Baseball's track record at the Olympics has been spotty, at best. Debuting in 1904, the sport basically went off the grid for the rest of the century, being used for exhibition purposes until 1992, when it became a sanctioned Olympic event until 2012, when it went away again.
But now baseball (and softball, for that matter) return to the Games this year, and Team USA just announced its qualifying roster. Since Major League Baseball won't stop its season, only folks that aren't on 26-man rosters are eligible, so there's a nice combination of exciting prospects and veterans without a current ballclub.
So as you get ready to watch the U.S. seek a second gold medal, here are some recognizable names you might find in Tokyo.
PITCHERS
Homer Bailey: The longtime Cincinnati Red only pitched 8.1 innings in the bigs last year with Minnesota before being designated for assignment. Though he is only two years removed from a decent 2019 season split between Kansas City and Oakland (163 innings, 4.57 ERA), that's the only year in the last five in which his ERA was below 5.50.
Edwin Jackson: What's one more jersey for Jackson to hang up at home? The journeyman of all journeymen, the 37-year-old played for a record 14 teams in a 17-year Major League career that ended after 2019. Best known for his no-hitter in 2010 with the White Sox, Jackson's pro career appears over after he signed a minor league deal with Arizona last year but was cut, and he hasn't signed anywhere in 2021.
David Robertson: The former Yankee flamethrower made seven appearances with the Phillies in 2019 before needing Tommy John surgery and he hasn't pitched since. The 36-year-old could use this as a tool to get back to 100 percent health and show he still has MLB quality stuff.
Marc Rzepcynski: The man they call "Scrabble" last appeared in a MLB game in 2018, with some minor league or spring training invites mixed in since. Unfortunately his specialty - a left-handed one-out guy (LOOGY) - has all but been eliminated from the bigs with the new three-batter minimum rule. That isn't a rule in the Olympics, though, so expect him to come out of the bullpen.
CATCHER
Matt Wieters: Among the three catchers on the roster is the four-time All-Star Wieters. The longtime Oriole spent two years with Washington and two more with St. Louis as Yadier Molina's backup. His bat unfortunately betrayed him a bit, as he hasn't hit above .240 since leaving Baltimore (though he did have 11 homers in 67 games in 2019). He'll compete behind the plate with Mark Federowicz and Mark Kolzsvary.
INFIELD
Todd Frazier: The veteran has been on a Major League roster as recently as Mother's Day before the rebuilding Pirates cut him a few days later. Just two years ago Frazier was a solid piece on the Mets, hitting 21 homers and having a bWAR of 2.1 for the year. A widely respected clubhouse presence, he'll be a great presence to youngsters on the roster like Boston's Tristan Cases.
Logan Forsythe: The infielder made his way around the U.S. the last few years, going from Los Angeles to Minnesota to Texas to Miami since July 2018 (with a short stint in Philadelphia thrown in, for good measure). So he's probably accumulated enough miles to fly to Tokyo on points alone.
OUTFIELD
Matt Kemp: The former Dodgers slugger had a resurgent 2018, making an All-Star game and hitting .290 with 21 homers. That, though, appears to have been the last bit of magic, as he played just 20 games with Cincinnati in 2019 and hit .239 with Colorado last year. With all of his speed gone, at the MLB level he'd be exclusively a designated hitter at this point.
Jon Jay: Jay spent the first week or so of the season with the Angels before getting DFA'd. Right now he's on the roster for the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, but he's eligible for Team USA because he's not on the parent club's 26-man roster.
Manager - Mike Scoscia: The manager job has bounced around a bit. Originally it was Joe Girardi, but he became the Phillies' manager in October 2019. So it went to another former Yankee for a bit in Scott Brosius before finally the team committed to Scoscia. The 62-year-old hasn't managed since leaving the Angels in 2018 after a 19-year stint with the club. Now he'll look to join the guy who managed him (Tommy Lasorda) as the only people to manage Team USA to a gold medal.