NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s support of Pete Rose was among the factors weighed by Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred when he decided last month that permanent bans by the sport ended with death, which allows the career hits leader to be considered for the Hall of Fame.

Manfred announced the new interpretation May 13, and that decision allows Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson to be considered for a Hall committee vote in December 2027.

“The president was one of a number of voices that was supportive of the idea that this was the right decision,” Manfred said Wednesday during a news conference at an owners meeting. “Obviously, I have respect for the office, and the advice that he gave I paid attention to, but I had a lot of other people that were weighing in on the topic, as well.”

Rose and then-commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti agreed to a permanent ban in August 1989 after an investigation commissioned by MLB concluded that Rose repeatedly bet on the Reds as a player and manager for the team from 1985 to 1987, a violation of a long-standing MLB rule.

The Hall of Fame in 1991 decided people on the permanently banned list were ineligible for consideration.

Manfred on Wednesday discussed a number of topics impacting Major League Baseball.

ROBOT UMPIRES: Computer technology to appeal ball/strike calls could be in place for the 2026 regular season, and Manfred said use of the automated ball-strike system was likely to be considered by the 11-man competition committee, which includes six management representatives.

During a spring training experiment in 288 games, teams were successful on 52.2% of their ball/strike challenges using the automated ball-strike system.

“I do think that we’re going to pursue the possibility of change in that process and we’ll see what comes out at the end of that,” Manfred said. “The teams are really positive about ABS. I do have that unscientific system that I use: my email traffic. And my distinct impression is that using ABS in spring training has made people more prone to complain of balls and strike calls via email to me referencing the need for ABS.”

An experiment with a technology system to challenge checked-swing calls started in the Class A Florida State League on May 20. That is not under consideration for MLB use in 2026.

“I think we’ve got to get over the hump in terms of either doing ABS or not doing it before you’d get into the complication of a separate kind of challenge,” Manfred said.

2028 OLYMPICS: MLB is considering whether to allow big league players to compete at the 2028 Games, as baseball is returning after being played from 1992 to 2008 and then in 2021.

MLB did not allow players on 40-man rosters to participate in the 2021 Olympics, and many teams discouraged top eligible prospects from playing.

“We made some progress with LA 2028 in terms of what it could look like,” Manfred said. “We have some other business partners that we need to talk to about — changes that would need to be made in order to accommodate the Olympics. I think we’re going to go forward with that process.”

Manfred said the players’ union appears to be supportive.

POSSIBLE SALARY CAP PROPOSAL: A decision on MLB’s bargaining positions with the players’ association, including whether to propose a salary cap, will be made after this season, Manfred said.

Bargaining is likely to start in spring 2026 for a successor to the five-year agreement with the union that ended a 99-day lockout on March 10, 2022. The deal expires Dec. 1, 2026.

An ownership economic study committee was formed in early 2023, sparking speculation about a renewed push for a salary cap system aimed at decreasing payroll disparity.

“Payroll disparity is such a fact of life among the ownership group that there’s not a lot of need for talking about whether we have it or not. Everybody kind of gets it,” Manfred said. “We understand that it has become a bigger problem for us, but there has not been a lot of conversation about that particular topic.”

When MLB proposed a cap in 1994, players went on strike for 7½ months in 1994 and ’95, leading to the first cancellation of the World Series since 1904.

“Obviously, over the winter, we’re going to have to decide what is going to be out there from our perspective, but no decisions on that topic so far,” Manfred said.

BROADCASTING: MLB hopes to reach a deal before the All-Star break on a Sunday night national broadcast package and for the Home Run Derby to replace the agreement that ESPN is opting out of after this season.

Manfred said MLB is negotiating with three parties and is weighing traditional broadcasters and streaming services, who might pay more but have a smaller audience.

Manfred said he regrets giving ESPN the right to opt out, which is causing a negotiation for rights lasting three seasons. MLB’s contracts with Fox and Turner end after the 2028 season.

“If you’re talking about what we’re doing for the next three years, I would overweight reach,” Manfred said. “The larger negotiation we’ll have for the post-’28 period and we continue to believe that reach drives our live business.”

TROPICANA FIELD REPAIR: The Tampa Bay Rays hope to return to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg next season after playing home games this year across the bay at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the New York Yankees‘ spring training home.

