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| - A new deal revealed Friday between Major League Baseball, its players union and the World Baseball Softball Confederation will boost the United States in its bid to reach the Tokyo Olympics. The agreement, described on the MLB website, would allow players on 40-man rosters for North America's major league clubs to represent their homelands at the Tokyo Olympics and two last qualifying events for the showdown in Japan. It's the best availability of talent for the US squad and many of its rivals without shutting down the MLB season, something team owners and league officials have been steadfastly against. Top developmental league players and even some veteran major leaguers assigned to the lesser level would be eligible to play for national teams in the eight-team Americas qualifying tournament for Tokyo set for March 22-26 in Arizona, an April qualifier for the last Tokyo berth in Taiwan and the Olympics themselves. MLB clubs would not be obligated to make players available for any national team, but in many cases would allow the unique opportunity. Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Israel have already booked Tokyo Olympic berths. Leagues in South Korea and Japan will shut down so top players can compete for Olympic gold. The US squad, beaten by Mexico for a spot in the field last November, will compete for one spot at the Olympics next month against Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Canada, Colombia and political rival Cuba. While the winner books an Olympic trip, the second- and third-place Americas teams advance to a qualifier for the last spot April 1-5 at Taiwan that also includes the hosts plus China, Australia and the Netherlands. Cuba won Olympic baseball gold in 1992, 1996 and 2004 while the US team beat Cuba 4-0 in the 2000 Sydney final. The Cubans settled for silver again at Beijing in 2008, falling to South Korea 3-2 in the championship game. Baseball was not included in the 2012 or 2016 Olympics. The US team can obtain such talented prospects as Jo Adell of the Los Angeles Angels and Andrew Vaughn of the Chicago White Sox, both of whom played for the squad that barely missed out last year. But US rivals will be aided too. Top-ranked prospect Wander Franco -- an 18-year-old shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays -- and Atlanta outfielder Cristian Pache could join the Dominican Republic while Canada might have access to right-handed pitcher Cal Quantrill and outfielder Josh Naylor from the San Diego Padres organization. js/rcw
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