Red Sox join list of MLB teams upset at new uniforms, see-through pants

"The pants are super see-through. It’s not professional."

The Red Sox have rolled with the punches so far during spring training. Barry Chin / The Boston Globe

February 25, 2024

2 minutes to read

The top spring-training storyline across MLB has little to do with top free-agent pickups like Shohei Ohtani or blockbuster trade acquisitions like Juan Soto.

Rather, most of the discourse has revolved around MLB’s shoddy new uniforms — with several players and teams complaining about a severe dip in quality and some concerning transparency with the league’s new line of pants.

These new jerseys and pants — designed by Nike and manufactured by Fanatics — have prompted the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) to speak out about the flawed garb.

“It’s disappointing that we’ve landed in a place where the uniforms are the topic of discussion,” MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said Thursday, per ESPN. “Each conversation with the guys is yielding more information with what we’re seeing. … A lot of the rhetoric is confirmation that the pants are see-through. It’s been an ongoing conversation where each day has yielded something new that doesn’t seem to make as much sense as you would like it.”

Sure enough, these concerns about the constitution of MLB’s new “performance” uniforms and pants have been echoed by the Red Sox over the first few weeks of spring training.

“The pants are super see-through. It’s not professional,” Red Sox pitcher (and team union rep) Nick Pivetta told Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald. “I don’t know, I’m not going to complain too much, it’s a big league uniform, but there are little tiny details that used to be better and it seems like they just changed a couple things.”

“I can see my hand straight through this,” Pivetta added when showing Cerullo Boston’s new pants. “That’s probably a big problem if I’m sweating and I’m on TV.”

Red Sox reliever Josh Winckowski also noted last week that limitations as far as sizing with these new jerseys and pants have also drawn consternation from players.

“I think Nike/Fanatics is kind of limiting some of the options that you can do with the pants,” Winckowski said, per Michael Silverman of The Boston Globe. “I think it’s a big issue; there are so many guys in the clubhouse with 36-size waists and you’re going to have long legs, short legs, stocky legs. That’s something that’s gotten overlooked just a little bit.

“It’s hard to tell a guy that’s played in the big leagues 10 years who wore a certain pant that that pant is not available any more.”

An MLB spokesperson noted in a statement that adjustments are being made to things like jersey size, waist, in-seam, thigh fit, and the bottom of pants for multiple MLB players, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers.

Still, it remains to be seen if the complaints regarding the materials and fabrics with these new jerseys and pants will be remedied before the start of the 2024 season.