2011 MLB All-Star Game: It Is Time We Get Rid of Every Team Having 1 All-Star

The 2011 MLB All-Star Game is set for July 12 at Chase Field in Arizona, and once again, every major league team will be represented by at least one player in the midsummer classic.

This is a terrible rule.

There is no way players from the Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles or any other bottom feeding team should be allowed to compete in a game that decides which league gets home-field advantage in the World Series.

I love that the All-Star game decides home field for the Fall Classic. It makes the game more exciting and forces players to try just as hard as they would in a real game.

In fact, the home-field battle makes the MLB All-Star Game the only All-Star game in sports where there is something significant to play for.

Out of last 11 teams with home-field advantage in the World Series, dating back to the 2000 Series between the Yankees and Mets, eight won the championship.

But not every team is going to make the playoffs or even contend for a playoff spot by September, so why should the bad teams be represented?

Too often, players who are quite deserving, like New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia this season, get omitted from the All-Star roster because the Baltimore Orioles need a representative.

Why should any player from the Orioles play over Sabathia, who is a top-five pitcher in baseball and the ace of the AL East division-leading Yankees?

It's preposterous that more people in the media don't complain about this rule. 

I understand that having players on bad teams in the All-Star game increases the chances that fans of those teams tune into the game when they normally wound't if there team had no player in the game, but is that enough of a reason for this rule?

Should a small increase in potential television viewers warrant having every team represented? Absolutely not.

Baseball has nothing to compete with in July. There is no NFL preseason games yet, there are no Summer Olympics on the horizon and there are no major free-agent storylines in the NBA like last summer.

Even casual sports fans who don't care about baseball will likely watch at least the last few innings.

To be fair, most of these snubs from good teams eventually get in because many players decide not to play in the game due to injuries and such, but that's like a slap in the face to a player that should have already been on the roster.

I'm not saying that bad teams don't deserve All-Stars, if they are having All-Star worthy seasons, have them added to the reserves.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are having a good season, but likely won't contend for the playoffs. Their star outfielder Andrew McCutchen is having an amazing season and is one of the league's bright young and exciting players, yet he was snubbed because every team has to have a representative.

The Pirates rep is pitcher Joel Hanrahan.

But McCuthcen isn't the only snub who has a strong case for inclusion on the All-Star roster. Like Sabathia, fellow Yankee Mark Teixeira was also left off the team.

Tex has 25 home runs and 65 runs batted in so far this season, while All-Star reserve selections Asdrubal Cabrera has 14 home runs and 49 runs batted in, and Miguel Cabrera has 18 home runs and 58 runs batted in.

Texas Rangers DH Michael Young was selected to the infielder reserve spot for the AL squad, and he only has seven home runs and 58 runs batted in.

Given the choice between these four players, there is no question I'd take Teixeira over all of them, plus his stats are better.

Baseball has the best All-Star game by far, and the only one where there is actually something important for the players to play for.

But having every team, including the bad ones, represented by one player waters down the experience and makes guys who are far more deserving watch the game at home.

The guys who are more deserving, who are usually from contending teams, actually have a good shot at playing in the World Series in October, but they won't get an opportunity to help their league win home-field advantage for it.

Nicholas Goss is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report, and is currently a senior at Suffolk University in Boston. Follow him on Twitter for sports news and analysis.