The MLB’s previous refusal to shutdown the league so that the world’s best players could participate in the Games was one of the reasons why the International Olympic Committee (IOC) axed baseball, along with softball, from the Olympic programme after next month's Beijing Games.
MLB vice-president and Team USA general manager, Bob Watson, said: “Major League Baseball, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and the IOC are working diligently to have a system where our big leaguers are playing. I think if Chicago or Tokyo would win Olympics for 2016, those countries are baseball countries, and they have venues.
"I believe they are trying to work up something, you have a few years to get a plan. There are a lot of moving parts but don't rule it out. It's not too premature to say the minds are turning trying to work things out".
Watson said that part of the discussions had revolved around a plan to extend the current All-Star break to allow a condensed format that would satisfy both MLB and the IOC.
