ATLANTA — Major League Baseball’s rosters are littered with talent from all over the globe. In 2028, many of those players might find themselves competing with each other for the ultimate international prize: an Olympic gold medal.
Major League Baseball officials met with representatives of LA28 on Monday, as Commissioner Rob Manfred said the league is “trying to iron through those logistics” that would allow Major Leaguers to suit up for the first time ever in a Summer Olympics. A lot still has to happen to make it a reality, but the interest is there from both the league and its players.
“I think that the idea of playing in L.A. in ’28, regardless of the merits of the possibility of ongoing Olympic participation in another location, that there’s some merit to it,” Manfred said Tuesday during a Q&A session with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. “I think it is an opportunity to market the game on a really global stage.”
Manfred said Olympic organizers are also meeting with the MLB Players Association to discuss the possibility of big league players participating in the L.A. Games. During his session with the BBWAA Tuesday, MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said of the idea, “Players are interested.”
MLB will have to have conversations with the MLBPA to make the Olympic dream a reality for its players, but Manfred said “that process continues forward in a positive way.”
“We do know players are interested in playing, whether it’s for Team USA or for any number of other teams around the world,” Clark said. “We’ve got the WBC, which players are telling us they’re interested in playing in, as well. There’s just a lot of conversation that needs to be had sooner rather than later to see how viable this is, but we’re hopeful that we can figure out a way to do it.”
The effects on the 2028 MLB schedule figure to be the biggest logistical factor. It was announced Monday that the Olympics baseball tournament would be played from July 15-20 at Dodger Stadium. That falls around the time MLB typically holds its All-Star festivities, though Manfred indicated that even if MLB players participate in the Olympics, the calendar would allow for the league to hold an All-Star Game, as well.
“It is possible to play the All-Star Game in its normal spot, have a single break that would be longer, obviously, but still play 162 games without bleeding into the middle of November,” Manfred said. “That is possible. It would require significant accommodations, but it’s possible.”
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