Preview/Prediction

The 2016 baseball season is headed for its All-Star break, which means it's time for one of the great summertime traditions in the form of the Home Run Derby. 

One big part of Major League Baseball's annual All-Star festivities is the All-Star Celebrity Softball Game, featuring some of the biggest stars in pop culture and baseball legends teaming up for bragging rights. 

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.

The Home Run Derby has become a staple of the All-Star festivities since it was first introduced in 1985, and Major League Baseball seems determined to keep improving the competition.

Eight players will take part in this year's event, and they are seeded based on the number of home runs they have hit to this point in the season. Ties are broken by giving the edge to the players who have hit the most home runs since June 1.

The upcoming MLB All-Star break freezes the standings, forcing organizations to spend the reprieve deliberating their status before the trade deadline.

For just this year, general managers get an extra day with the non-waiver deadline pushed to August 1. Action won't accelerate until later in July, but everyone can get a feel for who's buying, who's selling and which players will frequent the conversations.

Last year's Home Run Derby format changes breathed new life into a tradition that had been gradually growing stale.

In hopes of speeding up the exhibition event, MLB introduced a single-elimination, eight-person bracket with timed rounds instead of outs. Since every blast isn't equal, batters also earned bonus time based on distance traveled.

While the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game are still the main attractions of MLB's All-Star Weekend, the Futures Game has continued to grow in popularity in recent years.

The annual prospect showcase gives fans a chance to see some of the game's future stars in action on the big stage, as minor league representatives from all 30 MLB teams square off in a World Team vs. U.S. Team format.

This year's game will be played on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET at Petco Park in San Diego.

While the outcome of the MLB All-Star Game matters, the Celebrity Softball Game is nothing but fun for the players and fans.

Actors, models, musicians and more will try to show just how athletic they really are, competing alongside Hall of Famers and former All-Stars. Of course, Jennie Finch will probably embarrass all of them anyway.

Prior to Tuesday's 2016 MLB All-Star Game, a red-carpet parade through the streets of San Diego will take place so fans can flock to see the biggest names in baseball in the event they aren't attending the Midsummer Classic.

Beginning at 4 p.m. ET and 1 p.m. PT, the parade will go from the Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel all the way to the game's venue and home of the Padres, Petco Park. It can be viewed through live stream on MLB.com and on TV at MLB Network.

The criticism about the MLB All-Star Game providing the winning league home-field advantage in the World Series has some merit. The advent of interleague play would provide the perfect opportunity to give the league that has the better record the edge of playing the seventh game of the World Series at home, and it would probably be a better way to make the determination.