ARLINGTON, Texas — Rob Manfred cautioned that there are issues to work out, but he acknowledged there is a “viable possibility” that Major League Baseball will add an automated system to help umpires determine balls and strikes beginning in 2026.
The commissioner, speaking from the Live! Hotel nearby Globe Life Field during All-Star week, said the competition committee that votes on rules changes likely would not greenlight the system without testing it out first during spring training.
There is a chance, then, that the system is implemented next spring. If all goes well, it could be fully embraced by the start of the 2026 season.
“But is that going to be the year?” Manfred said before Tuesday’s All-Star Game. “I’m not going to be flat-footed on that issue.”
The Automatic Ball-Strike challenge system has been used at the Triple-A level since 2022. In the system, human umpires still determine the calls, but teams have a limited number of challenges they can use to appeal those calls. When challenged, high-speed cameras that capture the location of each pitch determine whether the call is upheld or overturned.
Both Manfred and Players Association executive director Tony Clark said players have preferred the ABS challenge system, which blends the human element with the technology, rather than a full acceptance of a robo-ump.
Manfred said that while the technology “is good to a hundredth of an inch,” there have been hiccups in determining the strike zone itself.
“We do have technical issues surrounding the definition of the strike zone that still needs to be worked out,” Manfred said.
The league overhauled its rules ahead of the 2023 season, most notably with the advent of a pitch clock, and received plenty of backlash concerning the abruptness of the on-field adjustments.
Manfred would like to take more time with this alteration.
“One thing we learned with the changes last year is a little more time is better than not enough time,” he said. “I mean that in terms of making sure that when you bring something to the big leagues, you got to make sure you got it right.”
The league and its players are open to the possibility of participating in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Baseball will be played at the 2028 games with or without major leaguers after the sport was re-added to the Olympics in 2021, when MLB only allowed players who were not on 40-man rosters to participate.
Casey Wasserman, a prominent agent and the chairman of the LA’s Summer Olympic Games, has met with owners to sell them on the idea.
“We’re talking about what can be done — what exactly would it look like?” Manfred said. “What are the compromises that we would have to make in terms of our season? I remain open-minded on that topic.”
It is possible that the Games take the place of the All-Star break.
“The feedback that we’ve gotten so far from players is such that there is an interest in participating if given an opportunity,” Clark said.
Amid plenty of criticism from fans and players about the jerseys worn during the All-Star Game, Manfred said the league will discuss returning to players wearing their own teams’ jerseys next season.
“I’m aware of the sentiment on this issue,” Manfred said. “It’s something we’re going to have conversation about coming out of the All-Star Game. … Obviously the conversations have to involve the players first and foremost, but Nike, some of our partners.
“But I am aware of the sentiment and I do know why people kind of like that tradition.”
Both MLB and the union praised last month’s game at Rickwood Field, the oldest professional ballpark in the country and the former home of the Negro Leagues’ Birmingham Black Barons.
Clark and Manfred were in agreement that the league should return, in some capacity, to Alabama in future seasons.
“Having an event and then disappearing is not what we should be doing,” Clark said.
“I think we are going to do something more in Birmingham,” Manfred said.“We’re going to try to have some sort of a continuation there. The exact role there we have not settled.”
Manfred was asked about awarding the All-Star Game to the Rangers, the one team that does not hold a Pride Night to celebrate LGBTQ+ communities.
“There are a whole host of factors that go into deciding who’s going to get an All-Star Game, and I don’t view whether you have a Pride Night or not as an outcome-determinative issue,” he said. “It’s an issue. We look at all those issues and make the best decision and try to give it to the place that we think is going to kind of be the best in terms of marketing the game.
“I think it’s really important to remember here [at Globe Life Field], there’s a massive public investment in terms of creating a great new facility.”
Clark survived what has been described as an attempted coup in March, when he fought with minor league organizer Harry Marino over control of the union.
Clark said the Players Association has “a good clubhouse,” and even if there can be disagreements, he feels the group is united.
He also welcomes all challengers.
“I don’t lose any sleep on being challenged. I’m 6-[feet]-7 … broad shoulders,” Clark said. “No, that doesn’t faze me. What will always factor in is ensuring that our players have an opportunity to voice their concerns.”
