Rob Manfred: All-Star Game Will Return To Wrigley Field In 'Relatively Near Future'
(CBS) MLB commissioner Rob Manfred continues to insist that the All-Star Game will return to Wrigley Field in the near future. He's just not sure when.
"The city of Chicago and Wrigley Field, the renovated Wrigley Field in particular would be a great site for an All-Star Game," Manfred said Monday while at the All-Star Game in Miami. "There will be an All-Star Game in Wrigley Field in the relatively near future. Having said that, the caveat on that is we have a lot of cities really interested in having the game."
The All-Star Game will be played in Washington D.C. in 2018, and Cleveland won the right to host the 2019 contest back in January. Past that, futures All-Star Game sites are up for grabs.
It's believed that the Cubs would like to host the 2020 All-Star Game, as renovations of Wrigley Field and the surrounding area should be completed. The Cubs and Wrigley Field haven't hosted an All-Star Game since 1990.
The Cubs were told several years ago that their visitor's clubhouse needed to be renovated before they could host an All-Star Game. That's expected to be completed by the start of the 2019 season.
The All-Star Game returning to Wrigley Field has long been on Manfred's mind. He mentioned it at least as far back as February 2016 in an interview with 670 The Score.
"It makes sense the Cubs get an opportunity ahead after the new renovations are complete," Manfred said. "This will provide the Cubs and Ricketts family a chance to showcase the unbelievable renovation they are in the midst of doing for Wrigley Field."