Major League Baseball plans to address its uniform fiasco after changes this spring to the standard jerseys and pants led to widespread complaints from players and fans, according to a memo obtained Sunday night by ESPN.

The prominent modifications include a return to larger lettering on the back of jerseys, remedying mismatched gray tops and bottoms and addressing the new Nike jerseys’ propensity to collect sweat, according to the memo distributed to players by the MLB Players Association on Sunday.

The changes, which will happen at the latest by the beginning of the 2025 season, will also include fixes to the pants, widely panned this spring for being see-through.

The union informed players of the coming changes in a letter that placed the blame on Nike and the debut of its Vapor Premier uniform, which was advertised for its superior performance but remains disliked by players.

“This has been entirely a Nike issue,” the memo to players read. “At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn’t need to be innovated.”

The union also absolved Fanatics, the manufacturer of the uniform that has received the majority of public scorn for the uniform mess, saying the company “recognizes the vital importance of soliciting Player feedback, obtaining Player buy-in and not being afraid to have difficult conversations about jerseys or trading cards. Our hope is that, moving forward, Nike will take a similar approach.”

While the new uniformed debuted at the 2023 All-Star Game, its rollout this spring led to reams of bad publicity. The shrinking of the letter size on players’ name plates gave jerseys an amateur look. The pants — which, according to the memo, will “return to the higher quality zipper used in 2023” — had myriad issues, including the see-through fabric, a lack of tailoring and rips and tears that players believed unnecessary.

Nike’s partnership with MLB began in 2019, when it took over as the league’s official uniform supplier as part of a 10-year, $1 billion deal for MLB. Fanatics has partnerships with the league and the union, both of which have invested in the company and own small stakes.

“We cautioned Nike against various changes when they previewed them in 2022, particularly regarding pants,” the union memo read. “MLB had been, and has been, aware of our concerns as well. Unfortunately, until recently Nike’s position has essentially boiled down to — ‘nothing to see here, Players will need to adjust.'”

MLB declined to comment. Nike did not offer immediate comment when reached by ESPN. Fanatics did not respond to a request for comment. The MLBPA declined to comment.

The Boston Red Sox added first baseman/outfielder Garrett Cooper to the major league roster and designated utility player Pablo Reyes for assignment on Monday.

The Red Sox acquired Cooper from the Chicago Cubs on Saturday for cash considerations.

Cooper, 33, was designated for assignment by the Cubs last week after hitting .270 with a home run and six RBIs in 12 games. His playing time was limited with the emergence of Michael Busch.

Boston has playing time available at first base with Triston Casas (ribs) currently on the injured list.

In eight seasons with three different clubs, Cooper is a .268 hitter with 57 home runs and 228 RBIs in 493 games. He combined to hit 17 home runs with 61 RBIs in 123 games for the San Diego Padres and Miami Marlins last season.

He replaces Reyes on the 26-man active roster. Reyes is batting .183 with five RBIs and 19 strikeouts in 21 games this season.

Reyes, 30, is a career .248 hitter with eight homers and 54 RBIs in 232 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates (2018-19), Milwaukee Brewers (2021-22) and Red Sox. He missed the 2020 season after being suspended for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

The first week-plus of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs has already provided much in the way of excitement and bone-crunching action. The average playoff game has featured 89.5 combined hits by both teams — nearly double the league average (45.5) from the regular season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

With so much chaos, there are plenty of teams that have exceeded — or fallen short of — expectations already.

For instance, the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights have been mighty impressive, taking a 2-1 lead over a Dallas Stars team that had led the league in goal differential during the regular season. But on the disappointing side, the Toronto Maple Leafs have fallen behind 3-1 in their series against the Boston Bruins, and the Los Angeles Kings are in a 3-1 hole versus the Edmonton Oilers.

Let’s run through the clubs that fit into each category, based on their playoff goal differentials as compared with what we’d expect from their pre-series power ratings and their opponent’s (adjusting for home-ice advantage). We’ll also highlight a player who has contributed to the state of his team, for good or bad, in the playoffs thus far.

We’ll start with the positive side of things. Here are three teams that have impressed the most: