AL All-Star ballot slideshow - Rays abound

May 20, 3:22 AMTampa Bay Rays ExaminerRob Quinn

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Tonight I’m kicking off my vacation by attempting to make vacation plans for eight deserving American Leaguers. That’s right, the All-Star ballot is officially out and it’s time to submit one of the ten ballots allowed to each person.

We’ll do this in slideshow fashion – I’ll list my choices below and I’ll explain each decision in the slide for each player.

• Catcher – Victor Martinez, Cleveland Indians
• First Base – Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
• Second Base – Aaron Hill, Toronto Blue Jays
• Shortstop – Jason Bartlett, Tampa Bay Rays
• Third Base – Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
• Outfield – Jason Bay, Boston Red Sox
• Outfield – Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Rays
• Outfield – Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles

The Rays are on track to have three starters for this year’s game in St. Louis. The outfield spots will be closely contested and I’m sure the voting will not end up this way due to the popularity element of the fan ballot. These are my picks, though, and I’m sticking to them – until I fill out the second of my ten ballots in a couple of weeks.

The Rays lost in eleven innings tonight despite an outstanding pitching performance by James Shields. The offense failed three times to get a runner home from third with less than two out, ultimately costing the Rays the ballgame. On Wednesday, the Rays will try to get back to .500 as Scott Kazmir will take on rookie lefthander Brett Anderson, who is still searching for his first career win after starting off 0-4 in his first six starts.

Is Jason Bartlett the AL MVP right now? Let me know in a comment.

Jason Bartlett hits: 54

Jason Bartlett groundball singles between short and third: 11

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