Filling out All-Star ballots is always a fun exercise. Do you adopt the "I want to see stars" approach, and vote for the big name on the ballot having the best season, or do you vote apply the "best three months" philosophy of voting for the guy with the best numbers no matter who it is?

I tend to take a balanced approach. Basically, if I think it would be cool to see the guy play and he's got the numbers to back it up, he gets my vote. This year, that means a mix of superstars (Joey Votto, Derek Jeter, David Wright), guys having great starts who I think would be hilarious to see as All-Star starters (Jose Altuve, come on down!) and not-exactly-superstar veterans who I think it would be nice to see get the nod (both catchers getting my votes, AJ Pierzynski and Carlos Ruiz, fit this bill).

There's a very unusual situation that's starting to gain some media attention though, and that's the fact that two very deserving, very precocious kids aren't on the ballot at all. Neither 20-year-old Mike Trout nor 19-year-old Bryce Harper have their names on the ballot, even though the numbers they've put up are outstanding. Now in Harper's case, this isn't a problem for me. While it would be a blast to see him in the starting lineup, the NL is crawling with outfielders who already have strong cases for inclusion (Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Gonzalez, and Andrew McCutchen just off the top of my head, with Giancarlo Stanton just a bit behind) so there's really no room on my ballot to write in some punk teenager, no matter how much he endears himself to me by shooting down dumb questions from journalists by .

In Trout's case though, I don't think there's any debate that he's been one of the three best outfielders in the AL so far. The only two OFers who have really strong cases other than him are Josh Hamilton and Adam Jones. No one else has been great: Curtis Granderson's been very good but he's slipped a bit from last year, and no one else is even in the picture.

What that means is that this year, I'm doing something I've never ever done before, and that's write in a player on all my ballots. The fact is that I not only want to see Mike Trout play in the All-Star Game, Mike Trout deserves to start in the All-Star game even though he's the second-youngest player in the majors. In a year of crazy Bryce Harper facts and achievements, that one about Trout might blow all the Harper ones away.

Things flow in cycles, and 2012 is looking like it will be something of a watershed year for emerging young talent in baseball. It would be appropriate if that turn of the wheel were personified at the Mid-Summer Classic.