When a really good NBA prospect is drafted, the question is which sneaker company is going to sign him. Invariably, it is Nike, and we see the shoe company put out new designs for those players. Inevitably, that leads to a rush of purchases for those exclusive sneakers, and it does lead to that players’ profile being raised even higher.

For other sports, this doesn’t work quite as well. While NBA players wear sneakers, which people, especially children, can wear everyday, you can’t wear cleats or skates on an everyday basis. So, to that end, other sports need to find a way to better market players and their equipment. If you look towards Marcus Stroman and Francisco Lindor, the answer to that might just be baseball mitts.

On-field options. ? @RawlingsSports @_shugo pic.twitter.com/MOC5dEZT0p

— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) March 3, 2021

It’s final in Jupiter. #Mets pic.twitter.com/k18oSL1MIR

— New York Mets (@Mets) March 1, 2021

It used to be baseball mitts were basically two to three colors. There was the tan, the brown, and the black. Now, we are starting to see many more colors on the field as players begin to express their personality more. It is not just through the bat flips and celebrations. It is increasingly by what they wear when they take the field.

When it comes to fans, they love this, and when it comes to kids, they want to be just like their favorite players. That’s why they want to wear their favorite players jerseys and shirseys. If there was a special mitt out there, they may well go out there and try to get their parents to buy that too.

Yes, many players have their signature in baseball mitts. If you go to Dicks right now, you can go get your Mike Trout baseball mitt. It is just like the mitts they had 30 years ago where the only real defining characteristic was the signature. If you are Rawlings or another company, you could go out and change that.

Every year, you could have a release of the new fashion designed mitts for their top MLB players. They can make specially designed mitts for each player, and they could send that out to the market. For children, who need a new glove every few years (if not more), this could lead them to try to get a new one each year. The same could be said for older players who need to replace them more for wear or tear reasons.

This could very well be a unique opportunity for baseball companies to market MLB players. They could have a release during Spring Training or at some point during the offseason. Will it reach the height of the sneaker releases, no, but it doesn’t have to reach those levels. Rather, all they need to do is just raise the visibility of the product and the players.

If they can successfully pull this off, MLB players could see their popularity increase, and baseball equipment companies could very well see their product lines sell more. After all, what little Mets fan wouldn’t be running to the stores begging their parents to buy them the new Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto, Jacob deGrom, Lindor, or Stroman mitt as Little League seasons are about a month or so away?