PORT ST. LUCY. The Yankees’ and Mets’ lack of concern about New York’s private-sector vaccine mandate was justified.
Whether vaccinated or not, they will all be able to play at home as soon as the season starts in two weeks.
Mayor Eric Adams is set to announce on Thursday a relaxation of the workplace vaccination mandate, allowing for an exception for professional athletes and performers at local venues, The Post has confirmed.
Had the mandate not changed before April 7 in the Bronx or April 15 in Queens, several unvaccinated Yankees and Mets could miss home games, as Nets star Kyrie Irving did during the NBA season.
The exact number of unvaccinated Yankees and Mets is not publicly known, but several stars have recently declined to disclose their vaccination status as concerns grew over Adams insisting his decisions would not be dictated by the baseball schedule. The list of players who declined to say whether they were vaccinated included Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Joey Gallo of the Yankees and Jacob de Grom, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Dominic Smith and JD Davis of the Mets.
Buck Showalter and Aaron Boone-Corey Sipkin; NY Post: Charles Wenzelberg
When asked about the cancellation of the mandate, Judge said, “I’m glad Kyrie can play some home games.”
He added that he wasn’t too concerned about the impact it would have on the Yankees.
“Like I told you guys, I didn’t care too much,” Judge said. “I have a lot to do here on the field. If there is no mandate, good for Kyrie and help the Nets a little.”
Aaron Boone didn’t want to solve the problem until it was official.
“We’ll see,” Boone said. “I don’t want to comment on any speculation. I hope it’s not a problem for us.”
As news of the Yankees and Mets vaccination mandate first broke last week, both teams have been waiting to see if the rules will change by opening day. The Yankees also had a team president, Randy Levine, who worked with City Hall and other officials on the issue.
“We’ll look into this as it comes in,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said Tuesday night when asked about the mandate. “There are people in our city who are asked to do something specific, and we don’t count on anything – when this is confirmed and they tell us what to do, we will make adjustments. I understand why we are where we are and we are very respectful of the things they are trying to put in place to protect people.”
In recent days, the number of cases of COVID-19 in New York has increased slightly, but not as much as in winter.
Last season, before New York’s private sector mandate was passed, more than 85 percent of Tier 1 staff (including players, coaches and other staff with access to players) were vaccinated. The Post previously reported that the Mets had a 77 percent vaccination rate for Tier 1 staff, but only about 55 percent of players were vaccinated at some point last season.
The Yankees are still at risk of losing unvaccinated players in their nine games in Toronto this season unless Canadian border restrictions are lifted. Manager Aaron Boon said last week that “at least a few guys” still haven’t been vaccinated and that the situation in Toronto is “worrisome”.
Under current restrictions, unvaccinated Major League Baseball players will not be allowed to play in Toronto. Teams are expected to place these players on a restricted roster instead, using the permission granted by the new collective bargaining agreement to reduce wages and hours.
– Additional report from Dan Martin in Tampa.