The All-Star rosters were announced Sunday night, and it's always good fun to poke at the selections and talk about the snubs and the surprises. One major change this year: Rosters have been cut from 34 to 32 players, creating more opportunities for snubs. I like that move. The rosters had become bloated in recent seasons, especially after factoring in all the replacements who make it. The 2014 National League roster, for example, ended up including 42 All-Stars. That's more than 10 percent of all active roster players.

The commissioner's office has tried to clamp down on players pulling out because of injuries the past couple of seasons. So that, combined with the smaller rosters, means calling yourself an "All-Star" in 2017 should be a little more legitimate. And if you're Pat Neshek, you can now call yourself a two-time All-Star.

Also new this year: The game does not determine home-field advantage for the World Series. That's right, the All-Star Game no longer counts.

Some thoughts ...

National League biggest snub: Anthony Rendon. We knew there was going to be a logjam here, because the two most loaded positions in the majors were National League first base and National League third base. Ryan Zimmerman, Paul Goldschmidt and Joey Votto made it at first base, and they deserve to be there, ranking second, third and fifth in the majors in OPS. Goldschmidt should be starting instead of Zimmerman, but at least he made the team.

At third base, Nolan Arenado won the fan vote, while the players voted in Jake Lamb as the backup, leaving no room for Rendon or Kris Bryant or Justin Turner. Lamb is having a very good season, but Rendon is having a great season, which is flying under the radar because of a slow start and playing in the shadow of Zimmerman, Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy -- all All-Star starters. But it's Rendon who leads the team in WAR, tied with Votto for second among NL position players behind Goldschmidt. He owns a .951 OPS versus Lamb's .916 and is the far superior fielder. The players made a mistake there, although not a Bryan LaHair-like egregious one.

Rendon was included in the Final Five vote, but could the commissioner's office -- which picked the non-player-vote reserves -- have found room for him? These were the commissioner's office picks:

• 1B Joey Votto, Reds

• 2B Josh Harrison, Pirates

• OF Ender Inciarte, Braves

• SP Stephen Strasburg, Nationals

• RP Corey Knebel, Brewers

• RP Brad Hand, Padres

• RP Pat Neshek, Phillies

Five of those guys -- Harrison, Inciarte and the three relievers -- were the sole selections from their teams. When I picked my team, I had the same seven players. The only difference: I didn't expect the players to vote in DJ LeMahieu as the backup at second base. That was the worst selection by the players in either league. Granted, second base is weak in the NL, but LeMahieu ranks eighth among NL second basemen in OPS -- while playing in Coors Field. If Harrison had been voted in as the backup, that would have meant room for Rendon as a third third baseman instead of three second basemen. The other option would have been to select Ivan Nova as the Pirates' rep and leave off Strasburg.

So, congrats National League, LeMahieu is an All-Star but either Rendon or the 2016 MVP won't be there, or maybe both (because you know Justin Bour is going to win the fan vote).

American League biggest surprise: No Miguel Cabrera or Robinson Cano. There wasn't an obvious snub in the AL, although thanks to his spectacular defense, Andrelton Simmons ranks fifth among AL position players in WAR; the players voted for Francisco Lindor, who got off to a great start in April but has slowed down since then. Simmons actually has slightly better offensive numbers in a tougher park and is certainly Lindor's equal -- or superior -- on defense. Still, hard to get too worked up over that one, plus Xander Bogaerts and Elvis Andrus also are worthy shortstop choices -- although those two were included in the Final Five vote (along with Didi Gregorius) and Simmons wasn't.

Maybe the biggest shock in the AL is that Cabrera won't be an All-Star for the first time since 2009. But we get Justin Smoak and Yonder Alonso! I get that Cabrera isn't having a good season and Smoak, voted to start, does have the best numbers at first base, along with Logan Morrison. But Smoak, Alonso and Morrison are career mediocrities, while Cabrera is an inner-circle Hall of Famer. If you were actually paying to watch the game, who would you want to see?

Similarly, at second base the players voted for Starlin Castro over Cano. Jonathan Schoop also made it as the Orioles' lone rep. All three are having similar seasons, although Cano actually has the slight edge in WAR and ... well, he's going to the Hall of Fame, and I'm pretty sure Castro and Schoop will get in only if they buy a ticket. What's interesting is that while the AL players stiffed Cabrera and Cano, the NL players voted in Yadier Molina, even though J.T. Realmuto and Yasmani Grandal are having better seasons.

New blood in the starting lineups, but no Dodgers. Twelve of the 17 starters were voted in as starters for the first time (including Marcell Ozuna, who started last year as an injury replacement). Certainly, some of these guys will have many more All-Star appearances in the future -- Carlos Correa, George Springer, Aaron Judge, Arenado -- so that doesn't necessarily mean these are weak lineups, even if they are lacking in All-Star experience.

The biggest surprise in the fan voting was that Zack Cozart beat out Corey Seager. A longtime vet from a small market over the reigning Rookie of the Year? Weird. Cozart holds an insignificant lead in WAR (3.0 to 2.9), not enough -- you'd think -- to put him in over a popular young player. Dodgers reliever Kenley Jansen blamed Dodgers fans for the NL's best team not having any starters. General rule of thumb: Don't criticize your own fans.

"I'll say it loud and clear again: It's the Dodger fans' fault," the closer said. The thing is Cody Bellinger wasn't on the ballot, and Turner was part of that crowded third-base mix. Maybe the rest of the country has simply had a secret crush on Zack Cozart all these years.

Where did all the Cubs go? Last year, the Cubs had seven All-Stars. This year, they have one: closer Wade Davis, who wasn't even on the team last year. Pretty remarkable, but there's a reason they're sitting at 41-41. Other than Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, nobody else has a good case.

Possible replacements. Three players are doubtful because of injuries -- Mike Trout, Castro and Dallas Keuchel -- and Clayton Kershaw and Yu Darvish are scheduled to start on Sunday, making them ineligible. So we'll need at least five replacements. My suggestions:

Trout: I'd move Mookie Betts into the starting lineup and replace Trout on the roster with Jackie Bradley Jr. Lorenzo Cain would be another possibility.

Castro: The logical guy here would be Cano, although with Schoop on the team, you wouldn't necessarily have to go with a straight position swap.

Keuchel: I was a little surprised teammate Chris Devenski didn't make it, but the AL team included only three relievers. The funny thing there is the players didn't vote for Corey Kluber as one of the five best starters in the AL. What? Anyway, Devenski has a good case, but I'd go with another starter: Tampa Bay's Chris Archer, who ranks second in the AL in strikeouts and third in innings.

Darvish: I cheated! Let's put Devenski on the team. If you're going to put a reliever on there, at least put the one who has been dominant and pitches more than three outs at a time (sometimes).

Kershaw: Alex Wood missed some time with injuries, but he's 9-0 with a 1.83 ERA. He's left-handed and pitches for the Dodgers. Maybe just put a "KERSHAW" jersey on him and we can pretend it's the real thing.