MLB All-Star Ballot 3.0

Here's my third update on how I think the All-Star rosters should look like, following the rules of at least one player from each team and overall 32 players. An asterisk* denotes injury. Agree or disagree? I'd love to hear.

American League:

First Base: Justin Morneau (Min) continues to be looked over for the two players in the AL East. He leads American League first basemen in RBI (56) and hits (84). He's also second in batting average (.324) and is very underrated defensively.

Reserves: Kevin Youkilis (Bos), Mark Teixeira (Nyy), Miguel Cabrera (Det)
Snubs: Russell Branyan (Sea), Carlos Pena (Tam)
Who Will Start: Mark Teixeira will. New York will vote him through.

Second Base: Aaron Hill (Tor) leads American League second basemen in RBI (47) and hits (90). He's also third in batting average (.308).

Reserves: Ian Kinsler (Tex), Robinson Cano (Nyy)
Snubs: Asdrubal Cabrera* (Cle), Brian Roberts (Bal)
Who Will Start: Kinsler is leading by 200,000 votes. There's minimal chance for a leap.

Shortstop: Jason Bartlett (Tam) leads American League shortstops in batting average (.376), RBI (31), OPS (1.017), and stolen bases (14) all in 85 less at-bats than Jeter.

Reserves: Derek Jeter (Nyy)
Snubs: Marco Scutaro (Tor)
Who Will Start: Jeter is leading Bartlett by a million votes. This race is over.

Third Base: Evan Longoria (Tam) leads American League third basemen in OPS (.986), home runs (16), and RBI (60). He also has a .307 batting average.

Reserves: Mike Lowell (Bos), Brandon Inge (Det)
Snubs: Chone Figgins (Laa), Mark DeRosa (Cle), Scott Rolen (Tor), Michael Young (Tex)
Who Will Start: This race is also over. Longoria is leading over a million and is the leading vote getter in the AL.

Catcher: Joe Mauer (Min) leads American League catchers in batting average (.425), OPS (1.245), and home runs (13). He also is second in RBI (41), in almost one hundred less at-bats.

Reserves: Victor Martinez (Cle)
Snubs: None
Who Will Start: This race is also over. Mauer has more than the double the votes of Varitek.

Outfield:
Adam Jones (Bal) is batting .316 with 12 home runs, 41 RBI, and a .914 OPS.
Jason Bay (Bos) is batting .281 with 17 home runs, 63 RBI, and a .977 OPS.
Torii Hunter* (Laa) is batting .321 with 16 home runs, 51 RBI, and a 1.012 OPS.

Reserves: Nelson Cruz (Tex), Carl Crawford (Tam), Ichiro Suzuki (Sea)
Snubs: Ben Zobrist (Tam), Nick Markakis (Bal), Shin-Soo Choo (Cle), Johnny Damon (Nyy), Bobby Abreu (Laa)
Who Will Start: Bay, Ichiro, and (unfortunately) Hamilton are all leading by generous amounts.

Starting Pitcher: Zack Greinke (Kan) leads American League starting pitchers with a 1.96 ERA. He also has five complete games, a 1.02 WHIP, and 106 strikeouts in 101 innings pitched.

Reserves: Roy Halladay* (Tor), Justin Verlander (Det), Kevin Milwood (Tex), Felix Hernandez (Sea), Jered Weaver (Laa), Edwin Jackson (Det), Dallas Braden (Oak), Mark Buehrle (Cws)
Snubs: Cliff Lee (Cle), Erik Bedard* (Sea), Nick Blackburn (Min), Gil Meche (Kan), Josh Outman (Oak)
Who Will Start: Zack Greinke will start, as long as his team starts peforming for him.

Closer: Frank Francisco* (Tex) leads American League closers with a 0.46 ERA and zero blown saves, compared to his 12 saves.

Reserves: Jonathan Papelbon (Bos), Joe Nathan (Min)
Snubs: David Aardsma (Sea)
Who Will Close: Jonathan Papelbon will close. He's in the AL East with an AL East manager.

