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;Commissioner Rob Manfred had a wide-ranging news conference Tuesday afternoon in advance of the All-Star Game. Among the topics he covered: the All-Star Game!
Manfred said he'll probably announce next 3 All-Star cities in one swoop. Cubs, Dodgers among candidate teams.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) July 11, 2017
There’s a bit more to that Manfred statement, via the Tribune:
“We have a group of clubs that are interested,” Manfred said. “We’ve moved into a much more competitive evaluation of those various bids, taking into accounts things like the city’s involvement, have they built a new stadium for the club, have they done particular things that are helpful to a club, the availability of key venues, convention centers and whatnot.
“The Cubs are certainly in the mix for that next (selection). I’ll probably do three (sites) at once, is my current thinking. They certainly are in the mix but there are way more than three clubs that are in that mix.”
The Cubs have not hosted an All-Star Game since 1990; for Dodger Stadium it’s been even longer. 1980 was the last ASG hosted by the Dodgers.
The next two All-Star Games are already set. It’ll be at Nationals Park in Washington in 2018 and Progressive Field in Cleveland in 2019.
The Cubs, obviously, would like to have all the Wrigley Field renovations complete before they host an All-Star Game. Currently, the team hopes to have everything complete by Opening Day 2019 and thus be able to bid on a 2020 All-Star Game, but you know how such things go; weather or other delays could push that back by a year, especially if there’s another long postseason run as there was in 2016.
Other long droughts of hosting an All-Star Game:
Athletics, 1987
Blue Jays, 1991
Orioles, 1993
Rangers, 1995
Phillies, 1996
Rockies, 1998
Red Sox, 1999
New ballparks that have not yet hosted an All-Star game and don’t have one upcoming:
New Yankee Stadium (Yankees last hosted in 2008 at the old Yankee Stadium)
SunTrust Park, Atlanta (Braves last hosted in 2000 at Turner Field)
Team that has never hosted an All-Star Game:
It seems pretty clear that the Rays and A’s won’t host All-Star Games until their stadium situations are settled. SunTrust Park just opened this year, so it could be a while before they get back in the rotation. The Rangers will be building a new park soon and they’re likely to wait for that before they request to host again. And according to this article, the Phillies will wait for the 2026 game because it’ll be the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
So beyond those, the Orioles and Blue Jays would seem to have the best call to get an upcoming ASG after the Cubs and Dodgers.
If the Cubs really wanted to wait till they are 100 percent certain Wrigley will be done, they could ask for the 2021 game and have the Dodgers host in 2020.
I’ve reached out to the Cubs for comment on this and will report back if they respond.