Fast as they’ve gone, two months of the season are now done with. Among other things, that means it’s time to start thinking about All-Star ballots. Personally, I’m a sucker for voting, if not the game itself, and every time I go to the ballpark I grab a stack of ballots and fill them out in all sorts of configurations – an All-Ugly team, an All-Line Drive Hitters team, an All-Ancient Veteran team, and so on. I even find a minute to think about which players have had the best seasons, weigh that against who’s so good that it doesn’t matter how they’ve been playing, balance all that against a considered preference for the flamboyant over the dull and the obscure over the much-celebrated, and end up with something like a real live All-Star ballot.

Prejudices disclosed, here is how I fill out that ballot on the American League side.

1B – PAUL KONERKO, CHICAGO
(.299 AVG/.376 OBA/.574 SLG)

“Paul Konerko?” you protest. “He isn’t even the best first baseman on his own team!” This may theoretically be true, and slugger Jim Thome certainly deserves all due praise for making the defending world champions all the more terrifying. As things actually are, though, the All-Star Game is being played in a National League park (Pittsburgh’s gorgeous PNC Park, which deserves a real ballclub), and hence designated hitters have no place on a ballot. Jason Giambi has been a more effective hitter, but Konerko’s prowess in the clutch and ability to field ground balls hit in his direction qualify him above the Yankees’ on base machine.

2B – JOSE LOPEZ, SEATTLE
(.283 AVG/.317 OBA/.496 SLG)

“Who?” you ask. Why, Jose Lopez, of course. The Mariners are going to be really good one of these days, and their core of young up-the-middle talent is a major reason why. Lopez is just 22, a reasonable glove at the keystone, and enjoying a breakout power campaign, with nine home runs, 11 doubles, and five triples entering yesterday’s game. Given his youth and minor league records, there’s no reason to think he’s a fluke, and among an incredibly weak class of junior circuit second basemen, he deserves the nod as the likeliest player to be starting the 2011 All-Star Game. Honorable mention to Baltimore’s Brian Roberts (.321/.399/.420).

3B – ALEX RODRIGUEZ, YANKEES
(.298 AVG/.404 OBA/.545 SLG)

Ah, to be A-Rod – put up what would be MVP numbers coming from anyone else, and all you hear about is an uncharacteristic stretch of stone handedness and your inability to hit 1.000 in the clutch. That the treatment A-Rod receives is only in keeping with that usually accorded players of his stature (Mickey Mantle could tell him something about it, and he even had a fistful of rings) doesn’t make it any less silly. Since I write about this all the time, here is some pointed criticism for the greatest player of his generation – frosting your hair is always a mistake unless you’re a model being paid to do so.

SS – MIGUEL TEJADA, BALTIMORE
(.333 AVG/.388 OBA/.568 SLG)

Complaints of anti-Jeter bias are scoffed at here. The Yankee captain is enjoying a tremendous, MVP-level campaign, and in fact I expect that so long as his team makes the playoffs, he will win the MVP this year. Tejada is still better. Jeter’s edge in on-base average and base-running is cancelled out by Tejada’s extra power and defense, and given the choice of two shortstops of equal value, I’ll pick the one with the better glove. Choosing Tejada is no insult to Jeter; it’s an enormous complement to Tejada, an awesome player who just keeps getting better.

RF – VLADIMIR GUERRERO, LOS ANGELES
(.319 AVG/.366 OBA/.546 SLG)

One can certainly dig up players having better seasons than Guerrero (Toronto’s Alex Rios for starters) but until one of them scales the mountain, it’s down to Guerrero and Ichiro Suzuki in right field. There’s nothing bad to say about Suzuki, but Guerrero remains the most freakishly gifted player I’ve ever seen, the most liable to not only do something extraordinary but do it in a way I’ve never seen it done before. Anyone who can hit the third baseman with a throw on a line flatfooted and then pull a pitch eight inches off the outside corner for a home run should have everyone watching him as much as possible.

CF – GRADY SIZEMORE, CLEVELAND
(.306 AVG/.384 OBA/.533 SLG)

Here’s another tough pick. There’s not much to tell Sizemore and Toronto’s Vernon Wells apart at the plate; Wells has a lot more power, but Sizemore plays in a much tougher hitter’s park, so the edge isn’t as big as it seems. Sizemore is more durable and better on the bases; Wells is a better defender. You can’t go wrong with either player, but Sizemore is just 23 and looks to be turning into one of the game’s most dominant players, a run scoring machine who isn’t the best at any one thing but is among the best at everything. If the Indians make a mid-season run in what (bizarrely) may now be the game’s toughest division, this guy will be a large part of the reason why.

LF – CARL CRAWFORD, TAMPA BAY
(.300 AVG/.347 OBA/.438 SLG)

Last year I justified a vote for Crawford partly on performance and partly on the principle that a young, exciting, and neglected player deserved the spotlight. All those reasons still apply, but the performance part has gone through the roof. In addition to those rate states, Crawford plays every day in a good pitcher’s park, has stolen 20 bases, and plays top notch left field defense. Altogether he outranks all AL outfielders in Win Shares. Take that for what it’s worth, but the point is that he’s become a star player, even if no one’s noticed, and he’s every bit as exciting as Jose Reyes or anyone else you might care to name. Even with the ascent of Scott Kazmir, Crawford remains the best reason to tune into the season’s 734th Yanks-Devil Rays showdown.

C – JOE MAUER, MINNESOTA
(.357 AVG/.415 OBA/.489 SLG)

The Twins have disappointed, but Mauer is not the reason why, as he continues to put up numbers that would be cartoonish coming from a 23-year-old catcher playing in Double-A, leave alone the majors. With his sweet, level swing, angular plate-blocking technique, and rifle arm, he’s as entertaining as any of the young players on this ballot, and a worthy heir to Pudge Rodriguez as The Man among AL catchers. Don’t miss him.

Mr. Marchman will present his NL ballot in tomorrow’s New York Sun.