With about a week left until the final ballots are submitted for this year’s All Star game in St.Louis, the Toronto Blue Jays are not fairing well in the voting.

Our small market team (which gets next to no coverage outside of Canada) currently has, in this writer’s opinion, numerous candidates that should be considered for an All-Star selection.

Roy Halladay is a no brainer to represent the Jays at the 2009 All Star game in St.Louis

Those candidates are:

Roy Halladay – 10-1, 2.53ERA, 103IP, 3CG, 12BB, 88K
Marco Scutaro – .298AVG, 6HR, 31RBI, .397OBP, .997 fielding percentage
Aaron Hill – .306AVG, 16HR, 51RBI, 97H, .983 fielding percentage
Adam Lind – .309AVG, 15HR, 52RBI, 86H, 23 doubles
Scott Rolen – .330AVG, 5HR, 26RBI, 77H, 20 doubles, .969 fielding percentage

Roy Halladay is most certainly going to be attending the All-Star game, making his 6th All-Star appearance, and depending on the condition of his recently injured groin, he might even start this year’s game for the American League squad.

Keep in mind that pitchers are elected into the All-Star game via the coaching staff, and not the fan ballots.

The current fan voting totals as per mlb.com look like this in the American League:

2009 MLB All-Star Balloting : American League

1st Base
RANK PLAYER NAME AL TEAM TOTAL VOTES
1. Mark Teixeira Yankees 1,561,292
2. Kevin Youkilis Red Sox 1,525,660
3. Justin Morneau Twins 1,275,694
4. Miguel Cabrera Tigers 944,855
5. Chris Davis Rangers 632,895

2nd Base
RANK PLAYER NAME AL TEAM TOTAL VOTES
1. Ian Kinsler Rangers 1,791,177
2. Dustin Pedroia Red Sox 1,732,787
3. Robinson Cano Yankees 1,062,863
4. Aaron Hill Blue Jays 775,200
5. Placido Polanco Tigers 660,693

3rd Base
RANK PLAYER NAME AL TEAM TOTAL VOTES
1. Evan Longoria Rays 2,488,076
2. Alex Rodriguez Yankees 1,165,243
3. Michael Young Rangers 933,630
4. Mike Lowell Red Sox 890,138
5. Brandon Inge Tigers 535,226

Shortstop
RANK PLAYER NAME AL TEAM TOTAL VOTES
1. Derek Jeter Yankees 2,563,093
2. Jason Bartlett Rays 1,148,988
3. Elvis Andrus Rangers 844,349
4. Marco Scutaro Blue Jays 684,883
5. Jed Lowrie Red Sox 459,732

Catcher
RANK PLAYER NAME AL TEAM TOTAL VOTES
1. Joe Mauer Twins 2,298,544
2. Jason Varitek Red Sox 1,108,054
3. Jorge Posada Yankees 947,887
4. Jarrod Saltalamacchia Rangers 827,063
5. Victor Martinez Indians 754,571

Outfield
RANK PLAYER NAME AL TEAM TOTAL VOTES
1. Jason Bay Red Sox 2,077,504
2. Ichiro Suzuki Mariners 1,455,266
3. Josh Hamilton Rangers 1,385,212
4. Torii Hunter Angels 1,186,097
5. Carl Crawford Rays 1,172,241
6. Jacoby Ellsbury Red Sox 1,051,270
7. Johnny Damon Yankees 1,021,394
8. Ken Griffey Jr. Mariners 1,009,584
9. Nelson Cruz Rangers 956,294
10. Adam Jones Orioles 894,664
11. J.D. Drew Red Sox 818,459
12. Nick Markakis Orioles 756,316
13. Curtis Granderson Tigers 641,102
14. Grady Sizemore Indians 626,014
15. Bobby Abreu Angels 614,244

Will Marco Scutaro be making his first appearance in an All Star game?

Marco Scutaro sits fourth amongst AL shortstops, Aaron Hill sits fourth amongst AL second basemen, and Scott Rolen and Adam Lind are nowhere to be found in the fan voting results.

Keep in mind, that due to Lind mainly being a DH, he was not on the voting ballot as an option, however you can write him in as a vote on the current ballots.

I personally think this is preposterous.

Just compare the statistics alone, and you shall see these Blue Jay players are more deserving than what typical Major League fans think.

Let’s compare Aaron Hill to Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia, and Robinson Cano, the three players who sit ahead of Hill in the balloting for AL second basemen.

Aaron Hill – .306AVG, 16HR, 51RBI, 97H, .983 fielding percentage
Dustin Pedroia – .293AVG, 2HR, 29RBI, 81H, .986 fielding percentage
Ian Kinsler – .266AVG, 18HR, 49RBI, 75H, .986 fielding percentage
Robinson Cano – .301AVG, 12HR, 42RBI, 87H, .991 fielding percentage

Aaron Hill betters all three in batting average, hits, runs batted in, and sits only 2 home runs below Ian Kinsler.

Sure, all three of these players currently voted ahead of Hill have better fielding percentages, but Hill still posts a respectable .983 fielding percentage.

