MLB to address uniforms after player complaints, per memo

Major League Baseball plans to code its azygous fiasco aft changes this outpouring to the modular jerseys and pants led to wide complaints from players and fans, according to a memo obtained Sunday nighttime by ESPN.

The salient modifications see a instrumentality to larger lettering connected the backmost of jerseys, remedying mismatched grey tops and bottoms and addressing the caller Nike jerseys' propensity to cod sweat, according to the memo distributed to players by the MLB Players Association connected Sunday.

The changes, which volition hap astatine the latest by the opening of the 2025 season, volition besides see fixes to the pants, wide panned this outpouring for being see-through.

The national informed players of the coming changes successful a missive that placed the blasted connected Nike and the debut of its Vapor Premier uniform, which was advertised for its superior show but remains disliked by players.

"This has been wholly a Nike issue," the memo to players read. "At its core, what has happened present is that Nike was innovating thing that didn't request to beryllium innovated."

The national besides absolved Fanatics, the shaper of the azygous that has received the bulk of nationalist scorn for the azygous mess, saying the institution "recognizes the captious value of soliciting Player feedback, obtaining Player buy-in and not being acrophobic to person hard conversations astir jerseys oregon trading cards. Our anticipation is that, moving forward, Nike volition instrumentality a akin approach."

While the caller uniformed debuted astatine the 2023 All-Star Game, its rollout this outpouring led to reams of atrocious publicity. The shrinking of the missive size connected players' sanction plates gave jerseys an amateur look. The pants -- which, according to the memo, volition "return to the higher prime zipper utilized successful 2023" -- had myriad issues, including the see-through fabric, a deficiency of tailoring and rips and tears that players believed unnecessary.

Nike's concern with MLB began successful 2019, erstwhile it took implicit arsenic the league's authoritative azygous supplier arsenic portion of a 10-year, $1 cardinal woody for MLB. Fanatics has partnerships with the league and the union, some of which person invested successful the institution and ain tiny stakes.

"We cautioned Nike against assorted changes erstwhile they previewed them successful 2022, peculiarly regarding pants," the national memo read. "MLB had been, and has been, alert of our concerns arsenic well. Unfortunately, until precocious Nike's presumption has fundamentally boiled down to -- 'nothing to spot here, Players volition request to adjust.'"

MLB declined to comment. Nike did not connection contiguous remark erstwhile reached by ESPN. Fanatics did not respond to a petition for comment. The MLBPA declined to comment.