According to reports, the Biden administration has asked Major League Baseball to push back the start of the coming 2021 season by a month.
The Biden administration reportedly asked MLB owners to push the season back to a later date to give players more time to get vaccinated, according to The Athletic.
Still, the players union appeared uninterested in the idea. The union ducked out on the MLB conference call, presumably to avoid taking part in the discussion of changing the start date. The union, though, reportedly arranged another date to speak to Biden’s administration.
The union has thus far only agreed to the original start date — which itself is already late. The season is set for a 154-game schedule. So far, spring training is set to start on Feb. 17, while Opening Day begins on April 1.
What apparently spurred the Biden administration to ask for another pushback is the coming introduction of a new vaccine, this one from Johnson & Johnson. According to the insider reporting to The Athletic, the league was told ahead of time about the Biden administration’s discussion topic. Still, they did not pass the information on to the player’s representatives.
Despite rejecting any changes to the agreement, the union insisted that they did “not make this decision lightly.”
“Players know first-hand the efforts that were required to complete the abbreviated 2020 season, and we appreciate that significant challenges lie ahead. We look forward to promptly finalizing enhanced health and safety protocols that will help players and clubs meet these challenges,” the MLBPA said.
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