In today’s Phillies news, Bryce Harper really wants to be an Olympian
Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper is giving us some much-needed Phillies news when he got fired up on a podcast talking about how much he wants to be an Olympian.
In February an agreement was made to allow MLB players who are on 40-man rosters but not in the Major Leagues to play in the 2020, now 20201, Summer Olympics in Tokyo. This rule would allow some of baseballs best young prospects to play, but would bar players like Harper, Mike Trout, and other stars to play on the world stage.
On Barstool’s Starting 9 podcast Harper discussed what it would mean to him to be an Olympian.
"“You wanna grow the game? You wanna really take it to different countries and different places? You put the baseball back into the Olympics but let the big-league players play. Can you imagine being in a foreign country standing on the line listening to your anthem blare? Dude, there is nothing better, it fires me up sitting here. There’s nothing better, bro. U.S.A. across your chest, just absolutely put a pounding on [another] country and you’re standing there saying, ‘What’s up?’"
More from Harper’s interview discussing the Olympics can be seen below:
The National Hockey League has also had a problem with letting their players compete in the Olympics due to scheduling issues. Major League Baseball already has a one week All-Star break and adding another extended break in the middle of the season would create both schedule and financial issues for the league, who is already losing a fortune with COVID-19.
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The Olympics are made for the world’s best athletes to compete and Harper has a point when it comes to letting those superstars play overseas. It would be tough to imagine MLB players playing in Tokyo next year. The next two Summer Olympics are in Paris and Los Angeles, and the latter would be perfect to bring MLB players into the fold. You could have Trout playing an Olympic game in his own stadium.
But money talks and there would have to be some kind of deal between the league and players for this to happen. Only a couple of players would be able to play in the Olympics, leaving a majority of the league in the dark. Perhaps for the Olympic year there isn’t an All-Star game to help with the scheduling burden.
There currently is no All-Star venue announced for 2024 or 2028, with Philadelphia hosting in 2026. Again, the timeline could lineup for a change in baseball’s policy.