2009 American League All-Star Voting

With a little over a month to go, the All-Star voting for Major League Baseball's (MLB) mid-summer classic is kicking into high gear. While the chances are slim that I may actually watch the game, it certainly is fun to take a mid-season look at who the best players have been. As I fill out my American League (AL) ballot, I'm leaning towards the players having the best season, as opposed to players I want to see play. Also, unless otherwise noted, player rankings are within said player's position and ESPN.com's MLB page was the source of all statistics.

Catcher - Joe Mauer (Twins)
Since coming back from injury in early May, Mauer has cemented his place as the best catcher in baseball. Despite missing the first month, Mauer lead AL catchers in home runs (HRs) and is second in runs batted in (RBI). Add in that he's hitting well over.400 to this point, and the case for Mauer is easy. In fact, it is the easiest vote on the ballot.

First Base - Justin Morneau (Twins)
My first two votes are for Twins. How can they have a losing record? Oh yeah, pitching. That said Morneau leads an impressive group of American League first baseman. He's tops in RBIs' & third in both batting average & home runs and has played well from day one. Mark Teixeira got off to a slow start for the Yankees, but is making a furious run at Morneau, having caught him in home runs and is closing in on RBI's. However, it's tough to forget a mediocre April. While Carlos Pena has 17 home runs, a .226 batting average will not get this man's vote. Finally, Miggy Cabrera has played well and put up All-Star caliber numbers. However, he's roughly equal to Morneau in batting average and has less HR's & RBI's, so tough to make the argument for Miggy over him.

Second Base - Ian Kinsler (Rangers)
The catalyst of the surprising Texas Rangers, Kinsler is a triple threat for the Rangers offense. He leads in home runs, RBI's and stolen bases and has helped carry a team missing one of its strongest hitters, Josh Hamilton. Robinson Cano is shaking off a terrible 2008 to provide the Yankees with solid production across the board. Aaron Hill has bounced back nicely from an injury plagued 2008 to help the Blue Jays get off to a fast start, however, both he & the team have faded since mid-may.

Shortstop - Derek Jeter (Yankees)
Jeter is off to a terrific start to the season. He's hitting with a little more pop (already 7 home runs) than previous seasons (perhaps because balls are flying out of Yankee stadium) but has been the steady consistent performer, with the batting average hovering around .300 and a double digit pace for stolen bases. Jason Bartlett got off to a brilliant start for the Rays, exceeding Jeter's numbers, and if he can come back strong in mid-June, he may be able to jump Jeter for the AL All-Star nod.

Third Base - Evan Longoria (Rays)
No sophomore slump here. Leads third baseman in home runs, RBI's, runs and doubles. A fairly easy pick, though one could argue for Chone Figgins who leads in stolen bases, triples & walks, but I won't be that one. Alex Rodriguez is back and hitting for power, but is too far behind to catch Longoria this year. Perhaps a changing of the guard at third base for the American League? I'd say so.

Outfielders - Jason Bay (Red Sox); Carl Crawford (Rays); Torri Hunter (Angels)
In a contract year, you could do worse than Jason Bay who leads the AL outfielder's in home runs & RBI's and has been the Red Sox most consistent hitter. Crawford leads in hits and is on pace to steal close to 100 bases. Those two are the easy ones. Picking the third outfielder, is quite the chore. I went with veteran Torri Hunter doing it with both his bat & his legs with double digit home runs & steals. He's been the Angels most consistent hitter and picked up the slack with Vlad Guerrero went down. Though it was really difficult to leave off Adam Jones & Nelson Cruz. Jones is having a break-out year for the potent Orioles offense and Cruz is producing huge numbers for the Rangers. I wouldn't argue anyone who put either of them on the list ahead of Hunter - who barely squeaks by them on my list.

There you go. An early June All-Star ballot for the mid-summer classic. Surprising that the Rays & Twins, teams with roughly .500 records would have more players than the Yankees & Red Sox. A testament to how well the Rays & Twins stars are playing, and how poor the rest of the supporting cast is doing. The Red Sox & Yankees are proving to have more depth in their respective line-ups.