The Washington Nationals are one of two Major League Baseball teams that have imposed a vaccine mandate on staff, not including players. It will likely lead to some departures in the organization.
A source in the Nationals organization told the Washington Examiner that Bob Boone, a former manager and All-Star catcher, had informed staff that he would be resigning. Boone, the father of Yankees manager Aaron Boone, serves as the team’s vice president of player development and as a senior adviser to the general manager, according to the Nationals website.
A pitching coordinator for the team is also set to resign. The source also claimed to be aware of another pitching coach and a front office executive who would step down, with potentially more to come.
The Nationals offered a chance for employees to apply for exemptions, but the source said no exemptions ended up being granted. The Nationals did not confirm this but told the Washington Examiner that “we engaged in an interactive process with each person who requested a medical or religious exemption which included discussions with each individual and a rigorous review of each request by Human Resources, our General Counsel and outside counsel.”
The Nationals also confirmed details of the process and said that employees whose exemptions were denied had until the end of the day on Tuesday, Aug. 31, to provide proof of vaccination or be placed on two weeks of unpaid leave, adding, “At the end of those two weeks — if they have not made any progress toward vaccination — they will be terminated.”
The Nationals and the Astros can’t mandate players to be vaccinated, thanks to the MLB’s collective bargaining agreement. The Nationals had over 85% of their tier 1 employees vaccinated by May, though the team had to postpone a game against the Philadelphia Phillies after 12 players and coaches tested positive for the virus, even though 11 of them had been vaccinated. The team returned to 100% capacity for fans on Jun. 10.
