MLB players vs. minor leaguers? Olympic participation could create new showcase event in 2028
MIAMI — Major League Baseball’s efforts to bring big leaguers to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles could produce a new sideshow for the sport: midseason exhibition games for the players who do not become Olympians.
It’s not a done deal yet, but the league office and the players union are both optimistic that, for the first time, a full slate of MLB players will be able to go to the Olympics in 2028. That would create an extended All-Star Break and enough downtime that players and clubs might want some action waiting for the regular season to restart. One possibility? Having major-league players compete against minor leaguers.
“That’s one of the ideas that’s been floated,” Bruce Meyer, the interim head of the players association, said Sunday evening at loanDepot Park. “In terms of other ideas at this point, it’s premature.”
The 2028 All-Star Game will likely be held on Tuesday, July 11, in a West Coast city that has yet to be chosen. San Francisco is a logical front-runner for its proximity to L.A. and the fact that the city hasn’t hosted since 2007. The preliminary schedule released by the L.A. Olympics’ organizing committee had baseball scheduled from July 15-20. That would mean there would likely be no MLB games from July 10-21; the All-Star break normally is three days.
Whether exhibitions are played is one of many issues subject to negotiation between players and owners.
“Transportation, security, lodging, insurance,” Meyer said. “But I don’t have any reason to believe that that’s going to end up being an impediment.”
Meyer spoke to reporters prior to a semifinal game in the World Baseball Classic, a matchup between the U.S. and the Dominican Republic that features two of the greatest lineups pitted against each other in any baseball setting.
“The WBC is fantastic,” Meyer said. “The fan engagement has been terrific. I mean, that’s obvious. It’s great, great baseball, great players. It’s a great thing for the sport, and it’s been a tremendous success. The players that I’ve spoken to are thrilled to be here, thrilled to be representing their countries, having a good time, and so it’s a great thing for the league.”
LoanDepot Park, the regular home of the Miami Marlins, is hosting the finals for a second straight iteration of the tournament. The ballpark has been lively and filled with fans during the tournament, a departure from the usual order of business during Marlins games.
The Marlins are perennially one of the lowest spending teams in baseball, something that irks the union.
“In this market, in Miami, you can see the fan interest in baseball, which unfortunately, you know, is perhaps not maximized by the franchise here,” Meyer said. “But the fans have been great. I was in Houston for a few games. The attendance and the fans there were also fantastic. So it’s been a great thing.”
Three of the six slots in the 2028 Olympics baseball field have already been set: the U.S., as the host nation, has a bid, and both the Dominican Republic and Venezuela earned spots through their performances in the WBC. The other three spots will be determined by subsequent international tournaments.
The league’s negotiations with players over the Los Angeles games need not be folded into the overall collective bargaining that the parties are expected to start in April, ahead of the current collective bargaining agreement’s expiration in December. A lockout is expected to begin in December.
“Theoretically, it can be done any time,” Meyer said. “Doesn’t have to be at the same time as everything else is negotiated. It’s been on kind of a separate track, the discussions that we’ve had to date with the league, so it could be discussed in the course of bargaining, but it doesn’t have to be tied to bargaining.”
The Olympics deal could even be worked out before the conclusion of regular bargaining, “which is likely to not be until over a year from now,” Meyer said.
During the 2021-22 CBA negotiations, the lockout ended in March.
There’s at least a small chance that players and owners wind up in a bitter labor fight over the sport’s economic structure. Owners want a salary cap, while players don’t. In a worst-case scenario, a full season or more of time is missed. Meyer said that a lockout that costs games in 2027 could interfere with the Olympic effort.
“If we don’t have a season, we’re not going to play in the Olympics,” Meyer noted. “If we’re in a situation where games are being missed in ’27, that could have an impact on playing the Olympics.”