The St. Petersburg City Council approved $22.5 million in April to repair the roof, destroyed by Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9. A new roof is being built in Germany and will be shipped to Florida.

“Repair of the stadium is moving along. We remain optimistic that we will be ready either for Opening Day or very shortly thereafter,” Manfred said. “Obviously, the big contingency is what happens with hurricane season.”

LAS VEGAS BALLPARK: A formal groundbreaking hasn’t taken place for the Athletics‘ planned ballpark to open in 2028, though work is being done at the site and a ceremony could be held this month.

“My understanding is they believe they’re going to make Opening Day ’28,” Manfred said.

ATTENDANCE UP: Attendance averaged 28,081 through Tuesday and 900 dates, up 1.4% from 27,687 through the same point last year, when MLB finished with a 0.9% rise to 29,568 for its highest average since 30,042 in 2017.

MLB could finish with an average increase in three straight years not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic for the first time since 2004-07.

TARIFFS ON BASEBALLS: MLB is not concerned about Trump administration tariffs raising the cost of big league baseballs, which are manufactured in Costa Rica.

“The minor league baseball is made in China,” Manfred said. “That’s more of an issue.”

With seemingly every loss this season, the Colorado Rockies make headlines for a new level of futility: They have already set the modern mark for fewest wins (eight) in the first 50 games of a season and lost a record 22 consecutive series before sweeping the Miami Marlins this week.

But unlike most teams marching toward baseball infamy, Colorado’s roster isn’t made up of rookies and journeymen. Instead, it consists of some of the key players from the franchise’s last glory days.

They remember the good times. When Coors Field was packed, players were flying around the bases and the Rockies had just enough pitching to catapult them into the postseason.

It might seem like forever ago as Colorado barrels toward its third straight 100-loss season, but current pitchers German Marquez, Antonio Senzatela, Kyle Freeland and infielder Ryan McMahon were all part of the organization’s last playoff teams, in 2017 and 2018. Colorado won a combined 178 games over those two seasons.

Few could have imagined what would come seven years later: The Rockies are on pace to shatter the modern record for losses, set last year by the Chicago White Sox. They’re on pace to lose 130 games, which would be nine more than Chicago.

“You ask me back in 2017 or 2018, I would have said there is no chance that is happening,” Freeland told ESPN recently. “You realize how special those seasons are.”

Despite their record, the vibe in their clubhouse doesn’t feel all that different than any other team’s midway through the grind of a 162-game season. According to Rockies players, there is too much baseball left to give in to the negativity that surrounds all the losing. They also point to their increased competitiveness since making a managerial change early last month.

“The start of the year was tough, if we’re being honest about it,” injured reliever Austin Gomber said. “We weren’t very competitive. Since [interim manager Warren Schaeffer] has taken over we’re pretty much in every game. But it’s not going our way. It’s easier to keep the attitude positive. I know we’re competing every night. At the beginning of the year, that wasn’t the case.”

Freeland added: “You can’t be mailing it in right now or closing up shop. We have a lot of learning to do as a team, with a lot of young guys doing that learning. Us veterans have to keep the attitude of the team in the right spot.”

The Rockies’ struggles come down to this: They have given up the most runs per game while scoring the least. That latter is stunning, considering the hitting advantage they’ve enjoyed over the years playing at the big leagues’ highest elevation in Denver. Going into this season, the lowest the team ranked in scoring since Coors Field opened 30 years ago was 22^nd, achieved last season.

The lack of production on either side of the ball has led to blowouts (they’ve lost 16 games by at least five runs) and heartbreaking losses (they’re just 6-11 in one-run games). “Some stick with you,” McMahon said. “We have guys that care and when you care, you carry it longer. But if you keep holding on to the night before, it’s not going to help today and it’s going to be a long season. You have to flush it.”

“You have to flush it” might become the team’s slogan as the organization is attempting to turn the page on its horrendous start, pointing to some improvements since the 40 year-old Schaeffer took over for 67-year-old Bud Black. After Black’s eight years and about six weeks at the helm in Colorado, the Rockies decided a change was needed.

“Buddy Black is a real good baseball guy,” general manager Bill Schmidt said. “It was probably time for a different voice.”

Schmidt was asked what gives him hope during such a wretched time for the franchise.

