ARLINGTON, Texas — Now with four all-star games on his ledger and counting, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has developed a pretty good sense of how these things are supposed to go. A lot of events in trendy places, baseball decor all around, a nod to the game’s history, each infused with a tasteful dose of local inspiration, the derby, the game and boom — memories made, on to the next.
So, he can really envision what a Midsummer Classic in Toronto might look like and is pretty enthralled by the idea.
“I mean, it would be huge,” Guerrero said through interpreter Hector Lebron before the American League’s 5-3 victory over the National League. “Obviously, you’re going to have the fans on your side, the entire support from your fan base and Toronto would be very emotional. Very emotional.”
Efforts by the Blue Jays to make that happen continue, aiming to secure one of the two all-star games commissioner Rob Manfred plans to award before he retires as commissioner in January 2029. In February, he hinted that the Blue Jays and the Cubs are next in line but he was less committal Tuesday while speaking to members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, saying, “I am going to have to make a decision on a couple of more games,” and “we have some really strong applications from clubs, is the best word.”
“One of the things I have been clear about,” he added, “a significant factor should be when did you have a game last and you kind of know how that lineup looks.”
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Save for the Tampa Bay Rays, who have never hosted an all-star game and won’t until they’re out of the circus tent that is Tropicana Field, and the Oakland Athletics, who last hosted in 1987 and are headed for temporary lodging in problematic Sacramento while their-not-yet-secured home in Las Vegas is built, that puts the Cubs (1990) and the Blue Jays (1991) atop the queue.
With Atlanta hosting next year and Philadelphia set for 2026, that means 2027 is next up for grabs and taking Manfred in the most literal way possible, the lineup suggests Chicago and then Toronto.
Now, there’s a case to be made for reversing the order so the Blue Jays can celebrate 50 years since joining the American League with the all-star game, but indications are that 2028 is seen as likelier for the event’s third trip north of the border.
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Normally, the extra year wouldn’t necessarily be a big deal, but with the Olympics set for Los Angeles that summer, Cassey Wasserman, chair of LA 2028, is lobbying MLB owners to consider allowing players to participate in the Games.
There are a number of hurdles to clear first — Who qualifies? How many teams? How long is the season’s interruption? How will the money be split? Who’s covering insurance? Is the union down? But if they get settled and the all-star game is skipped to accommodate the Olympics, suddenly the Blue Jays are looking at 2029 at the earliest, the first year a new commissioner is potentially awarding the game.
Telling is that, logistical challenges and all, Manfred described an Olympics in Los Angeles as “an opportunity that we need to think about. And I should say this too. Doing my player rounds, there’s player interest on this topic. So that’s important.”
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Tony Clark, head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, said player feedback to this point is that “there is an interest in participating if given an opportunity,” making it, for the moment, “a conversation we’ll look to have.”
Guerrero said the Olympics wasn’t top of mind for him but added that “I would like to do that,” while Cleveland Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor was excited by the idea but worried about the application.
“Let’s say you’re in a playoff push, or your team’s just really hot in the moment and a few of the players leave, maybe it breaks the dynamic up a little bit and if you start losing games, you’re going to feel bad because you left,” said the native of Mississauga, Ont., who went 0-for-1 in his first all-star game. “Then again, you’re representing your country and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you never know if you get the chance again, so it’s a double-edged sword.”
Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who played for the American team in last year’s World Baseball Classic, similarly liked the theory but questioned the practice, saying the NHL’s experience with going to the Olympics wasn’t necessarily applicable.
“Baseball is different than hockey because pitchers have got to stay throwing,” he said. “That’s the equalizer, pitchers and keeping them healthy.”
All of that potentially makes the Blue Jays’ path to their second all-star game a little bumpier, not that 2027 is guaranteed to be a smooth ride.
The current collective bargaining agreement expires in 2026 and while the sides walked back from the brink of missing games in the spring of 2022, the final negotiation of Manfred’s tenure will carry legacy stakes and could become even fiercer.
As always, the game ends up carrying the day.
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The 94th edition of the all-star game was a banner advertisement for all that’s good in the game. Paul Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates phenom drafted first overall a year ago, worked around a walk in a dominant first starting for the National League.
Trea Turner ranged to his left and made a diving stab on a Guerrero grounder up the middle and flipped to second for an impressive fielder’s choice. “When I hit it I knew he was going to catch it,” the Blue Jays first baseman, who finished 0-for-2, said admiringly.
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani crushed a hanging splitter from Tanner Houck to open up a 3-0 lead in the third.
A two-run double by Juan Soto and David Fry RBI single tied it up in the bottom half and Jarren Duran’s two-run homer off Hunter Greene in the fifth delivered the winning margin and earned him MVP honours.
In one miserable fifth-inning at-bat, Mason Miller threw pitches at 101.9, 102.3, 102.4, 103 and 103.6 m.p.h. to Turner, who took a third-strike slider at 88.4 m.p.h.
Pitchers ruled the final three-and-a-half innings, fitting for this elite reliever era.
All told, Texas put on a good show, the type Toronto plans to put on when its turn finally comes.
