MLB scraps plans to play in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Mexico City next season

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball scrapped plans to play regular-season games next year in Mexico City and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The season opens on March 18 and 19 with a two-game series in Tokyo between Shohei Otahni's Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs. The collective bargaining agreement agreed to in 2022 also called for Mexico City games next May, the first-ever Paris games in June and San Juan games in September.

MLB called off the France games in 2023 after failing to find a promoter. It played 49 regular-season games at San Juan's Hiram Bithorn Stadium from 2001-18. Scheduled games at San Juan and Mexico City in 2020 were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re not going to San Juan. We did not have, despite a lot of efforts, an arrangement that made economic sense for us,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said at a news conference Wednesday after an owners' meeting. “We’d like to do San Juan and what’s available kind of changes year to year and I hope it all works out in the future.”

MLB played at Mexico City's Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú in 2023 and 2024.

“I’m sure we’ll be back during the term of this agreement,” Manfred said, referring to a labor contract that runs through the 2026 season. “We had a really, really aggressive international-play undertaking last season. Obviously, we’re opening in Tokyo. Tokyo is really our focus right now for very, very good business reasons.”

MLB's labor contract calls for 2026 games at Mexico City in May, London in June and San Juan in September.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Ronald Blum, The Associated Press