Representatives from the umpires and the Major League Baseball Players Association are scheduled to hold a one-day meeting Sunday in Ft. Myers, Fla., largely to discuss the perceived problems in the relationship between the umpires and players.
Major League Baseball officials Rob Manfred, who confirmed the meeting, and Joe Torre also will be in attendance.
The players and umpires had been scheduled to meet at the Winter Meetings in December, but a family death for one of the principals involved in this led to the postponement of that get-together.
The idea was sparked by the Major League Baseball Players Association after it received an increased number of complaints from players last season about umpires.
Last season, multiple players told ESPN.com's Amy K. Nelson that tensions had increased with umpires. They also are concerned about a lack of transparency when umpires are evaluated.
"We never know why or when they are fined, or reprimanded or held accountable," Oakland Athletics reliever and player union representative Brad Ziegler told ESPN.com last October. "Anytime a player is punished, suspended or sent down to the minors, the public knows about it. It would be a lot easier to communicate with umpires if everyone was held to similar standards. Our statistics as players are a lot more quantifiable than the umpires'."
Increased attention on umpires has been a byproduct of recent high-profile mistakes and the advent of high-definition television, at-home replays and advances in technology within stadiums. During the 2010 postseason, calls were isolated by players, the media and announcers as being problematic. Calls for a change in instant-replay policy have been renewed.
