Unvaccinated Yankees, Mets Players Can't Play in Home Games Under NYC Mandate

The same vaccine mandate for New York City private sector employers that has made Kyrie Irving ineligible for Brooklyn Nets home games will also apply to unvaccinated New York Yankees and Mets players this upcoming season, per Stefan Bondy and Dennis Young of the New York Daily News. 

Per that report, a city spokesperson "cautioned that mandates could shift with the state of the pandemic, but said that the city would not be carving out individual exceptions. The fact that the baseball teams play outside has no bearing on the mandate."

The Yankees were already facing the prospect of their unvaccinated players being unable to play in Toronto, given Canada's border restrictions for unvaccinated travelers. 

On Sunday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters his team still has "a few guys at least" who are unvaccinated.

"It'll be interesting, to say the least, how that situation unfolds," he added. "I think we still have a few guys at least that aren't vaccinated. So we'll be monitoring that situation closely and see how that plays out. But yeah, it’s a concern."

Between home games and road games in Toronto—along with the two road games against the Mets in New York City—unvaccinated Yankees players would miss 92 games this year unless the NYC and Canadian mandates get lifted. 

Mets players would miss 83 games. 

"We have to worry about the health of almost 9 million people," the city spokesperson told the New York Daily News. "No one is trying to hurt Kyrie Irving or a Yankees player."

Star outfielder Aaron Judge might be one of the Yankees impacted by the mandates. He denied to comment on his vaccination status when asked about it on Tuesday:

Having Judge for only 70 games this season would be an enormous blow for a Yankees team with postseason and championship aspirations. Any unvaccinated player could avoid the potential ordeal by getting the vaccine, though.