Reports: Nats VP Boone resigns over COVID vaccine mandate originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Nationals vice president Bob Boone has resigned from his position in Washington’s front office after refusing to comply with their coronavirus vaccination mandate, according to multiple reports. The team reportedly required all non-playing, full-time employees to provide proof of vaccination by Saturday.
The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty reported Wednesday that Boone declined to go on unpaid administrative leave, parting ways with the club after 16 years. Boone, the father of New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, oversaw the Nationals’ player development and served as a senior advisor to President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo.
In addition to Boone, two other scouts will no longer be employed by the Nationals over refusal to comply with the vaccine mandate. The Nationals and Houston Astros were the first teams in Major League Baseball to make the COVID vaccine a condition of employment, following the footsteps of teams from other sports such as the NBA and NFL.
No players in MLB or any other of the aforementioned sports leagues have yet to be required to receive the vaccine. If the league plans to enforce a mandate in 2022, it will have to secure an agreement with the MLBPA first.
The Washington Examiner’s Zachary Faria was the first to report Boone was resigning.