Major League Baseball (MLB) commissioner Rob Manfred is feeling more confident about MLB players competing at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, although he said significant scheduling challenges remain to be resolved.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday ahead of Game Two of the World Series in Toronto, Manfred said progress has been made after meeting with LA28 officials.
MLB did not allow players on 40-man rosters at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, when Nippon Professional Baseball interrupted its season and Japan beat the US 2-0 in the gold medal game.
Photo: AP
MLB has discussed creating an extended All-Star break to allow participation in the 2028 Games, to be held from July 14 to July 30. An agreement with the players’ association is necessary, and sponsor deals could be impacted.
“I am positive about it. I think that the owners have kind of crossed the line in terms of, we’d like to do it if we can possibly make it work,” Manfred said on Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series. “There are logistical issues that still need to be worked on.”
At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the baseball tournament took place over 11 days, including a four-day group stage followed by knockout rounds and culminating in gold and bronze medal games.
Baseball at the LA Games is likely to have a more compressed format.
“We have made a lot of progress with LA 2028 in terms of the calendar,” Manfred said. “Right now we’re in discussions with the players’ association about that set of issues.”
Participation in 2028 is likely to be a one-off. The 2032 Olympics are scheduled for Brisbane, Australia.
“The logistics of LA, as evidenced by how long we’ve been talking about it, are difficult,” Manfred said. “The chances that we’re playing in Brisbane — difficult, right? Even way more difficult than being in LA.”
There has been a focus on postseason payroll disparity and whether a second straight World Series championship for the Los Angeles Dodgers would increase the likelihood of management proposing a salary cap in talks for a labor contract to succeed the current deal with players, which expires next year.
Los Angeles entered as baseball’s top spender this year, projected at US$509 million in payroll and luxury tax, more than seven times the US$69 million of the major league-low Miami Marlins. The Blue Jays are No. 5 at US$266 million.
No small-market team has won the title since the 2015 Kansas City Royals.
“I don’t think who wins this World Series is any more relevant than who won the last five or six,” Manfred said.
Manfred said MLB is moving “as fast as we can” in investigations that led to Cleveland pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz being placed on paid leave.
Ortiz did not pitch after June 27 and Clase after July 26 as part of an MLB probe into sports betting.
“Obviously, our No. 1 priority is to protect the integrity of the game. We think we have great systems in place that allow us to do that,” Manfred said. “We’ve worked really hard to provide resources to players to make sure that they are comfortable and have an outlet when they have a problem with respect to issues related to sports betting.”
The head coach of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers and a player for the Miami Heat were arrested on Thursday, along with more than 30 other people in a US federal gambling investigation.
“The most important thing that we can do is make sure that we have systems in place that give us access to data, which puts you in a position to determine if there’s something aberrational going on,” Manfred said. “When you get that, you need to conduct a thorough investigation, make sure that you understand exactly what caused that aberration, and then you need to discipline.”
The LA Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani has helped his team reach the World Series in consecutive years, sparking record viewership in Japan.
“Shohei, it just absolutely has been the greatest benefit to the game that you can imagine throughout the year. In the LCS [League Championship Series], he had probably the greatest game of all time, and we’re fortunate to have him here in the World Series,” Manfred said.
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