Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred discussed the re-introduction of baseball into the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and whether big leaguers should be eligible to compete during a Q&A session on Tuesday.
Baseball will officially return to the Olympic Games in 2028 after being removed during the 2024 Paris Olympics due to concerns regarding MLB players’ schedules.
Summer Olympic games have included baseball in various years, with the first inclusion of the sport being in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic games after years of consideration.
The most recent gold medal winner was Japan during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, defeating the U.S.A. 2-0 in the gold medal match to officially be crowned the champions.
However, MLB players were barred from competing in the 2020 Olympics, meaning that Team USA included just prospects who had not been called up to the major league.
Now, this regulation preventing MLB players from being allowed on the team could seemingly change before the 2028 Olympics.
Casey Wasserman, the 2028 LA Olympics chairman, was invited by Manfred to give a presentation to owners about his vision for having MLB players compete during the Olympics, Manfred said at the annual All-Star Q&A in Arlington.
Manfred said the presentation was “very persuasive” and that he will “remain open-minded on that topic” moving forward, per MLB.com.
Tony Clark is the executive director of the MLB Players Association and said many players have already expressed interest in competing, noting that discussions about the topic are far from over.
“Obviously, the Olympics is something that, as a youngster, regardless of sport, you watch on TV and you aspire to participate in it,” he said, per MLB.com.
“The feedback that we’ve gotten so far from players is such that there is an interest in participating if given an opportunity. So we expect at least as of right now, based on the feedback that we’ve gotten, that it will be a conversation we’ll look to have.”
Although talks regarding the Olympics have shown promise so far, there are still logistics to figure out with the league due to the scheduling.
The Summer Olympics have historically occurred between the middle of July and the start of August, which coincides closely with the halfway point and All-Star break of the MLB season.
As a result, the league would likely have to determine whether it would push back the return date from the All-Star Week festivities and grant an extended break for players not competing in the Olympics, or if league play would continue with those competing being excused from regular season games.
Regardless, Manfred said in February that he loves the “combination of nationalism and sport” and has plans to continue evaluating solutions that would allow players to compete.
“I think the pros are just the potential for association between two great brands … the opportunity to make a splash and attract the kind of attention that would be associated with a team — it would eventually be multiple teams, I suspect — of the best players in Major League Baseball in a short tournament like that,” he explained, per MLB.com.
These discussions will likely begin to ramp up in the coming months following the conclusion of both the 2024 MLB All-Star Break and the Paris Olympics, which are set to begin with the opening ceremony on July 26.
