Major League Baseball’s uniform embarrassment appears to be coming to an end.
MLB is planning on addressing the uniform issue that began during spring training after changes to them for this season led to extensive complaints from the players, according to multiple reports.
A MLB Players Association memo that was first reported on by ESPN indicated to players that changes were coming at the latest by 2025 and squarely placed the blame for the fiasco at the feet of Nike.
The issue became apparent pretty quickly in the spring and led to complaints stemming from the cheap-looking quality of the Nike Vapor Premier uniforms and the design.
The changes are expected to address the complaints about the uniforms with a return to the larger lettering on the back of the jerseys, the mismatched gray tops and bottoms and the pants, which have looked see-through.
They also showed a propensity to rip on multiple occasions.
“This has been entirely a Nike issue,” the memo to players read, per ESPN. “At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn’t need to be innovated.”
The memo to the players also seemed to paint a picture where Nike hadn’t been responding to player concerns.
“As many of you know, concern with Nike changes is not new,” the memo stated, according to The Athletic. “We cautioned Nike against various changes when they previewed them in 2022, particularly regarding pants. MLB had been, and has been, aware of our concerns as well. Unfortunately, until recently, Nike’s position has essentially boiled down to — ‘nothing to see here. Players will need to adjust.’”
The MLBPA absolved Fanatics – the uniform manufacturer – from being responsible for the issue and praised them for being open to “soliciting Player feedback, obtaining Player buy-in and not being afraid to have difficult conversations about jerseys or trading cards.”
“Our hope is that, moving forward, Nike will take a similar approach,” the memo added.
The new uniforms had first debuted at the 2023 MLB All-Star Game, but the issues rose to prominence once spring training opened.
Nike took over as the league’s uniform supplier in 2019.
