NEW YORK — Major League Baseball is not going to play games in Mexico City or San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 2025 as once planned. The league’s only international destination for the 2025 regular season will be Tokyo, for the opening series between the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers, March 18-19.
“We’re not going to San Juan,” Manfred said. “We did not have, despite a lot of efforts, an arrangement that made economic sense for us. We’d still like to do San Juan, and what’s available kind of changes year to year, and I’m hopeful it works out in the future.”
A return to Mexico City is likely in 2026, Manfred said.
“We had a really, really aggressive international play undertaking last season. … But we’ve been to Mexico the last few years in a row, and we’re taking one year off. We’ll be back, though.”
The current collective bargaining agreement, which covers the 2022 to 2026 seasons, includes a tentative schedule for international play. MLB listed four destinations for 2025: Tokyo for Opening Day, Mexico City in June, Paris in June and San Juan in September.
The Paris plan went by the wayside last year because the league couldn’t find a promoter.
“Tokyo is really our focus right now for very, very good business reasons,” Manfred said.
The original schedule has the league going to Mexico City in May 2026, London in June and San Juan in September.
(Photo of Manny Machado from a 2023 game in Mexico City: Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)