DH Snubs: Adam Lind (Tor), Luke Scott (Bal), Jason Kubel (Min)

Check out the next page for my National League picks... <!-- my page break -->National League:

First Base: Albert Pujols (Stl) leads National League first basemen in batting average (.323), hits (72), OPS (1.142), home runs (23), and stolen bases (9).

Reserves: Prince Fielder (Mil), Todd Helton (Col)
Snubs: Adrian Gonzalez (Sdp), Ryan Howard (Phi)
Who Will Start: Pujols will. Race over. All-Star game in the hero's hometown.

Second Base: Chase Utley (Phi) leads National League second basemen in OPS (1.010), RBI (44), and home runs (15). He's also batting .309.

Reserves: Orlando Hudson (Lad), Freddy Sanchez (Pit), Brandon Phillips (Cin)
Snubs: None
Who Will Start: Utley will start. He's the leading vote getter in all of baseball.

Shortstop: Miguel Tejada (Hou) leads National League shortstops in batting average (.342) and RBI (37). I'm voting for Hanley Ramirez though, because he has a chance to leap Rollins.

Reserves: Hanley Ramirez (Fla)
Snubs: Cristian Guzman (Was)
Who Will Start: Hanley Ramirez will start. He's trailing Rollins by 88,000 votes, and it's a sham. Vote for Hanley!

Third Base: David Wright (Nym) leads National League third basemen in batting average (.357), OPS (.964), and hits (84). I've jumped off the Zimmerman bandwagon.

Reserves: Ryan Zimmerman (Was), Mark Reynolds (Ari)
Snubs: Pablo Sandoval (Sfg), Casey Blake (Lad), Pedro Feliz (Phi)
Who Will Start: David Wright will. He's leading Zimmerman by 336,000 votes.

Catcher: Brian McCann (Atl) leads the weakest position in years with a .323 batting average. He also has 26 RBI and a .930 OPS.

Reserves: Bengie Molina (Sfg)
Snubs: None
Who Will Start: Yadier Molina will (unfortunately) start, leading McCann by 156,000 votes.

Outfield:
Raul Ibanez* (Phi) is batting .312 with 22 home runs, 59 RBI, and a 1.027 OPS.
Brad Hawpe (Col) is batting .335 with 9 home runs, 47 RBI, and a 1.007 OPS.
Ryan Braun (Mil) is batting .328 with 14 home runs, 48 RBI, and a .991 OPS.

Reserves: Carlos Beltran (Nym), Hunter Pence (Hou), Justin Upton (Ari)
Snubs: Carlos Lee (Hou), Juan Pierre (Lad), Matt Kemp (Lad), Adam Dunn (Was)
Who Will Start: Ibanez, Braun, and Beltran all have comfortable, deserving leads.

Starting Pitcher: Dan Haren (Ari) leads National League starting pitchers with a 0.81 WHIP. He also has a 2.20 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 94 innings pitched.

Reserves: Matt Cain (Sfg), Tim Lincecum (Sfg), Chad Billingsley (Lad), Ted Lilly (Chc), Johnny Cueto (Cin), Josh Johnson (Fla), Yovani Gallardo (Mil), Johan Santana (Nym)
Snubs: Zach Duke (Pit), Jason Marquis (Col), Adam Wainwright (Stl), Jair Jurrjens (Atl)
Who Will Start: Chad Billingsley will start. Just a hunch.

Closer: Francisco Rodriguez (Nym) leads National League closers with a 0.56 ERA. He also has 17 saves, compared to just one "blown" save (courtesy of Luis Castillo).

Reserves: Jonathan Broxton (Lad), Heath Bell (Sdp), Ryan Franlkin (Stl)
Snubs: Trevor Hoffman (Mil), Francisco Cordero (Cin)
Who Will Close: Francisco Rodriguez will close. NL East manager and is pretty damn good.