All-Star voting is already underway, so let's fill out a proper ballot

Voting for the starters in this summer's All-Star Game has been underway for several weeks on MLB.com. The Midsummer Classic in San Diego is still pretty far off and, in fact, voting doesn't conclude until the end of June. Still, if we can vote, we can be thinking about voting.

What we need to keep in mind in this endeavor is that we shouldn't only be looking at the 2016 season. There's still roughly the same amount of baseball to be played before voting concludes than there has been played to this point, so it would be a fool's errand to vote only on what we've seen. No, we need to use track record in addition to how this season has been unfolding in addition to a little educated guesswork.

Why? Because you don't want to be the person who voted for Tyler White when he was hitting .340/.404/.720 through April 20. He's at .231/.293/.442 now and would be a terrible selection.

The season to this date is our starting point, but we need to go beyond that. It'll make sense when we get to our NL catcher options. Trust me.

Onto the selections!

[To make your own picks or look at the ballot, head over to MLB.com]

American League

First base options: Jose Abreu, Miguel Cabrera, Chris Davis, Eric Hosmer, Hanley Ramirez, Justin Smoak

First base pick: Eric Hosmer, Royals

It's tough to take Hosmer over Cabrera, but he's a defending World Series champion who is slashing .338/.399/.546 and plays great defense at first. The track record of Cabrera suggests he's a worthy selection, but I don't see any reason to worry that Hosmer comes crashing down, and he's established enough to warrant this pick.

Second base options: Jose Altuve, Robinson Cano, Starlin Castro, Logan Forsythe, Ian Kinsler, Jason Kipnis, Brett Lawrie, Jed Lowrie, Rougned Odor, Dustin Pedroia

Second base pick: Jose Altuve, Astros

Holy hell this position is loaded. If MVP voting were held right now, both Altuve and Cano would garner significant interest. I can't go against the diminutive stud Altuve, though, who brings a .338/.423/.641 line with 13 steals and nine homers into Saturday. His added power has taken his game to another level.

Here's how loaded this position is: Castro is hitting .298/.341/.476 and he'd be the ninth choice. Lowrie is hitting .304 and he'd be 10th!

Shortstop options: Elvis Andrus, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, Ketel Marte, Marcus Semien, Troy Tulowitzki

Shortstop pick: Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox

Lindor is incredible and Correa has enough talent to suggest that by the end of June he'll be the pick, but Bogaerts is established as a stud after last season and has carried it over to hitting .329/.378/.476 with power, speed and smooth defense.

Third base options: Adrian Beltre, Nick Castellanos, Josh Donaldson, Todd Frazier, Manny Machado, Mike Moustakas, Travis Shaw

Manny Machado needs to be a starter in the All-Star Game. USATSI

Third base pick: Manny Machado, Orioles

Donaldson is the reigning MVP while Castellanos is finally having his breakout season. Machado, however, is morphing into a guy who needs to be mentioned alongside Mike Trout and Bryce Harper. Actually, that's phrased incorrectly. He's already done the morphing. It's over. He is that good. He's a super-duper star at a pre-prime age and should be treated as such. Don't vote for anyone else or you're doing it wrong.

Catcher options: Brian McCann, Salvador Perez and a shrug of the shoulders

Catcher pick: Salvador Perez, Royals

This AL catcher crop is abysmal; the yin to the second base's yang. I'll go with Sal here due to several factors: 1. His track record suggests that his skills in working with pitchers makes him incredibly valuable; 2. He won the World Series MVP; 3. No one is really having a good season.

Designated hitter options: Nelson Cruz, Edwin Encarnacion, Victor Martinez, David Ortiz, Byung-ho Park

DH pick: David Ortiz, Red Sox

Great year for Victor, but it's Ortiz's final season, he's an MLB icon -- whether you like it or not, sorry, he is -- and he's having a great year. Easiest pick on the board.

Outfield options: Jose Bautista, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley, Melky Cabrera, Lorenzo Cain, Kole Calhoun, Adam Eaton, Alex Gordon, Adam Jones, Josh Reddick, George Springer, Mike Trout, Mark Trumbo,

Outfield picks: Mike Trout, Angels; Adam Eaton, White Sox; Mark Trumbo, Orioles

Trout doesn't need a discussion.

Eaton is someone who should make me worry, right? Nope. Think again. In the past two seasons, he's hit .293/.361/.418 for the White Sox. The track record is there and now that he's been pushed to a corner outfield spot, he's excelling defensively for the best team in the AL. They deserve one position player starter anyway behind Chris Sale (yes, he'd be the pick to start on the hill).

