The All-Star Break is ending, and you know what that means: Time for the lauded local newspaper tradition of grading every player on the Mets and Yankees. We had some fun with this hobby on the show today, but we’d like to further emphasize how ridiculous the concept is.

The Daily News gave Fernando Tatis an A — the only Met to earn the distinction in Adam Rubin’s book — but Carlos Beltran, David Wright and Johan Santana got B’s. The Post gave perfect GPAs to Tatis and Damion Easley, but gave Beltran a B-minus. The Post hasn’t released its Yankee grades yet, but the News gave Alex Rodriguez — probably the best player in baseball — a B.

We don’t get it. If we’re grading these guys against their preseason expectations, maybe that makes sense. But if we’re grading them as baseball players, someone should consult the provost’s office. Sure, we’re all really proud of how hard Fernando Tatis has worked to produce his .292 average and .323 on-base percentage, but does that really make him a better or more valuable baseball player than A-Rod?

Didn’t these people ever go to high school? Sure, there were plenty of kids who worked hard and got decent grades, but what about the kids who coasted along on natural ability and still got good marks? Why punish a student for not living up to his endless potential when the papers he’s turning in are still way better than the nonsense Damion Easley is writing? Maybe A-Rod showed up late to class and left his pencil at his really old girlfriend’s house, but he still aced the test.

Fernando Tatis can study all he wants, but he’s got to understand that he’s not getting into the same Ivy League colleges that Carlos Beltran will on SAT scores alone.

And if that isn’t enough to show how dumb this whole idea is, consider this: The News gave Argenis Reyes a B — same as Santana, Wright, A-Rod, Giambi and Jose Reyes. The kid has only been to class nine times.