As frequently happens in just about every level of baseball, good players frequently get overlooked when it comes time to name rosters for All-Star games. Such is the case for Dodgers second base prospect Rafael Ynoa for this year’s Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Game, the league’s All-Star Game. In fact, only one of the eight Dodgers prospects participating in the 2012 AFL made the East Division’s 26-man roster, that being outfielder Joc Pederson, the Dodgers 2012 Minor League Player of the Year.

Based on what Pederson accomplished during his spectacular 2012 season with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and his many accolades that came with it, he definitely deserved to be selected for the 2012 AFL. But based on his performance with the Mesa Solar Sox thus far in the 2012 AFL, he (quite frankly) does not deserve to be on the Rising Stars East Division roster. This certainly suggests that the rosters were made out long before the first pitch of the 2012 AFL was ever thrown.

No one can argue that Joc Pederson deserves to be at the 2012 AFL, but his dismal .094 AFL batting average certainly doesn’t justify him being on the AFL East Division’s Rising Stars roster. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

If one’s performance in the AFL were a factor for making the AFL Rising Stars roster, the one Dodgers prospect who absolutely deserves to be there is Rafael Ynoa, who leads the Mesa Solar Sox with his .338 average and .529 SLG% and who is second on the team with a .894 OPS. Ynoa is also second on the team with his 14 RBIs, two behind team leader Javier Baez (Cubs), who has 16. Ynoa has also done an outstanding job defensively for the Solar Sox, having made only 2 errors through 18 games.

Rafael Ynoa, the one Dodgers prospect who does deserve to be on the Rising Stars roster, isn’t. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

I’m certainly not going to get all worked up over the Rising Stars roster selections or rant about them, especially since the Mesa Solar Sox are the worst team in this year’s AFL (hint – play the Dodgers prospects more often, especially catcher Griff Erickson), but what’s fair is fair and Rafael Ynoa absolutely should have been included on the roster.

Here are the rosters for Saturday night’s AFL Rising Stars Game:

I should also point out that the Dodgers sent five pitchers to the 2012 AFL, yet not one of them is on the Rising Stars roster. Noticeably missing from the roster is Andres Santiago, who leads the Solar Sox in innings pitched (15.0) and is tied for the lead with 14 strikeouts. He also has an impressive 3.60 ERA.