On the All-Star game

Is there anything in sports more ridiculous than the current state of the MLB All-Star game?  I just don't know what to think any more.  When MLB announced that the players would get to help fill in the reserves, I thought it was a good idea.  I mean, that way Joe Torre couldn't put 50 Yankees on the roster every year.  But after this year, I'm just not sure.  I mean, Jason Varitek?  Jason ".220/.300/.360" Varitek?  If it were just an exhibition game, I wouldn't care.  I mean, boo-hoo, some millionaire has to go on vacation for a few days rather than play ball.  But since Bud Selig* completely overreacted to the tie game a few years ago and decreed that there should be stakes for the all-star game, it actually makes a little bit of a difference.  As I have yet to hear any idea that would actually work to fix the selection process, I think the only option is to turn it back into a true exhibition game, with no lasting consequences.  Thoughts?

*All in all, I think Selig has been a very successful commissioner.  While there are still a few people that bitch, I don't think there is any way you can honestly say that the Wild Card has been anything but good for baseball.  It may not be quite as clear cut, but I think that interleague play has also been good for the game.  The high stakes all-star game though?  Not so much.