MLB All Star Game

The Home Run Derby takes center stage Monday night, as the top sluggers in both leagues will try to outdo one another in numbers and distance in front of a raucous crowd at Petco Park and a national TV audience.

The first half of the 2016 season wrapped up Sunday, and MLB's elite are now converging on San Diego, California, for Tuesday's Midsummer Classic.

The San Diego Padres are hosting the event for the first time since 1992, when 2016 Hall of Fame inductee Ken Griffey Jr. was the MVP.

This year's event has an odd twist to it, as the American League will be the home team despite the game taking place in a National League park.

Lineups for the 2016 MLB All-Star Game in San Diego were revealed at a press conference Monday afternoon in Southern California, and San Francisco Giants hurler Johnny Cueto and Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale were tabbed as the starting pitchers for this year's Midsummer Classic, per Bleacher Report's Scott Miller. 

The first half of Major League Baseball's 2016 season wrapped up Sunday, and the game's top performers are now on their way to San Diego, California, for the 2016 MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday.

The Midsummer Classic's festivities kick off Monday, highlighted by the Home Run Derby, which will air at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

The duty of making up the All-Star lineups is left to American League manager Ned Yost of the Kansas City Royals and National League manager Terry Collins of the New York Mets.

It's one of many jobs both men have in the All-Star Game. The two 2015 World Series managers want to knit together the best lineups possible, work nearly every reserve into the game and find a way to win the contest for their respective leagues.

An American League player has won the MLB Home Run Derby in five of the past six years, but Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is the +300 betting favorite (wager $100 to win $300) for Monday’s event at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark. Stanton has 20 home runs heading into the break.

"The fans did a good job" isn't a phrase most would expect to hear in regard to the Midsummer Classic, but a glance at the MLB All-Star rosters makes it hard to disagree.

There will always be snubs, but for the most part, the best of the best will make the trip to San Diego this week for the epic event. It promises to entertain not only because of the names involved and the action on the field, but because of the chess-like moves and decisions that managers must make.

The rosters are set, and the 2016 MLB All-Star Game is a mere three days away.

While the idea that home-field advantage for the World Series is decided in an exhibition game still rankles some baseball fans, the Midsummer Classic remains one of the biggest days on the MLB calendar.

Changes keep coming to the 2016 All-Star Game, with Toronto Blue Jays starter Aaron Sanchez replacing injured Boston Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel on the American League squad.  

At least this game doesn't count.

Using the MLB All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game as some sort of tiebreaker wouldn't be much sillier than the All-Star Game determining home-field advantage for the World Series. Luckily this is not yet the case, so viewers can instead laugh at famous people embarrassing themselves while wondering which legends would still represent an upgrade for the Atlanta Braves.