TAMPA, Fla. – Rob Manfred seemed to position the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs as prime candidates to host the final two all-star games he expects to award before he retires as commissioner.
Texas this summer, Atlanta next and Philadelphia in 2026 are the three sites currently in place and Manfred, fielding questions from media during Major League Baseball’s Grapefruit League media day Thursday, said he’ll hand out the contests for 2027 and 2028 prior to his term ending.
Beyond that, “I really would prefer to give whoever succeeds me the opportunity to award games,” he added.
The Blue Jays have hosted the all-star game once, back in 1991, with the Cubs last hosting the game in 1990. Manfred said there is no formal queue, but “I am strongly influenced by two things.”
“One, when did you last have a game? Toronto stacks up pretty well on that variable. I think Chicago is older,” he continued. “And two, the city. Our all-star, what’s become most of the week, we need certain facilities and certain types of support … and the city being willing to step up on those issues is the other big variable.”
The Blue Jays have been pushing to host an all-star game for a couple of years now and a glimpse of what could be in the city came earlier this month when Toronto hosted the NHL’s version of the contest.
Manfred said Thursday that he plans to retire once his current deal expires in January 2029, quipping that “you can only have so much fun in one lifetime.”
He succeeded Bud Selig in 2015 and expects the process in selecting his successor “to look like it looked the last time. There’ll be a committee of owners that’ll be put together and they’ll identify candidates, an interview process and ultimately someone or a slate of people will be put forward.”
