When all-star balloting began a few weeks ago, I denounced the start date because I feel like two weeks into the season is much too small of a sample size to get a good read on things. Now that we’re into May, I am going to take a stab at who should be lining up in St. Louis. Today’s entry will be the American League with their National League counterparts coming in the next day or so.

3B – I’m starting at third base because, to me, it’s the only crystal clear choice on the AL ballot. The nod here goes to the Rays’ Evan Longoria. As of this morning, he leads all of baseball with 31 RBI and has eight homers while batting .360 (36-100) with a slugging percentage of .720. Last year, he won the fan vote for the 25th man, but I don’t think he’ll be on that ballot this time around. Honorable mention: Mike Lowell, Red Sox

SS – Remember when the American League shortstop position at the All-Star game was one of the most hotly contested? We were spoiled with Alex Rodriguez in Seattle, Miguel Tejada in Oakland, the Yankees’ Derek Jeter and Jose Valentin in Chicago (Just kidding about Jose. Any day I can throw a Valentin reference in my blog, you bet I’m going to pull it off). Anyway, those days are long gone (I’ll leave it at that). My vote, today, goes to Jason Bartlett of Tampa Bay. He is batting .363 and is currently the only AL SS above .300. He’s got three homers and 10 RBI to go along with six stolen bases. He’s also got a great glove (.990 Fld. %, 2nd among everyday AL SS). Honorable Mention: Marco Scutaro, Blue Jays

2B – In the perfect world, voters could select two second basemen this season, letting one of them get the start at short. A very strong case can be made for the Rangers’ Ian Kinsler, The Yankees’ Robinson Cano and the Blue Jays’ Aaron Hill. Even Alberto Callaspo in Kansas City is having a great start, though his power numbers aren’t as strong.  All four are certainly on pace to make it to St. Louis, but who gets the start? Kinsler, Hill and Cano rank 1-2-3 respectively in both home runs and RBI. Callaspo, Hill and Cano are 1-2-3 in batting average, while Kinsler leads the position with seven stolen bases. Hill leads the AL with 45 hits. I eliminate Cano because he seems to be third every way I dissect it and Callaspo because as I said, his power numbers (one homer, nine RBI) don’t stack up. That leaves Hill and Kinsler with the vote going to Ian Kinsler because, most everything else being equal, he has a better glove (Hill has five errors already in 2009 to one for Kinsler). Honorable mention: Hill

1B – As easy as it was to choose the left side of the infield in the AL, it’s equally as difficult to choose the right side. There are three horses in the race as I see it (and maybe a late closer in New York’s Mark Teixiera if last night’s multi-homer game is any indication). For now, the contenders are Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera, Tampa Bay’s Carlos Pena and Boston’s Kevin Youkilis. Youk leads the league in batting average (.393) and OBP (.505), while Cabrera ranks second overall in average (.391) and second among 1B in OBP (.467). Pena leads the league with 11 homers and has collected 28 RBI. He trails only Youkilis in SLG % (.684 vs. .719). Youkilis had to leave last night’s game against the Yankees with a lower back injury, but if the injury isn’t severe enough to set him on the shelf for long, I expect his production to continue. My vote goes to Kevin Youkilis. Pena might have the better power numbers, but Youkilis, when healthy, has been the best overall hitter in the American League. Honorable Mention: Pena (narrowly over Cabrera)

C – Catcher – or as I like to call it this year, the man with the honor of calling pitches for Zack Greinke – comes down to two players, Cleveland’s Victor Martinez and the Yankees’ Jorge Posada. Posada has six more RBI in 26 fewer at-bats, but Martinez, at .379, is third overall in the AL in batting average behind Youkilis and Cabrera. Both players have five home runs and have come up with clutch hits. Martinez ranks second in hits (39) behind Toronto’s Hill. And while Posada has thrown out 10 baserunners to Martinez’ one, he’s also allowed 19 stolen bases to nine for Martinez. To be fair, stolen bases cannot be entirely pinned on the catcher and with that said, my vote goes to Victor Maritnez. Honorable mention: Posada

OF – First outfielder chosen is Baltimore’s Nick Markakis. While his career-best 17-game hitting streak may have been snapped on Sunday against the Blue Jays, he has still reached base safely in 35 straight games dating back to last season. He’s hitting .370 with four homers and 27 RBI (ranks 3rd in AL). For me, Markakis is the only lock in the AL outfield as of today.

For the second and third outfield spots I seriously considered four different players (in no particular order): the Angels’ Bobby Abreu and Torii Hunter, New York’s Nick Swisher (who, by the way, isn’t on the ballot so you’d need to write him in), Boston’s Jason Bay. I also gave some thought to a trio of AL Central outfielders, Curtis Granderson, Carlos Quentin and Grady Sizemore, but I concluded these three need to show me some more before I could give them a vote. My second vote goes to Jason Bay. He has flawlessly made the transition from NL to AL and has allowed Red Sox fans to forget (mostly) about the man who used to patrol LF at Fenway Park. Bay is hitting for average (.321) and a little bit of power (6 and 22).

Choosing the last spot is tough. Abreu’s got the monster average (.363, trailing only Markakis amongst AL OF) and 11 stolen bases, but he has yet to hit a home run. Hunter has made up for Abreu’s lack of Power in the LAA lineup by smashing eight homers and he has 21 RBI (vs. Abreu’s 12). Swisher has a higher OBP (.434) and SLG % (.688) than either of the Angels’ duo to go along with seven homers and 19 RBI. On top of that, he pitched an inning in relief earlier in the season so if we won’t have to relive the great Milwaukee nightmare of 2002. I went back and forth a lot on this pick, but my vote is going to Nick Swisher. The change of scenery has done a world of good for him. Honorable mention: Abreu, Hunter, Nelson Cruz, Rangers

Now just for fun, here’s the lineup I would use in STL based on my picks:

Kinsler
Swisher
Youkilis
Longoria
Markakis
Bay
Martinez
Bartlett
Greinke

I’ll have my NL choices later on this week.

Photo Credits:
1 – http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3345/3188994155_b1518b1bbb.jpg
2 – http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xR_lGuuhlLE/RzFO6VuvhQI/AAAAAAAAA9A/EoabV9A4zn0/s400/FgHOkXmu.jpg
3 – http://www3.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/New+York+Yankees+v+Toronto+Blue+Jays+I4wngxo9evMl.jpg