column).
The Los Angeles Angels need a representative and so do the Oakland A's. It is likely Anderson and Mason Miller will be those team's representatives so that takes up two spots.
While Fedde is deserving, many other pitchers are deserving as well. Also, it seems like Fedde's great start to the season might cost him. He had a 2.40 ERA in that horrid April for the club. His May ERA was 3.63 and last month it was 3.48.
Compare that to Crochet who had a 0.93 ERA in May and a 1.91 ERA in June and the recency of his dominance might get his fellow players to select him as the Sox representative. That probably means Fedde is left out in the cold.
Now, he could be named to the AL All-Star team if there is an injury or one of the selections pitches the Sunday before the All-Star Game. Fedde has pitched so well that he deserves to be selected.