This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ST. PETERSBURG -- When rosters for the All-Star Game were revealed on Sunday, the baseball industry seemed to agree there was no more glaring omission than Rays shortstop Wander Franco. But there’s probably no reason to get too worked up about him being excluded -- not yet, anyway.

Franco clearly deserves a spot on the American League All-Star Game roster. He has lived up to his former prospect hype this season by slashing .283/.343/.459 with nine homers, 21 doubles, 42 RBIs, 46 runs, 26 stolen bases and a Major League-leading 12 Outs Above Average heading into the Fourth of July. Add it all up, and his 4.2 WAR, according to Baseball-Reference, ranks behind just one player in the AL: Shohei Ohtani.

Plus, Franco plays for the AL’s best team, one with only three representatives on the initial All-Star roster: Randy Arozarena, Yandy Díaz and injured ace Shane McClanahan. (By comparison, the National League-leading Braves have a whopping eight All-Stars.) Count McClanahan among those who expected more.

“Absolutely. There are four, five, six guys in this clubhouse that are more than deserving and should have got the recognition,” McClanahan told reporters in Seattle on Sunday. “I'm frustrated for them. Everyone in here is frustrated for them. It doesn't take away the fact that they're having a hell of a year, and we're glad they're on our team.”

Franco didn’t crack the club through the fan voting, in which he finished third behind elected starter Corey Seager and Toronto’s Bo Bichette. Tampa Bay’s 22-year-old star didn’t get in via player balloting, either, as Bichette finished ahead of Seager to earn a spot. And Franco wasn’t chosen by MLB after those two elections.

But this is where it gets a little complicated, with the composition of the AL roster and a few other factors involved.

For one, the voting process comes into play. If the same player is elected by the fans and his peers, the second-place finisher in the player vote is added to the roster. So, when Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien got the start through the fan vote and ran away with the player vote, a spot went to player-balloting runner-up Whit Merrifield, despite his relatively average performance this season.

Players also voted in Cleveland third baseman José Ramírez as a reserve, giving the AL eight infielders, along with three outfielders (Yordan Alvarez, Adolis García and Austin Hays), a non-Ohtani DH (Brent Rooker), five starting pitchers (including McClanahan) and three relievers.

The composition of the AL roster played a part after that. To make sure all 15 AL squads were represented, MLB had to account for the Mariners (Luis Castillo), Red Sox (Kenley Jansen), Tigers (Michael Lorenzen), Royals (Salvador Perez) and White Sox (Luis Robert Jr.). The league named two more pitchers, Kevin Gausman and Framber Valdez, to round out the initial 32-man roster.

In the end, Franco was one of the odd men out. That still could change, however, perhaps even by the time you’re reading this. Before the Midsummer Classic, MLB must replace any All-Stars who are injured or otherwise unable to participate. McClanahan is one of those players, and AL outfielders Aaron Judge and Alvarez are also injured.

Plenty of players will be named All-Stars in the coming days. Franco is an obvious option to take one of those spots. Maybe Isaac Paredes or Zach Eflin will nab one, too.

“I'm biased, but I feel like we have guys that are certainly worthy,” manager Kevin Cash told reporters. “We'll see how it shakes out. There's always guys that get added late, but I do think guys are deserving of it. … There's a bunch of guys that deserve some talk, whether they get in or not. I think Wander’s at the top of that list.”

We’ll see if Franco is still at the top of that list next week … or if he’s lining up with the other All-Stars at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.