Now let’s compare Marco Scutaro to Derek Jeter, Jason Bartlett, and Elvis Andrus, the three players who sit ahead of Scutaro in the balloting for AL shortstops.

Marco Scutaro – .298AVG, 6HR, 31RBI, .397OBP, .997 fielding percentage
Derek Jeter – .299AVG, 9HR, 30RBI, .369OBP, .988 fielding percentage
Elvis Andrus – .257AVG, 3HR, 12RBI, .321OBP, .968 fielding percentage
Jason Bartlett – .370AVG, 7HR, 34RBI, .410OBP, .982 fielding percentage

Marco Scutaro’s statistics do not make him as obvious a selection as Aaron Hill.

But you must keep in mind that Scutaro has taken 49 walks in 292 at bats, works deep counts(which in part tires out pitchers) , has a huge on base percentage of .397, and kick starts the Toronto offense in the lead off spot (the Jays haven’t had a good leadoff man in quite some time).

Scutaro also leads the American League in runs scored.

Scutaro is also playing at a position where he only played 56 games last season, and doing a remarkable job at doing so, posting the best fielding percentage among American League shortstops.

Scutaro has been one of the most valuable assets the Jays have had this season, perhaps one of the leading causes behind the Jays success.

Jason Bartlett is a shoe in to make the All-Star team at shortstop due to his career year numbers, but I personally think Scutaro is more deserving than Derek Jeter or Elvis Andrus, but alas the fan votes will determine the American League starting shortstop, and not I.

Let’s hope that the American League coaching staff decides to add Scutaro to the roster, he deserves it.

Adam Lind is not even on the ballot, but he deserves an All Star nod.

Now onto Adam Lind.

Adam Lind is a mediocre defender, he looks confused at times in left field, taking strange routes to balls his way, and it is apparent this season that Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston would prefer to have Lind as our designated hitter.

This is the reason Lind is not even on the All-Star ballot, but Travis Snider (the opening day starter in left field who was demoted to Triple A Las Vegas) is. Designated hitters are not a fan voting option on the ballot.

This still doesn’t mean Lind shouldn’t be receiving fan votes. All fans are allowed one write in option for both the American and National League ballots on every ballot submitted, and Lind could technically play in left field, as it is his true position.

Let’s take a look at Adam Lind’s current statistics.

Adam Lind – .309AVG, 15HR, 52RBI, 86H, 23 doubles

Lind currently sits 13th in the American League in batting average, 14th in home runs, 7th in runs batted in, 3rd in doubles and 9th in hits.

Those are very impressive numbers for a guy who was back and forth between the Blue Jays and Triple A last season. Forget his defense, Lind’s offensive numbers alone should guarantee him a shot into the All-Star game for his first time.

Here’s hoping the American League  coaching staff thinks the same way about Adam Lind that I do.

Finally, we have Scott Rolen.

Rolen is not listed in the top five vote receivers  in the American League All Star fan balloting, which can be understood with the likes of Evan Longoria, Alex Rodriguez, Michael Young, Mike Lowell and Brandon Inge contesting Rolen for votes at third base.

Scott Rolen has been an extraordinary defender his entire career, see his 7 Gold Glove awards as proof, and not much as changed this year for Rolen over at the hot corner.

Rolen makes magical defensive plays like he was shagging routine grounders over at third, while creating plays Toronto fans can only awe over.

Rolen’s defensive contributions alone should garner him an All Star selection, but let us take a look at Rolen’s current offensive statistics as well.

Scott Rolen – .330AVG, 5HR, 26RBI, 77H, 20 doubles, .969 fielding percentage

Rolen ranks third in the American League in batting average, 7th in doubles, and 20th in hits.

Rolen’s power numbers are not anything special (5HR, 26RBI), but Rolen spent the majority of the season hitting sixth behind Adam Lind, who was cashing in most of the runs for the Jays.

Recently, Rolen has been moved into the fourth spot in the batting order, and Rolen has been tearing it up on the baseball field.

Since moving into the four hole Rolen’s numbers are:

.388AVG, 2HR, 7RBI, 8 runs scored, 2 doubles, 3BB, 1SB in 8 games.

Rolen is probably the least likely of the Jays to get All Star consideration from the fans or coaching staff, due to the other gifted third basemen in the American League, but this writer thinks that Scott Rolen should be given much more consideration than he has been given so far.

I guess the whole point of this article is that Toronto fans need to get those votes in.

If you can’t make it to a Jays game to vote for your Toronto Blue Jays than visit www.mlb.com

On the homepage there is a direct link to a voting ballot. Voters are allowed a maximum of 25 votes per email address.

Toronto Blue Jays fans need to start showing their support for our team.

The Blue Jays are Canada’s only baseball team, and with an entire country behind us, I’m sure we could out vote the voters from cities such as New York, Boston, Texas, etc.

This writer hopes that come July 14th the Toronto Blue Jays are represented in a flock of many in St.Louis, Missouri.

Let’s wait and see.