Just as I did yesterday, it’s time again to follow up and check on the American League ballot. Here are the AL starters if voting ended today:

C – Joe Mauer
1B – Kevin Youkilis
2B – Ian Kinsler
SS – Derek Jeter
3B – Evan Longoria
OF – Jason Bay
OF – Josh Hamilton
OF – Ichiro

And here is the lineup that I chose a little less than a month ago:

C – Victor Martinez
1B – Youkilis
2B – Kinsler
SS – Jason Bartlett
3B – Longoria
OF – Bay
OF – Nick Markakis
OF – Nick Swisher

Just like my National League picks, I have four correct at this point, with one player (Bartlett) in second place. We’ve also made some noise in pushing Bartlett up the ballot, but there is no chance, especially with his ankle injury and ensuing stint on the disabled list that he’ll catch Derek Jeter, whom he trails by 582,000 votes. In fact, Jeter has more votes than Bartlett and Texas’ Elvis Andrus combined.

1B – This call is no easier to make than it was the first time around. I can make an argument for any of the players currently in the top four: Youkilis, Mark Teixiera, Justin Morneau and Miguel Cabrera. Despite a stay on the 15-day DL with an oblique problem, Youkilis is continuing to rake at .366/.478/.672, trailing only Minnesota’s Joe Mauer in OBP and Slugging percentage among everyday players. After a miserable April, Mark Teixeira had a monster month since teammate Alex Rodriguez returned to the lineup. Teixiera batted .330 with 13 homers and 34 RBI in May. Morneau boasts at .342 batting average and leads the group with 47 RBI. Cabrera trails only Youkilis in average at .355. This race is too close to call, but I’m going with Kevin Youkilis because he has been the most consistent since Opening Day. All four players certainly deserve to be in St. Louis. Youkilis leads Teixeira by almost 94,000 votes.

2B – Ian Kinsler leads the group in homers (13), RBI (39) and is tied with Brian Roberts of Baltimore with 10 stolen bases, so on paper, there is no need to change this vote. That said, I am changing to Toronto’s Aaron Hill. Through the recent skid his Blue Jays team has gone through, Hill has remained a relative constant. He leads all of baseball with 77 hits and ranks third in the AL with 120 total bases. His .333 average is tops among AL 2B and his 12 HR and 37 RBI are second only to Kinsler. He is currently fourth on the ballot behind Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia and Robinson Cano. Kinsler leads Pedroia by 146,000 votes.

SS – I’m sticking to my guns with this one and voting for Tampa Bay’s Jason Bartlett. Don’t get me wrong, Derek Jeter is having a great season and was one of the few guys who played well for the Yankees when they weren’t playing so great in April and early May. I just don’t know how Bartlett can be ignored; his .373 batting average is the best in baseball, he has the same amount of homers as Jeter (seven) and has five more RBI and four more stolen bases than the Yankee captain, despite the fact that he hasn’t played since 5/24 with an ankle injury that’s sent him to the disabled list. Jeter is a reputation vote if there ever was one. As mentioned above, Jeter leads Bartlett by 582,000 votes.

3B – No reason to deviate from Evan Longoria, the AL’s leading vote-getter. He continues to lead all of baseball with 55 RBI and he ranks second in the AL (third overall) with 124 total bases. He ranks second among AL 3B with a .327 average. The 2008 Rookie of the Year has gone from playing at Class AAA Durham to a serious MVP contender in a mere 14 months. Longoria leads Michael Young by 594,000 votes.

C – I’m going to write what everyone is thinking: Joe Mauer is the best hitter in the American League and maybe even on the planet. He began the season on the 15-day DL, but since joining the Twins on May 1st, Mauer is hitting .414/.500/.838 with 11 homers and 32 RBI.  Oh, by the way, his career high for home runs in a season is 13, set in 2006. Victor Martinez has played the whole season and has only five more RBI and three fewer homers. He’ll likely be chosen as the Tribe’s lone representative, but Mauer, no doubt, deserves the start. Jason Varitek has also had a nice season and deserves to be in St. Louis as well. Mauer leads Varitek by 362,500 votes.

OF – No argument with Boston’s Jason Bay. In his first full-season in the AL, the Canadian is trailing only Longoria with 49 RBI. He also leads AL OF with 15 HR. Manny who?

I’m going to vote for a Baltimore Oriole again, but it’s not Nick Markakis, it’s Adam Jones. In the second season with the O’s, Jones is showing no signs of cooling off in 2009. His .346 batting average trails only Ichiro (.352) and he has 11 HR and 36 RBI, which trails only Bay, Torii Hunter and Markakis (tied with Nelson Cruz).

Nick Swisher has probably played the worst of anyone since being named on my ballot in early May and despite a few nice games in Cleveland, this weekend, it’s not enough to keep around. The third spot is going to one of the guys who narrowly missed the cut the first, time around, the Angels’ Torii Hunter. No one will argue that he’s one of the best defensive players in the game and in 2009, he has 12 HR and 42 RBI to back it up.

Photo Credits:
Kevin Youkilis
Joe Mauer