Fanatics 'dropped the ball' on jersey of Mariners' Michael Chavis
The new Fanatics uniforms have not gotten strong approval from MLB players. Seattle Mariners infielder Michael Chavis may have the biggest gripe of anyone.
Chavis posted a picture of his Mariners jersey online on Tuesday. Quality control was not paying any attention when the jersey went out the door — his name and number are both off-center. It looks more like a junior high jersey than anything that should be on a professional diamond.
Fanatics did not help themselves when responding to Chavis. Not only did their social media team admit that they "dropped the ball," but they did not realize they were speaking to the player about his official uniform.
While the response was deleted, Chavis posted a screenshot of the reply.
Complaints about the new uniforms began from the moment pitchers and catchers arrived at spring training.
Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reported that Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas said the uniforms do not fit right. Another unnamed Cardinals player said they "look cheap."
The complaints have been constant from every team. Sam Blum from The Athletic reported that the MLBPA is getting involved due to the firestorm to see if adjustments can be made.
Fanatics does not have the best reputation when it comes to quality. There is even an X account dedicated to calling out their issues.
The inability to get the uniforms on the diamond right only feeds into that perception. The MLB can put out all the videos they want of players praising these uniforms, but they are all sponsored by Nike, the company working with Fanatics. Something has to be done.
Michael Chavis' jersey exemplified the problems with Fanatics producing professional uniforms. The MLB cannot stick their heads in the sand and pretend that nothing is wrong.
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