NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s support of Pete Rose was among the factors Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred weighed 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 on May 13, a decision that 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 Rose repeatedly bet on the Reds as a player and manager for the team from 1985-87, a violation of a long-standing MLB rule. The Hall of Fame in 1991 decided people on the permanent banned list were ineligible for consideration.

“Those who really think about the reasons that I did it think that it is the right decision, and other people I think largely get confused with whether he’s going to be in the Hall of Fame or not and maybe don’t think that was so good,” Manfred said.

Athletics 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.

Robot umpires

Computer technology to appeal ball/strike calls could be in place for the 2026 regular season. 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,” he 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 in May. 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.

Tropicana Field repair

Tampa Bay hopes to return to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, 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 last 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.”