MLB voting initiatives, and getting the ball rolling

After the Dodgers didn’t play Wednesday night in protest of racial injustice, Mookie Betts said, “There’s a lot going on in the world and change needs to be made. I have to use my platform to at least get the ball rolling.”

In between games of Thursday’s doubleheader, Betts in an interview with Alanna Rizzo on SportsNet LA didn’t divulge details of how he’s getting that ball rolling, but hinted at something in the works.

“There’s a plan in place,” he said. “I want to get it all together before I come out and talk about it.”

Among the commitments agreed to Friday by the NBA and its players association, after similar protests this week, were to set up league arenas as voting places and/or helping to increase voter registration and awareness.

Two weeks ago, Dodger Stadium was announced the first major league stadium to serve as a voting location for the presidential election in November, a project in which LeBron James and Dodgers pitcher David Price were a part.

According to Bill Shaikin at the Los Angeles Times, it sounds like Major League Baseball has league-wide plans coming soon:

MLB has joined the Civic Alliance, a group of more than 100 major companies working to expand voting rights and secure polling places. The league expects to announce a variety of initiatives next week, working with players and teams to promote voter education, registration, and civic engagement.

The league plans to go beyond ballpark polling places by reaching out to fans and even families, through the boys and girls that participate in the youth programs sponsored by MLB.

Whether Betts’ plans are a part of MLB’s general efforts remains to be seen. But the ball at least appears to be rolling, as promised.

Links & notes

• Eric Longenhagen at FanGraphs looked for teams with potential 40-man crunches that could lead to Rule 5 exposure in December. He noted the Dodgers were in a good spot, and among his players the team “must add” to the 40-man roster in November are pitchers Gerardo Carrillo, Andre Jackson, and Brett de Geus, the first two of which are currently in the Dodgers’ 60-player pool.
• Major League Baseball submitted a formal proposal to reorganize and run Minor League Baseball, J.J. Cooper at Baseball America reported.
• Doug Glanville at ESPN offered five things MLB can do now to confront systemic racism.
• In the latest data released by MLB and the MLBPA, there were two positive COVID-19 tests in the week ending Thursday, both by staff members. Since intake testing for summer camp began, this was the first week with no positive tests by an MLB player.