The People Have Spoken: Ernie Clement Is The Best Player In The American League Now

The Ernie Clement Voting Scandal shoved all the rest of the news this week into the street—the World Cup, the NBA draft, the NHL draft, the NBA trades, the NHL trades, the Mets firing their manager for the sin of managing the Mets, the latest sports media meltdown around but not quite about Caitlin Clark, all of it.

Or maybe you didn’t notice that Ernie Clement was the highest vote-getter among American League players for the upcoming All-Star Game in Philadelphia. It’s quite possible that you didn’t notice Ernie Clement at all. Maybe you’re not noticing him right now. Such is the beauty of that arcane old baseball storytelling staple, the unworthy All-Star. Ernie Clement mentioned in proximity to Shohei Ohtani—quel scandale!

Perhaps we should instead refresh your memories on who Ernie Clement is before we start. He is the starting second baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays, and he really is one of the best second basemen in the American League, due in no small part to the fact that every other AL second baseman is hitting exactly .251 with six homers and a .712 OPS. For the record, Clement is hitting .294, has seven homers, and his OPS is .753, which is way better. Last year Clement was Toronto’s starting third baseman, except for the times when he was the starting shortstop. He had a record 30 hits in the postseason last year, one in which the Blue Jays came within a Moosehead cap of winning the World Series. Clement is 30 years old and after a skittish start to a career that didn’t really blossom until three years ago, has become a proper big league contributor—a versatile and reliable presence, competent fielder, and perfectly fine hitter. Every team should have an Ernie Clement. Hell, a few already have—Cleveland waived him after the 2022 season and Oakland released him outright in March of 2023.