Trumbo is interesting. My hunch is I might wish I picked Cain, Springer or Betts by July, but Trumbo is a long-established power threat with 11 bombs, 27 RBI and a .308 average. He's even getting on base at a .361 clip, which is exceptional for a player with his skill set.

National League

First base options: Brandon Belt, Freddie Freeman, Paul Goldschmidt, Adrian Gonzalez, Anthony Rizzo, Joey Votto

First base pick: Anthony Rizzo, Cubs

The anchor for baseball's best team is "only" hitting .274, but he sports a gaudy .419 OBP and .605 slugging with 10 homers and 29 RBI. There are other good options, but no great ones after Rizzo this season.

Second base options: Josh Harrison, D.J. LeMahieu, Daniel Murphy, Jean Segura, Chase Utley, Neil Walker, Ben Zobrist

Second base pick: Daniel Murphy, Nationals

I tried really hard to justify taking Zobrist and Segura is having a ridiculous season with his change of scenery, but Murphy has continued his relentless approach from his historic postseason. He's hitting .405 with 13 doubles, two triples and five homers. Only Zobrist has more RBI and runs here than Murphy's 22 each, but that difference is mostly a product of teammates' production.

Shortstop options: Asdrubal Cabrera, Zack Cozart, Brandon Crawford, Jordy Mercer, Addison Russell, Corey Seager, Trevor Story, Aledmys Diaz (write-in)

And here's our biggest conundrum. Take note of what I said above about it being too early to go only on this season and how we need to kind of predict the next six weeks in addition to judging the past six weeks. Who is the "establishment" candidate, though? Crawford? Or are we ready to move onto Seager or Russell? There's no good answer there. What we do know is that Story easily has the best power here and best, forgive me, story of the season so far. Diaz has the best offensive slash line and it's not close, but am I really going to throw away my vote on a write-in? No, no I'm not.

[Aside: How is Jhonny Peralta on the ballot? It was known he was injured before Story won the Rockies' starting job. How does this make any sense?]

Shortstop pick: Trevor Story, Rockies

Trevor Story in the All-Star Game? Why not. USATSI

Third base options: Nolan Arenado, Kris Bryant, Matt Carpenter, Martin Prado, Yangervis Solarte

Third base pick: Nolan Arenado, Rockies

Fall in love with the batting averages on Prado and/or Solarte if you wish, but this should be a two-horse race between the best third baseman in the world -- when Machado plays shortstop, that is -- and second-year stud Bryant. Arenado, however, has Bryant beat everywhere except in quality of teammates and versatility. Bryant can just take over for him in the fourth inning in San Diego on July 12. No harm there.

Catcher options: Welington Castillo, Francisco Cervelli, Jonathan Lucroy, Yadier Molina, Buster Posey, Wilson Ramos, J.T. Realmuto

Catcher pick: Buster Posey, Giants

Ramos is having an exceptional season, Realmuto is real good, Lucroy is mashing like we know he's capable and Molina is a transcendent figure for a historic franchise. I'm betting on Posey's track record to take over and make him the best and easy pick come June 30, though. He's the best bet on the board. Even if he's having an off year, he's on a Hall of Fame track, in his prime, and we won't be looking back on this pick with disdain.

Outfield options: Ryan Braun, Yoenis Cespedes, Michael Conforto, Dexter Fowler, Carlos Gonzalez, Bryce Harper, Odubel Herrera, Matt Holliday, Starling Marte, Andrew McCutchen, Marcell Ozuna, Angel Pagan, Joc Pederson, Hunter Pence, Stephen Piscotty, Gregory Polanco, Yasiel Puig, Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich

Holy crowded outfield.

Outfield picks: Bryce Harper, Nationals; Yoenis Cespedes, Mets; Dexter Fowler, Cubs

Harper is easy and doesn't need discussing.

With the other two, it was difficult to bypass the track record of Cutch, the power of Stanton and Braun's amazing numbers. I just felt like Cespedes is right there and we needed a Mets player. Similar sentiment for Fowler, as he's having an unbelievable season after his weird free agency (.328/.449/.546) and it felt like the Cubs deserve more than one starter. Hell, they might get three, then, with Jake Arrieta possibly taking the ball on the hill. Still, with such an astounding start, doesn't the club deserve a special All-Star Game at this point?

Marte, Yelich and Herrera were also very tough omissions.

Keep in mind, the NL gets to pick a DH.

So those are the picks for me, your humble correspondent. Don't be the person who says they suck without just picking your own. Pick with impunity and post your selections in the comments, should you desire.