All-Star Game for Wrigley Field by 2022? ‘Stay tuned,’ says commissioner

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday he hopes in the next few months to announce All-Star Game sites for 2020 through 2022 and implied Wrigley Field could be in the running for one of those seasons.

“Chicago has expressed a strong interest in having the game. Obviously places where there have been new stadiums or extensive renovations kind of get a thumb on the scale in terms of our thinking,” he said. “And I also think it’s important for us in terms of marketing the game to be in major markets. So stay tuned. We hope to have some announcements on that in the relatively near future.”

While the ballpark has undergone dramatic upgrades and renovations in recent years (scheduled to be concluded next season), the state of the absurdly cramped visitors clubhouse could be an issue – though Manfred said MLB has talked to the Cubs recently about “interim improvements” to solve some of the disparity between the two clubhouse.

“In fairness to the Cubs, this is not a Cub-only problem,” he added. “There are other places where we do get complaints about the visitors clubhouse.”

Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts downplayed the likelihood of landing the All-Star game soon when he got the annual question about it Monday.

“It’s a lot more complicated than asking for it,” he said. “And every team wants it every year. So we’ll see.”

The Cubs last hosted the All-Star Game in 1990.

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