Major League Baseball is doing their best to ensure that the postseason goes off without a COVID related hitch. They have decreed that any non-player personnel, including managers and coaches, will need to be vaccinated in order to be on the diamond once the MLB postseason begins. While there are several players who have been outspoken against getting vaccinated, this was not expected to be an issue amongst managers and coaches.
So much for that idea. According to Jon Heyman, there is one potential playoff team whose manager remains unvaccinated. If that remains the case, he would not be able to guide his team through the playoffs.
One MLB manager on a contending team remains unvaccinated, and to participate in the postseason and be near players, MLB says managers, coaches, staff must get an mRNA shot by Oct. 4 and have 2nd scheduled. That manager has to make a decision. @Ken_Rosenthal 1st on new MLB decree
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) September 18, 2021
Unvaccinated MLB manager may not be able to manage in postseason
While Heyman does not name the manager or team, that is not likely to stop any speculation. Likewise, it makes one wonder if the team as a whole has reached the desired 85% vaccination threshold. There were still seven teams that had not done so, which makes this information a bit more intriguing.
This leaves that team in a difficult situation. Presuming that the manager sticks to his guns and refuses to be vaccinated, the team could have a neophyte attempting to guide them through the postseason. While every future manager needs to have that first game at some time, the pressure of the MLB postseason, where every move will be scrutinized in minute detail, may not be the best time for that.
Likewise, the manager has a tough decision to make. He will have to weigh his reasons to not get the vaccine against the chance to manage in the postseason. No matter how good of a team he may have, or how bright of a future the franchise possesses, reaching the playoffs is never a given – just ask the 2021 Padres.
The chase for the postseason already has plenty of drama. The second Wild Card spot in both leagues is hotly contested with multiple teams having a viable chance to reach the playoffs. That is the type of drama that the league wants to be focusing on, instead of whether or not one of the managers on a possible playoff team will get the vaccine.
One of the managers of a possible MLB playoff team remains unvaccinated. Either that will need to change, or he will be home for the postseason.