TAMPA. Fla. (AP) — Baseball players’ association head Tony Clark is hopeful 2024 uniforms will soon be altered following complaints by his members.
The uniforms designed by Nike and manufactured by Fanatics have been criticized by players for pants that are somewhat see through and for lettering, sleeve emblems and numbering that are less bulky and apparently smaller.
“You just don’t expect to have conversations about uniforms,” Clark said Thursday after meeting with New York Yankees players. “And so having them, I’m hopeful, and this goes back to what we suggested before, in picking up the phone and talking to all the folks involved, having some appreciation for folks paying attention to it now perhaps more so than they were before spring started yet.”
Player comments have slowed recently.
“It’s calm because the commentary that’s being offered suggests that the powers that be are paying attention to the concerns that are there and are engaging how best to address them moving forward.” Clark said. And so the tension that was drawn early, the concerns still exist. We’re hopeful that as we sprint toward opening day over the course of the next month or so that we don’t have a second batch of commentary around the pants when the lights come on.”
FREE AGENT CONCERNS AND REVIEW
Two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, six-time All-Star J.D. Martinez and four-time Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman are among free agents that remain unsigned four weeks from opening day.
“There is always a concern when you know there are players on the free agent market at this time of year that you know can help teams win ballgames,” Clark said. “And so understand and appreciate that a lot of folks focus on a few of the free agents. We look at the whole group and guys that are tenured, establish that the teams know based on their experience and how they’ve performed what they’re going to get undoubtedly can help teams win ball games, and those guys are still out there too.”
Clark said there will be a review on why the free-agent market is playing out this way.
“The hypothesis will likely have a lot more concrete poured around at once we communicate with the agents to appreciate the conversations that have been held to this point,” Clark said. “At this point we don’t have a lot of that information. So we expect to have it and once we do, we’re going to garner a better appreciation as to what we may have seen over the course of the last few years.”
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