TORONTO -- Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said before Saturday's Game 2 that he's more concerned about the current state of the World Series than he is about pending labor negotiations, given the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires after next season.
"I'm kind of focused on who's going to win tonight," Manfred told a gaggle of reporters on the field at Rogers Centre in Toronto. "I want to get seven exciting games. A year from now, we'll have plenty of time to talk about labor."
Manfred and the baseball world watched as the series drew closer to seven games. Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto tossed the first complete World Series game in a decade as the Dodgers evened up the best-of-seven series with a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Yamamoto shut down the Blue Jays, giving up four hits a night after they sacked the Dodgers, 11-4, in Game 1.
The last complete game in the World Series was thrown by Johnny Cueto for the Kansas City Royals in Game 2 in 2015 against the New York Mets. For the Dodgers, there hasn't been one since Orel Hershiser completed Games 2 and 5 of the 1988 World Series against the then-Oakland A's.
Since then, it seemed as of the World Series complete game was dead. Now Yamamoto has thrown back-to-back complete games in the playoffs, including his Game 2 gem at Milwaukee in the National League Championship Series.
"Well, I love it," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who has been often criticized for pulling his starters early in postseason games. "I love feeling that the starter is the best option to go six, seven, eight, and -- what Yamamoto is doing -- nine innings. He's a throwback player. He works really hard in his prep and his delivery and mindset. It's a lot of fun to root for a guy and feel good about leaving a guy like that in."
The labor battle is also pending. The current Basic Agreement expires on Dec. 1 after the 2026 season, and a salary cap and competitive balance have been mentioned as the major issues. There has been talk about the owners locking out the players again if no agreement is reached by then.
Tony Clark, the executive director of the MLB Players Association, said in an on-field interview prior to Game 1, that he typically expects collective bargaining negotiations to begin in the spring. He said all the talk about a lockout is just that -- talk.
"I'm approaching this with an open mind, like always," Clark said.
Manfred addressed a couple of other issues on Saturday, including the arrests of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and assistant coach Damon Jones on Thursday morning for gambling-related charges. There are two separate cases -- one for fraudulent sports betting and the other for rigging poker games -- and Jones is a defendant in both.
"The most important thing that we can do is make sure that we have systems in place that give us access to data, which puts you in a position to determine if there's something aberrational going on," Manfred said. "I think then when you get that, you need to conduct a thorough investigation, make sure that you understand exactly what caused that aberration. And then you need to discipline."
In addition, two Cleveland Guardian pitchers, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, are under investigation and have been placed on paid leave for some unusual on-field activity that occurred this past July. Manfred said the investigation is "going as fast as we can," but there's no timetable for its resolution.
Manfred also discussed having MLB players participate in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Baseball was played as an Olympic sport from 1992 until 2008 and in 2021, and in those years, only minor league players outside each club's 40-man rosters or free agents were able to participate in the Olympic baseball tournament.
"There are logistical issues that still need to be worked on," Manfred said. "We have made a lot of progress with LA 2028 in terms of the calendar. ... Right now, we're in discussions with the players' association about that set of issues. The logistics of LA, as evidenced by how long we've been talking about it, are difficult."
The World Series heads back to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Monday night at Dodgers Stadium, where veteran Blue Jays hurler Max Scherzer will face Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow.