With the 2017 World Baseball Classic underway and several MLB players already contributing, it’s only natural to think ahead to the next notable international event, which would be the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Specifically, it’s a good time to ponder whether or not MLB players will be allowed to compete in future Olympic games, or whether it even makes logistical sense, which is a question that was immediately posed when baseball was officially reinstated as an Olympic sport.

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Since then, it’s been the source of much debate, with the underlying push being that the event would greatly benefit from the added star power, while providing a truer gauge of the world’s talent. It makes sense, but it also remains unlikely that MLB players will be allowed to compete for a myriad of reasons, many of which commissioner Rob Manfred addressed this week while in Japan for the WBC.

Here are Manfred’s most poignant comments courtesy of the Japan Times:

“There have not been any substantive discussions with the baseball and softball confederation about participation of major league players in the 2020 Olympics,” Manfred said at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan on Tuesday. “I’m sure that those conversations will take place. We have not even been informed about what exactly the format of the event is going to be, how many days would be involved and whatnot.

“Even in the absence of that information, the skepticism that you’ve heard from some relates to, no matter how you put the event together there would be a significant amount of major league players who would be away from their teams. It would alter the competition in our everyday game. I do not believe our owners would support some sort of a break in our season. Continuity is really important to our competition.”

The 2020 games are the focus here since they’re next and they’re also in Japan. Manfred’s comments though seemed to shine a light beyond those games and on to the 2024 games in Los Angeles, which Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan recently noted would be the most logical time for MLB to jump on board.

Commissioner Rob Manfred speaks to journalists during a press conference in Tokyo. (AP) More

Manfred did leave the door open for that to change, noting that he’d be seeking more information and input from the Olympic committee and MLB owners. The key sentence though seemed to be his final one on this subject: “Continuity is really important to our competition.”

The 2020 games, for example, are scheduled to run from July 24 to Aug. 9. That’s not just the middle of the MLB season, it comes during a key stretch when pennant races are typically heating up and teams are preparing for the July 31 trade deadline. A lot would have to be considered and perhaps readjusted to allow players to leave and give teams the opportunity to work around it, and based on Manfred’s choice of words outright pausing the season doesn’t have much support.

That leads us to believe the most obvious hurdle will also be the most daunting, leaving it likely that the Olympics will be decided by former stars, emerging prospects and even college standouts. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. After all, the most recent Olympics with baseball came in 2008, and that featured future stars like Stephen Strasburg, Jake Arrieta and Dexter Fowler, so there’s never a true shortage of talent. We just have to watch closer to find it.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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