On Monday evening, Scioscia will lead the USA against Nicaragua in Port St. Lucie. In the following two days, the US will also play against two baseball strongholds: the Dominican Republic, whose roster includes former all-stars Jose Bautista and Melky Cabrera and top outfield contender Julio Rodriguez from the Seattle Mariners, and Puerto Rico .
Team USA’s roster has the most major league experience in the tournament, with previous all-stars like third baseman Todd Frazier, pitcher David Robertson and outfielder Matt Kemp – all in their mid-30s and unemployed. The candidates in the squad include the pitchers Simeon Woods Richardson (20) and Matthew Liberatore (21).
The national top club that emerges from the tournament will receive an Olympic starting place. The second and third placed teams will reach the final qualification, which was originally scheduled for mid-June in Taiwan but was recently relocated to Mexico due to rising virus cases and travel restrictions.
Baseball will again be absent from the 2024 Paris Summer Games before its expected return in Los Angeles in 2028. Perhaps MLB and its players will then want to play, which could send a message that they want baseball as an ongoing Olympic sport. But if the United States isn’t in Tokyo this summer, when its national pastime is back for the first time since 2008, that mission could be undermined.
“I can’t imagine that our game won’t be featured in the Olympics,” said former Star Yankees second player Willie Randolph, who coached the national team, last year. “That would be – sorry – embarrassing for me. ”
