Texas Rangers open season in Toronto without unvaccinated players, per Canadian law
The Texas Rangers’ 2022 season begins April 8 in Toronto and they might not have their entire roster available.
Canada’s border is still closed to visitors who have not yet received the COVID-19 vaccine. That includes any unvaccinated MLB players.
Team officials, including club president Jon Daniels, general manager Chris Young, and manager Chris Woodward, spoke to the media for the first time Friday morning since the 99-day lockout ended Thursday.
Players on MLB rosters are asked to be in spring training camp by Sunday. About a dozen Rangers players arrived at camp on Friday, Daniels said.
The Rangers expect to have the entire 40-man roster on hand by Sunday, except for Yerry Rodriguez, who might be a day or two late because of visa issues, Daniels said.
Unvaccinated played will be placed on MLB’s restricted list when their teams travel to Toronto. Those players would receive no pay or service time for the length of the series in Canada.
The club had not been able to talk to players since the lockout started on Dec. 2, so the vaccine status of the entire roster was not yet known as of Friday morning, Daniels said.
The Rangers Tier 1 players and staff were above 85% vaccinated as of June. But the club has seen substantial roster changes in the ensuing months
“That’s one of the things we’re assessing as they come in,” he said. “We don’t have all of the details on that yet.”
Young said the Rangers will take it slow in camp at first, especially with anyone dealing with injury rehabilitation.
“Once they report, putting them through a physical assessment beyond the normal physical to really wrap our heads around what they’re prepared to do as they enter the field,” he said. “It has been a big priority for us … just understanding where our players are and making sure we don’t do too much too fast. That we put them in the best position to take the field over the next two weeks.”
The Rangers first full-squad workout is scheduled for Monday.
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 1:57 PM.
