MLB wants stiff penalties for players who skip 2028 Olympics

Field Level Media

Major League Baseball players who decline to participate in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles without an approved excuse could face a lengthy league suspension, multiple outlets reported.

Such players would be placed on a restricted list — without earning pay or service time — from as early as July 10 through Aug. 3, 2028, according to a copy of the MLB proposal reviewed by The Athletic. That’s a 25-day span.

Placement on the injured list would count as an approved excuse, and those players would receive salary and service time. However, they would not be allowed to return to regular-season action until after Aug. 3.

MLB Player Association head Bruce Meyer called the league’s proposal “extreme.”

Commissioner Rob Manfred countered Tuesday that the 2028 Summer Games are “a unique opportunity to market the  sport with our very, very best players.”

“It is a disruptive undertaking for us,” Manfred said. “Put money to one side. You’re disrupting an entire season, and if we’re going to undertake that effort, we want our very best out there so that people see how great our game really is.”

The participation of MLB players in the L.A. Games is still being hammered out between the MLB, MLBPA, the LA28 organizing committee, the International Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation.

According to Front Office Sports, the unresolved issues include player accommodations, insurance and tickets.

The baseball portion of the 2028 Olympics — consisting of the United States, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and three countries determined by upcoming qualifiers — is scheduled for July 13-19. The first half of the MLB regular season would wrap up on July 9, with the All-Star Game on July 11 and the regular season resuming on July 21.