Mets' Brandon Nimmo skeptical of MLB's commitment to new uniform pants
Brandon Nimmo #9 of the Mets singles during the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field on Friday, Apr. 26, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — On Friday, Major League Baseball announced that it will make changes to the much-derided new uniforms that began being used this season because “we listened to our players.”
The main changes, though, will not be made until 2025. So players will have to continue to wear subpar uniforms for the rest of this season.
“My biggest quarrel that I have with them is that they didn’t have our stuff available for the beginning of the season,” Brandon Nimmo, who has been outspoken on the issue, told Newsday on Saturday before the Mets played the Rays. “So that’s not fixing that. For me, next year, they need to have our stuff, our uniforms, available for Opening Day. Or whenever they’re needed, which is every day after Opening Day.”
Complaints from players about the new Nike-designed, Fanatics-manufactured uniforms include pants that don’t fit well, are prone to ripping on slides and can be see-through in sensitive areas.
According to MLB, next season’s uniforms will include “individual pant customization.” So expect an army of tailors to descend on Florida and Arizona for spring training 2025.
Also, sweat stains have been a problem (and it’s not even summer yet). MLB said Nike is “working on a solution to address . . . the discoloration that can occur due to perspiration in certain instances. Once the solution is finalized, adjusted gray uniforms will go on field as soon as the second half of this season.”
Because of pants delivery issues, the Mets have not yet worn their beloved black jerseys or their alternate blue home jerseys.
The pants they do have are not holding up well and are in short supply, Nimmo said.
“The pants have torn,” Nimmo said. “If they want to supply us with endless amount of pants, then sure, I guess. They tear. I already — I think it was on the West Coast trip — I had one slide headfirst and the pants tore open. They just sewed them back up because we only have like, three or four pairs of pants ’til June. I was like, ‘OK, if that’s going to be the deal . . . So you just sew it up and it looks like crap.’ ”
In MLB’s statement, commissioner Rob Manfred said: “Player and club feedback is extremely important to us. Together with Nike . . . we are addressing their concerns.”
Nimmo is from Wyoming, not Missouri, but he said he’s a “show me” guy when it comes to MLB’s pants promises.
“I’m more of an action kind of guy,” he said. “I’m more of a like, ‘OK, you tell me this. But let’s see what happens.’ Right? So I’ll be waiting to see what happens.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
