MLB’s Owners Set To Allow Players To Participate In Olympics; MLBPA Wants Changes Before Going Further

These collective bargaining negotiations were set up to answer most of our questions on how MLB will handle the arrival of the Olympics in LA. Now, we have confirmation that owners are willing to allow their players to play in the Olympics. Both sides are still in early negociations over the Olympics, but the early pictures coming out are interesting.

The MLB made their proposal to the union that included a mandatory participation agreement into it. Any player who skips the Olympics and who were not selected to participate in the ASG, would be on the restricted list. They wouldn’t accumulate any service time or pay during July 10th to Aug 3rd.

The MLB also included if any player that participates in the ASG but declines the Olympics would be on the restricted list two days after the ASG. Players in either of these two scenarios could also face a fine from the league. Players that are on the injured list, and miss the Olympics would be exempt from hitting the restricted list but there’s a catch. Any player who skips the Olympics due to injury, would not be allowed to return till Aug 4th, or even start a rehab assignment. The MLB isn’t saying you can’t say no to the Olympics, but if you do, you won’t be returning till August. MLB says with these rules, they could prevent “any attempts to manipulate” the injury list. The league may also be more strict with players who might make the Olympics roster hitting the IL.

Any reason that isn’t due to injury would be up to Rob Manfred himself. MLB’s recent proposal allows Manfred to determine if there’s a safety, health or any other reason the player may need to miss the Olympics. MLB also mentioned that any player who skips the ASG but attends the Olympics, may be entitled to a suspension, a fine, or even ineligibility for the Olympics. These would not be able to be appealed according to the proposal. The MLBPA hasn’t responded to the MLB yet, and that they would respond once the players have a broader set on all the other issues at hand.

Currently the MLBPA is negotiating with LA28 (organizers of the Olympics) on a wide number of issues. The idea is that the MLBPA would like to have all these set in stone before they go further with the MLB. The list of things that need to be worked out are player accommodations, compensation for participation and how many tickets would be available for player’s guests attending the game. The MLBPA wants many of the same accommodations that the NHL players have set up. The negociations don’t only include the union and the league either. The International Olympic Committee, LA28 and The World Baseball Softball Confederation are all apart of this process.

Said Niccolò Campriani, LA28’s senior vice president of sport, in a statement: “As reflected in our exchanges, we are all working toward the shared goal of seeing the world’s best athletes representing their respective countries at the LA28 Games, and it’s great to see that enthusiasm coming from the athletes as well. Conversations continue to move in a positive direction, and we are confident in the process and optimistic about the path ahead.”

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