Baseball at LA28

If the acrimony between the MLBPA and the owners wasn't already prevalent, it was made even more obvious during the All*Star Break.  Rob Manfred gave a press conference that didn't exactly inspire confidence.  In addition to talking about the owners' insistence that the sport "needs" a salary cap (which it doesn't), he also discussed MLB participation in the 2028 Olympic tournament at Dodger Stadium, a topic that should be a home run after the success of the World Baseball Classic.  Instead, it's yet another issue where the owners and players are very far apart.

Some of the information Manfred provided about Olympic baseball was useful.  The tournament starts on Thursday, July 13, the day before the Opening Ceremony, with the gold medal game on Wednesday, July 19.  To accommodate Major League players participating, they'd have the All*Star Game somewhere else on the West Coast (San Francisco would seem like the logical choice) and extend the All*Star Break.  The season would resume on Friday, July 21 instead of Friday, July 14 (the day of the Opening Ceremony), and the first week of the season would be moved up so that the World Series still ends at the same time.  That and the fact that they want to figure out a way for MLB players to take part are the only details both sides can agree on.

Three teams have already qualified for the Olympics.  Venezuela and the Dominican Republic qualified based on their WBC performance, and they'll join the host United States.  Two of the remaining three spots will be filled at next year's WBSC Premier 12, then a final qualifying tournament in March 2028 will determine the last team.  Japan is widely expected to claim one of those last three places.  And that would be a fourth nation that could fill its roster with Major Leaguers (Los Angeles Dodgers, in particular).

While there are pros and cons to the idea Major Leaguers playing in the LA 28 baseball tournament, it's easy to see the appeal for all interested parties.  Players like Bryce Harper have long been advocates of Olympic participation.  The opportunity to do that at Dodger Stadium (a place they're all familiar with) would be the icing on the cake.  Likewise, LA28 organizers and the IOC love the idea of a sold out Dodger Stadium for a week.  And the owners will love all the positive publicity Olympic participation would generate, even if it means putting the season on hold for 10 days.

They're riding the high of both the WBC and the Olympic hockey tournament (and, to a lesser extent, the World Cup) and see the potential of the Olympic baseball tournament doing the same.  The owners are specifically looking at the hockey tournament, which saw NHL players return to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years and the United States win gold.  That Olympic return came with certain considerations that the IOC and IIHF made to accommodate the NHL and NHLPA.  Without those accommodations, the NHL might not have returned to the Olympics in Milan.

It's worth noting that the deal between the NHL and IOC/IIHF wasn't finalized until very late.  For Major League Baseball, there are so many logistics involved that everything will need to be locked in much further in advance.  The schedule comes out in August, so they'd probably have to decide one way or the other by next year's All*Star Break (if there is one) at the absolute latest.  For one, they need select a site for the 2028 All*Star Game.  So, you'd better believe 2028 Olympic participation will be one of the topics discussed during the CBA negotiations.

And the details of Olympic participation is one of the areas where the players and owners are very far apart.  The players are looking for simple things that were a part of the NHLPA's agreement.  Mostly economic issues.  Hotel rooms and the ability to purchase tickets for their families are their primary concerns, along with the same insurance question they have in the WBC and Olympic hockey.  However, the players are vehemently opposed to the owners' mandatory play requirement regarding LA28.  And that, more than anything else, could be the deal breaker.

The owners want to guarantee that, if they're going to shut down the season for 10 days to accommodate the Olympics, the players will definitely be there.  One way they seek to do that is requiring their participation or facing stiff penalties if they don't.  That includes potentially being placed on the restricted list and/or suspended or fined.  While the players, by in large, have made it known they want to play, they're balking at idea that they should be required to play.  Which is the heart of the disagreement.

Under the owners' proposal, Olympic participation would be mandatory (assuming a player is selected to his national team).  Any players running afoul of that requirement would be placed on the restricted list from July 12-August 3.  That means they wouldn't be paid or get credit for service time during those three weeks.  In addition, the Commissioner would have the ability to "discipline with just cause" with a "fine and/or unpaid suspension."  The players are obviously opposed to both of these ideas.  With good reason.

Here's the kicker: the players want to participate.  Kyle Schwarber summed it up best, "You want to make that team."  They're simply opposed to the idea of not being given a choice in the matter.  They also want to have fair treatment that aligns with the value they'll bring to the LA28 Games, especially for non-athlete stakeholders.  The players also want to make sure they don't lose money by participating.  But reaching an agreement with LA28 is only half the battle.  An agreement needs to be reached with the owners, too.  And that's the big issue.

In the owners' eyes, meanwhile, mandatory participation isn't seen as particularly unreasonable.  Especially since the players would otherwise be with their teams in mid-July.  In their view, if they're shutting down the season for the Olympics, they want to make sure they showcase the absolute best the sport has to offer (much like the NHL).  They want to avoid the opt-outs that we've seen at the All*Star Game and in the WBC (remember in the first few editions of the WBC when owners didn't want their players, especially pitchers, going, and sometimes outright forbade it?  Boy, how times have changed!).

Of course, when a player opts out of the All*Star Game or WBC, there's usually a valid reason.  With the All*Star Game, it's either because of an injury (or injury concern) or a starting pitcher who pitched on Sunday and wouldn't be available anyway.  (And how many of those Sunday starters show up and participate in the All*Star festivities anyway?  Most of them.)  With the WBC, it's a little more complicated, but that generally comes down to insurance issues, injury (including rehab) and changing teams.

For the Olympics, there probably wouldn't be many opt-outs, if any.  Those rosters would potentially be even more stacked than the loaded teams we saw at the WBC.  Especially since, as important as the WBC has become, the pinnacle of national team competition in any sport (with the exception of soccer) is the Olympics.  Even if there are a few opt-outs, there will still be more players available than roster spots for each of the six teams in the field.  So, a mandatory requirement shouldn't even be necessary.  And, if a player can't or doesn't want to play in the Olympics, for whatever reason, they shouldn't be penalized for it.

Figuring out Olympic baseball in 2028 shouldn't have been hard.  The players want to do it, the owners want them there, and so do the IOC, the WBSC and LA28.  Yet, it looks like they might find a way to screw it up anyway.  Which isn't the most encouraging sign for the upcoming CBA negotiations.