MLB officials are expected to announce this week that the '17 MLB All-Star Game "will be played at Marlins Park," according to sources cited by Clark Spencer of the MIAMI HERALD. DC was "thought to be a contender" to land the game. The Marlins "tried -- and failed -- in their bid to host the 2015 All-Star Game at their new, retractable roof ballpark, which opened" in '12. MLB initially gave the Marlins the '00 event, only to "yank it away and hand it to Atlanta following the dismantling" of the '97 World Series team. This year’s All-Star Game "will be played in Cincinnati, with San Diego on tap to host" in '16. After San Diego and Miami are "out of the way, only four existing ballparks will remain that have not yet hosted an All-Star Game" -- Yankee Stadium, Citizens Bank Park, Tropicana Field and Nationals Park (MIAMI HERALD, 2/11). YAHOO SPORTS' Israel Fehr noted picking Miami "will make it three consecutive years that the All-Star game is played in a National League city." This is with Commissioner Rob Manfred's "vision to move away from alternating between NL and AL parks every year and instead institute a system that would involve a Super Bowl-type bidding process for the right to host the event" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 2/10).
