Yankees: Britton won’t put pressure on mates for shot
TAMPA — The Yankees have three weeks left to figure out a way to make sure their unvaccinated players can take the field on Opening Day in The Bronx.
At least for now, they say they are not sweating New York City’s private-sector workplace mandate that would keep those unvaccinated players — of which the Yankees have
“a few guys at least,” according to manager Aaron Boone — from being allowed to play at Yankee Stadium.
“That’s something [team president] Randy Levine is intimately in- volved with and working through that, so that’s something right now that’s above my pay grade,” Boone said Wednesday. “I’m not really concerned with it right now.
“I still think there’s a lot up in the air and a lot left to play out. We’ll just see. … When it comes time that we have to address it, we will.”
It’s a refrain that sounds similar to what the Nets have been saying in recent weeks about Kyrie Irving’s potential availability at Barclays Center, thus far to no avail.
The Yankees have Levine working with City Hall “and all other appropriate officials” on the matter, they said. But Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday, “I’m not going to be rushed in based on a season schedule.”
“Those discussions have really just begun, so let’s let them get through the process,” Hal Steinbrenner said Wednesday. “I think we all hope that [there will be a resolution].”
Levine declined to comment on those discussions.
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association are also working with city officials in New York, according to Yankees reliever Zack Britton, a member of the MLBPA executive subcommittee.
“I was aware of what was going on with Kyrie, but for some reason, I thought because we were an outdoor sport, it wasn’t gonna apply to us,” said right-hander Jameson Taillon, the team’s union representative. “Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, we can figure something out. Obviously we’d love to have everyone on the field. But it’s a sticky subject, too, talking about guys’ personal choices and stuff.”
The Yankees have not said which of their players are still unvaccinated. Aaron Judge declined to answer when asked on Tuesday, insisting he wasn’t worried about the city mandate because things could change. He had the same message when approached on Wednesday.
The team also agreed Tuesday night to a deal with Anthony Rizzo — who revealed last season that he was not vaccinated. It is not clear whether the first baseman has since gotten the shot.
The unvaccinated Yankees are also at risk of missing nine games against the Blue Jays in Toronto because of Canadian border restrictions. But Britton made it clear that players won’t force each other to get the vaccine even if mandates are not ultimately lifted.
“What I do is what I do,” Britton said. “Whatever other guys do, I don’t think there’s any pressure to tell a guy they need to get vaccinated or not get vaccinated. It’s a personal choice. We’ll deal with whatever the consequences are — if that’s what you want to say — in the city and Canada when we get to it. There’s a few weeks left for guys.”