2014 MLB All-Star Game

Voting for the 2014 MLB All-Star Game has officially come to a close.

As the Midsummer Classic approaches, all we can do now is speculate which players will earn enough votes to make the team and a starting role in the game.

The American League featured several close positional battles from the last time MLB.com released the standings. We won't know the official results until rosters are announced on Sunday.

Arguing about the All-Star Game voting snubs is a bit of a futile endeavor. Most of the players discussed will get into the game anyway through either the manager selections or final vote. But that's not going to stop anybody from doing it.

Ideally, the All-Star voting is a meritocratic process rather than a popularity contest. The best players get the most votes, and everybody is happy. That's not how it goes, though. Fans will vote for their favorite players no matter what they've done on the field.

There are plenty of bubble players for the 2014 MLB All-Star rosters, but some have already locked up spots.

These players are not only guaranteed All-Stars, but they're MVP and Cy Young candidates as well.

4. SS Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies

For the first time since 2010, the Seattle Mariners will have a position player representative at the All-Star Game.

Robinson Cano will be making the trip to Minnesota on July 15 to play in his fifth consecutive All-Star contest. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will join teammate Felix Hernandez, who would be making his fourth straight appearance.

Even though the Cubs are 11 games under .500 this season, they still have a few deserving All-Stars. Both on the mound and at the plate, the team has had players step up, and those players should be playing in Minnesota this July.

With the 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game now just a month away, crunch time for the voting has arrived.

And thanks to the latest batch of updates, now we know where the voting stands going into said crunch time.

As long as MLB All-Star Game voting is done by the fans, there will always be cases where popularity wins out over production—and this year is no different.

While the game does mean something these days with home-field advantage in the World Series at stake, it is still very much an exhibition for the fans, and they certainly have the right to elect the starter they want to see play.

The third-round voting results for the 2014 MLB All-Star Game have been released, and while the game is still over a month away, we are already starting to get a good idea of what the rosters could look like on July 15.

Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis led everyone with 8,272,243 votes last season, while St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina paced the National League with 6,883,248 votes.

You've seen the voting for the 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Now prepare to see it in an entirely new way...

Updated!

After providing an initial look at the voting last week, MLB has refreshed the totals. The American League voting was updated on Monday, and the National League voting has been updated on Tuesday.

The 2014 MLB All-Star Game will be played on July 15, or a little over a month-and-a-half from now, but it's never too soon to start diving into what this year's rosters might look like.

Arguing about who deserves to be on the rosters and who the biggest snubs are each year is half the fun of the game itself, and there will no doubt be some notable snubs once again this coming season.