Five Major Leaguers who deserved to make an All-Star team but haven't -- yet

One of the greatest attractions of sports is their fairness. While the rest of the world is chaos -- the rightful employee is overlooked for a promotion, the broken down car comes on the day of your overdrawn checking account -- sports offer rules and structure. In the end, there's a winner and a loser.

The All-Star game is supposed to be a reflection of that, with the game's top performers competing against each other for the fans' enjoyment -- like a modern gladiator battle without the blood or Russell Crowe. But because of roster space, depth and differing definitions of what makes a deserving All-Star, some players fall through the cracks. Tony Phillips amassed over 50 rWAR while playing every position except catcher and pitcher. Tim Salmon hit .282 and crushed 299 home runs in his 14-year career. Kirk Gibson won an MVP Award and a World Series. All three were never All-Stars. 

But what about active players? With this year's Midsummer Classic rosters nearly set (you can still cast a Final Vote ballot), here are the five active players with the most career Baseball-Reference WAR (rWAR) to never reach the All-Star game.

5. Nick Markakis: 24.2 rWAR

Best Season: 2008, .306/.406/.491, 20 HR, 10 SB, 5.1 rWAR

Current Season: .292/.353/.403, 7 HR, 4 SB, 1.0 rWAR

Seasons with 4+ rWAR: 2007 (4.2), 2008 (7.4)

Why he's been overlooked: You'd be shocked that Nick Markakis has yet to appear in All-Star game. After all, not only has he been one of the most steady outfielders since making his debut in 2006, but subract a rough 2013 and Markakis has never had an OPS below .750. Add in the fact that he led the American League in rWAR in 2008 and you'd just assume he'd attended one by now. 

But Markakis' greatest strength, a mixture of power, speed, and a well-regarded throwing arm, could be his biggest flaw.

Single tools stand out. Hit for a very high average or hit a lot of home runs? You're probably in. Play a consistently strong brand of baseball across the spectrum and you may have a harder time making your prescence felt.

His ping pong skills may be another story. 

Representative moment: 

4. Shin-Soo Choo: 26.3 rWAR

Best Season: 2010, .300/.401/.484, 22 HR, 22 SB, 5.9 rWAR

Current season: .249/.370/.394, 9 HR, 3 SB, 0.8 rWAR

Seasons with 4+ rWAR: 2009 (5.5), 2010 (5.9), 2013 (4.2) 

Shin-Soo Choo has long been considered one of the most underrated players in the game. And that's not just me talking, that's Major League players in 2011, Grant Brisbee of SB Nation in 2012, and the members of the Body Building forum in 2013. So ... pretty much everyone agrees. Which is rare. 

Like Markakis, Choo's problem could be his strong performance in multiple categories, averaging .290/.392/.469 with 21 HR per 162 games from 2008-2013. 

And just like the popular saying about Dominican prospects, "No one walks off the island," you can't walk your way to the All-Star game either. Despite on-base percentage's importance to modern baseball fans, only five of the 16 outfielders who have had an OBP above .400, but a slugging percentage below .500 have gone to the All-Star game since 2000. Shin-Soo Choo has two of those seasons. 

Representative Moment: 

3. Coco Crisp: 30.6 rWAR

Best Season: 2013, .261/.335/.444, 22 HR, 21 SB, 4.3 rWAR

Current Season: .291/.383/.453, 7 HR, 14 SB, 1.9 rWAR

4+ rWAR seasons: 2005 (4.3), 2013 (4.3)

Despite having arguably the best name, best hair and best dance move in the league, Crisp has yet to be rewarded with a trip to the Midsummer Classic. While no one has started a database on the percentage of players to receive a bobblehead and not go to the All-Star game, it's likely that Crisp stands out among that minority. Even leading the league with 49 steals in 2011 wasn't enough to get him there. 

Sadly, even as Crisp is in the midst of another strong season, currently posting the highest OPS of his career at .834, he was passed over once again. Here's to next year, Coco. 

Representative Moment: 

2. Mark Ellis: 33.6 rWAR

Best Season: 2005, .316/.384/.477, 13 HR, 1 SB, 4.3 rWAR

Current Season: .192/.268/.233, 0 HR, 4 SB, 0.1 rWAR

4+ rWAR Seasons: 2005 (4.7), 2007 (4.8), 2008 (4.0)

Ellis' problem is simple: defense. While we all love a good diving snag and Statcast is beginning to enter the mainstream, we still don't trust our ability to calculate the impact of solid glovework. So while nearly half of Ellis' career rWAR comes from his defense, we're still not exactly sure what that means. Like a crop circle or the films of Lars Von Trier, we know there's something there, we just can't quite grasp it. 

And until we do, players like Ellis will have a hard time cracking the All-Star lineup. 

Representative Highlight: 

1. Eric Chavez: 37.4 rWAR

Best Season: 2001, .288/.338/.540, 32 HR, 8 SB, 6.0 rWAR

Current Season:  .246/.346/.449, 3 HR, 2 SB, 0.5 rWAR

4+ rWAR seasons: 2001 (6.0), 2002 (4.2), 2003 (5.3), 2004 (5.5), 2005 (4.8) 

And finally we come to the player who shockingly, mind-bogglingly was never selected to an All-Star game. It may seem like a distant memory now, but from 2001-2006, Chavez won six consecutive Gold Glove awards while averaging 29 home runs a year and an .846 OPS. That's not just an All-Star, that's a stretch that points to Cooperstown. 

Unfortunately for Chavez, his best seasons happened to come during a particularly unlucky time. He lost out to Cal Ripken in 2001 (the famous game where Ripken and Alex Rodriguez switched positions in Ripken's final season), followed soon by Shea Hillenbrand, Troy Glaus and Alex Rodriguez three times (a stretch in which Rodriguez averaged 40 home runs a season). 

Sadly, because of injuries, Chavez has yet to make 400 plate appearances in a season since 2006 and is considering retirement at the end of the year. Somewhere there's an alternate universe where Chavez went to the All-Star game every year and everything makes sense. It's just not our reality. 

Representative moment: 

Do you want to prevent All-Star tragedies like these from happening? The power is in your hands. Get out, rock that Final Vote and make your voice heard.