NEW YORK -- Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who will manage the National League team in the All-Star Game next month, met with Major League Baseball officials on Wednesday to discuss the event, and he said he's invited Marlins skipper Don Mattingly to be on the coaching staff.
Maddon said all of the Cubs' coaching staff will be at the 2017 MLB All-Star Game presented by MasterCard, which will be played July 11 in Miami. He was not sure if he would be able to invite another NL manager.
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On Wednesday, Maddon met with Joe Torre, MLB's chief baseball officer, to discuss some of the changes with this year's All-Star Game, including the rosters.
"It's different this year without the manager having to do a lot of choosing," Maddon said. "The game doesn't really count in a sense like it has the last several years. There were just some items I need to be aware of."
The winner of the All-Star Game will no longer determine who gets home-field advantage for the World Series. Is Maddon OK with that change?
"I'm OK with this," Maddon said. "When you're combining the attempt to play everybody and win the game for the sake of the National League so you get home-field advantage, there's a lot going on. The thing that's easier about it now is that the [designated hitter] is involved. When I did it earlier [in 2009], you were playing National League rules."
Maddon said that in '09, it was difficult to get everyone in the game, plus make sure you have the players you need at the end to win it.
"You're going to disappoint people," Maddon said. "Guys get in the All-Star Game and they want to play in the All-Star Game. That game [in 2009] was 4-3. You don't know if it's going to be extra innings, I'm having to hold guys back for pitching or pinch-hitting, and even in that game, [Tim] Wakefield was the backup pitcher, and you have to be concerned, who's going to catch him? These guys don't want to catch a knuckleballer."
Maddon said he's already talked to Mattingly about making sure to "choreograph" everything in advance, in terms of when pitchers and players can expected to be used.
"I did that even in 2009, but you still had these other little nuances involved that we don't have this year," Maddon said.