Should Every Team Have An All-star Rep?

YES
Baseball spends all year splintering itself; the All-Star Game is the one night when the haves and have-nots get together. Let's keep it that way, if only to remind everyone there are still teams in places like Minnesota and Montreal. We know talent is concentrated on a handful of oligarchic clubs, so no one needs a midsummer classic clogged with Braves and Yankees. That's what the World Series is for.

—Stephen Cannella

Or

NO
What a radical idea: pick the best players instead of treating this showcase as if it's an every-homeroom-gets-represented student council. The rule made an All-Star out of .272 hitter Tony Womack last year, while worthies such as Tony Clark and Trevor Hoffman have never suited up. Faux-stars in 1998 might include Edgar Renteria (above), when everyone knows "All-Star Marlin" is an oxymoron.

—Tom Verducci