Yankees’ Aaron Judge ‘all in’ on playing for Team USA in 2028 Olympics if MLB players are allowed

The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics wrap up this weekend, and baseball was not on the docket this year. Baseball (and softball) will return in 2028, however, when Los Angeles hosts the Summer Olympics, and there is a push by big-league players to participate in the 2028 games. Right now players on MLB 40-man rosters are not eligible for the Olympics.

Bryce Harper and Shohei Ohtani are among the star players to publicly support MLB players playing in the 2028 Olympics. Now another big name says he wants in if MLB players go to the Olympics: New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge. Earlier this week Judge said he’s “all in” on the Olympics if big leaguers go to the 2028 games.

“I’d love to play. If they give us the opportunity — I don’t know what the ruling or anything has come out about that — but I’m all in on that,” Judge told the New York Post. “… There’s very few opportunities to get to do that and especially, hopefully, in the prime of my career where I can still do it and make an impact, I’d love to. I’ve never represented my country before, never got invited to those Team USA (camps as an amateur), never really made the cut for those. Hopefully now I can make the cut.”

Judge will take a .321/.456/.691 batting line and an MLB-leading 41 home runs into Saturday’s action. Through the same number of team games in 2022, his MVP year and 62-homer season, Judge was hitting .300/.397/.674 with 46 home runs. The power output is down slightly but still elite. The batting average and on-base percentage are better though. In a way, this is the best Judge yet.

Of course, this is Judge’s age-32 season, so he will be 36 come the 2028 Olympics. Decline is almost inevitable at that age, though star players and special talents don’t always follow the usual aging curve, so believing Judge will still be one of Team USA’s top outfield (or DH) options come 2028 would not be unreasonable. Who knows, right? 2028 is a long ways away.

Judge did turn down the chance to play for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic last season.

“It would be an honor to represent my country and play in that,” Judge told Fox Sports. “But my main goal is what I can do here in New York and what I can do to bring a championship back here. I think especially after signing a nine-year contract, for me, priorities are New York. Maybe four years down the road, hopefully I can still make the team and get an opportunity to play. But right now for me, my focus is here.”

At the All-Star break commissioner Rob Manfred said he is “open-minded” about sending MLB players to the 2028 Olympics, though there are logistical issues that would have to be solved, particularly what happens with the MLB regular season. Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball paused it’s season in 2021 so the league’s top players could go to the Olympics. Japan won the gold medal.

There won’t be a better time for MLB players to go to the Olympics than 2028. The 2024 games were in Paris and the 2032 games will be in Brisbane, Australia. Los Angeles is as easy as it’s going to get, travel-wise, and although the World Baseball Classic is very fun, the Olympics hold special appeal. With or without Judge, the 2028 Olympics are a chance for a midsummer best-on-best tournament, and to grow the game globally.