Major League Baseball wants to suspend players for three weeks if they are selected for the 2028 Olympic team but decline to play without approval from the league.
The proposed measure is just the latest among several proposals that MLB owners have presented to the players in negotiations for the next collective bargaining agreement.
According to a copy of the proposal, reviewed by The Athletic, players who opt not to participate in the 2028 Olympic Summer Games and are not excused would be placed on the restricted list without compensation or service time.
“It is a disruptive undertaking for us,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said on Tuesday. “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 Major League Baseball Players Association called the proposal ‘extreme’
The baseball portion of the 2028 Summer Olympic Games is currently scheduled to run from July 13-19, 2028. If the two sides reach an agreement, it would be the first time Major League Baseball has ever shut down and allowed its players to participate.
According to The Athletic, MLB’s proposal states that a player who chooses not to play in the Olympics and was not “elected or selected to participate” in the All-Star Game would be placed on the restricted list for 25 days, starting on July 10, the first day of a lengthy midseason break, and ending on August 3.
Additionally, the league will place a player who declines to attend the Olympics after “participating” in the All-Star Game on July 11 on the restricted list beginning on July 12, the day following the All-Star Game.
Also, according to the proposal, if a chosen player is on an injury list in the majors or minors as of July 9 and does not participate in the Olympics, they cannot return to regular-season play or begin a rehab assignment until Aug. 4 “irrespective of the injured player’s status or readiness to play.”