“We’ve been way more competitive lately,” he said. “We’re going to turn it around. I’m embarrassed by what’s transpired.”

After their numbers were boosted by the sweep of the Marlins, the team can point to a per-game run differential of minus 2.41 since Schaeffer took over, compared to minus 3.2 under Black — though their winning percentages are similar (.175 under Black to .227 since the change).

Black turned down an interview request for this story.

Like the White Sox last year, the Rockies aren’t focusing on the record for losses as they believe it’ll be a self-fulfilling prophecy if they do.

“If not being the worst team in baseball is our main focus, then we’re going to be the worst team in baseball,” Freeland said. “Our focus is ‘Let’s get better every day.’ That’s the lens. We have a new manager, new coaches, a lot of moving parts. But let’s focus on ourselves.”

Schaeffer, a career minor leaguer as a player, is learning on the job but has brought new energy to the dugout. He says he wants what every other manager desires from his players: accountability and the ability to master the fundamentals. Does he see improvement?

“I do,” he stated. “For sure. I feel like the competitive nature is there. Little by little we’re learning how to be in games and win. Not there yet. We have to execute late in games. That’s the next step.”

The past several weeks illustrate how both close and far the Rockies are from being respectable. Inability to execute — especially late in games — led to eight losses by two runs or fewer in a span of 12 games. It’s the kind of thing that will keep them on their record pace. That is, along with the blowouts, which still happen about once a week.

“We have like 100 games left,” Gomber said. “We can throw that record off by just a good two-week stretch. I’m confident that we’ll turn it around from that standpoint because just watching, I’ve seen us much more competitive every night. It’s going to turn.”

There’s some concern about the team’s young players learning in such a losing environment. They point to those veterans — particularly the players who were in Colorado during better times — as the reason the team is sticking together.

“We treat every day as a new day,” 26-year-old utilityman Tyler Freeman said. “It’s tough to look at the record right now. But everyone is working hard. We come in looking to win. The results haven’t shown, but we have to stay patient.

“If we take a look at the beginning of the year to now, it’s way different. I think we’ve turned a corner.”

Residing in the toughest division in baseball will only make it harder to avoid losing 120 games this season. Colorado is just 3-13 against the National League West with 36 games remaining against those opponents.

Amazingly, the Rockies are still drawing more than 26,000 fans per game — a testament to their loyalty and the fan experience at Coors Field. But what will the stands look like come September as the team winds down a potentially record-breaking season? One thing the clubhouse is unified on is how much the team has let those fans down. The Rockies have traveled a long way — in the wrong direction — since those back-to-back postseason appearances last decade.

“A lot of things have happened since then,” Senzatela said as he shook his head. “We have to stick together. Hopefully we’ll get back there.”

BOSTON — Ceddanne Rafaela curled a home run around the Pesky Pole in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday, and the Boston Red Sox rallied after trailing four different times to beat the Los Angeles Angels 11-9.

The home run to right field was just 308 feet, making it the shortest walk-off homer since Statcast tracking began in 2015 — 24 feet shorter than the next closest.

It would have been a home run in only one major league ballpark — Fenway. And it was the second-shortest HR by any player within the Statcast era, the only shorter one being by the San Francisco Giants‘ Stephen Vogt (307 feet on Sept. 18, 2019, at Fenway).

“I was like, ‘If it’s fair, it’s gone.’ So I was hoping it stayed fair,” Rafaela told reporters. “I was really happy because we grinded today. To win this game was huge for us. I was really happy.”

The Angels blew 4-0, 7-5, 8-7 and 9-8 leads, with Rafael Devers bouncing a chopper between the gloves of second baseman Chris Taylor and shortstop Zach Neto behind second base to tie it 9-9 in the eighth.

Each of the first three times the Red Sox scored, Los Angeles answered with runs of its own. But after walking Mike Trout to lead off the ninth, Cooper Criswell (1-0) got the next three batters out to give Boston a chance to walk it off.

In the bottom half, Abraham Toro singled with one out and Rafaela hit the 308-foot liner over the short wall that goes from the foul pole toward the bullpens in right.

Rafaela became the youngest Red Sox player (24 years, 259 days) with a walk-off HR over the past 25 years.

Taylor Ward had four RBIs for the Angels, who were going for a three-game sweep.

Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.