Tony DeMarco

Here’s one punched-out All-Star ballot, and then we await the convoluted selection process that will lead to 66 players — that’s right, rosters have been upped to 33 — who will appear in St. Louis on July 14.

American League
Catcher: It doesn’t get any more clear-cut than this. Joe Mauer is doubling runner-up Jason Varitek’s vote total, and trails only Derek Jeter and Evan Longoria in votes among all AL players. Victor Martinez has split his season evenly between catching and first base, and deserves a backup spot here. Pick: Mauer

First base: The voters are having trouble deciding between Kevin Youkilis and Mark Teixeira. But talk about your stacked positions. You can make cases for the next two on the ballot — Justin Morneau and Miguel Cabrera. You really can’t go wrong here, and it will be tough to leave one of these four off the team, as they are 3, 5, 6 and 9 in the AL in slugging percentage. Pick: Cabrera

Second base: The other too-close-to-call race among fans, who have Ian Kinsler and Dustin Pedroia neck-and-neck. But it really shouldn’t be that close, as Kinsler has hit 17 more home runs and driven in 16 more runs than last year’s AL MVP. The race should be between Kinsler and Aaron Hill, who deserves a spot on the AL roster. Pick: Kinsler

Shortstop: To the surprise of nobody, no AL player has a bigger lead at his position than Derek Jeter. One problem: Runner-up Jason Bartlett has been the best shortstop in the AL so far this season. In fact, he’s still hitting, .362 through Wednesday. And bet you didn’t know Marco Scutaro is tied for the AL in runs scored through Wednesday. Pick: Bartlett

Third base: Evan Longoria has this one locked up — mostly on merit, and partly due to the fall from grace of Alex Rodriguez and his myriad issues. Brandon Inge, Michael Young and Chone Figgins quietly are having All-Star-caliber seasons, too. Pick: Longoria

Outfield: The vote leaders are Jason Bay, Ichiro Suzuki and Josh Hamilton. Two out of three ain’t bad. Hamilton is about to be reactivated after a long DL stay, and Torii Hunter (fourth on the ballot, third in the AL in slugging percentage) has been called the most valuable player in the league by his manager. Carl Crawford deserves a roster spot, too. Picks: Bay, Suzuki, Hunter.

National League
Catcher: Yadier Molina has a comfortable lead in the fan voting and is the league’s best defensive catcher. The offense is better, too, but runner-up Brian McCann lost just enough time to vision issues to keep from qualifying for the batting title. Otherwise, he would be among the league’s top 15 hitters. Pick: McCann

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First base: There is, of course, no debating Albert Pujols’ commanding lead here. But that belies the fact this position is loaded with legit candidates: Prince Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez (he has to be the Padres’ rep, doesn’t he?), Ryan Howard, even Todd Helton. Charlie Manuel could have a tough choice here. Pick: Pujols

Second base: Pujols has the most votes, but Chase Utley has the biggest lead at any position – just more than 2.2 million votes over Orlando Hudson, who could slide onto the squad as a reserve. This is another deep position, with Freddy Sanchez and Felipe Lopez also hitting .300+. Pick: Utley

Shortstop: The fact that Hanley Ramirez has a fairly safe lead over Jimmy Rollins speaks well of fans voting in parks around the majors, because we all know about the Marlins’ pathetic home attendance figures. Of course, it helps when Rollins hitting in the low .200s, and Jose Reyes has missed so much time due to injury. Vets Miguel Tejada and Cristian Guzman deserve consideration, too. Pick: Ramirez

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Third base: David Wright is suffering a power outage at Citi Field, but he’s second in the league in hitting — and easily leading Chipper Jones here. Pablo Sandoval is the type of likable young player the game needs. He could be a backup despite the presence of Jones and Ryan Zimmerman, and the bipolar numbers of Mark Reynolds. Pick: Wright

Outfield: Can’t argue with the top two vote-getters (now DL’d) Raul Ibanez and Ryan Braun. Carlos Beltran also was having an All-Star-like season until landing on the DL, opening the door for undeserving Alfonso Soriano in the fan voting. How is Brad Hawpe not among the top 15 vote-getters, especially in this surprisingly weak group? Picks: Ibanez, Braun, Beltran

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