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Big Stars Are Sitting Out the MLB Season. Other Players Have No Choice but to Play.
The choice about whether to take part in the pandemic-shortened baseball season is a difficult one for players with less financial cushion
The Giants' Buster Posey is the latest big-name player to skip this season because of concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.
PHOTO: JEFF CHIU/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Buster Posey, the star catcher for the San Francisco Giants, has earned around $125 million in salary during his 11-year Major League Baseball career. His contract extends at least through 2021, ensuring him nearly $25 million more, not to mention the endorsement and other opportunities that come with being one of the most popular players in the sport.
So when faced with a dilemma over whether to take part in the pandemic-shortened baseball season scheduled to begin next week, the answer was clear. Worried about the possibility of catching and passing on the coronavirus to the newborn twin girls he and his wife just adopted, Posey opted to stay home, forgoing about $7.9 million in prorated compensation.
“This ultimately wasn’t that difficult a decision for me,” Posey said.
The calculation isn’t quite so simple for everybody. Under the terms of an agreement by MLB and its players’ union, any player can decline to participate in the upcoming season over health concerns. But only those deemed to be at “high risk” of serious illness will be paid and accrue valuable service time, which determines when players become eligible for salary arbitration and free agency.
It has made MLB a gilded microcosm of America at large, as businesses around the country reopen and employees wrestle with how to safely return to the office. Those with the biggest financial cushion and the most comfortable job security can be as cautious as they want in determining how to proceed. Everybody else has little choice but to go back to work and potentially risk contracting Covid-19—or suffer long-term financial hardship.
As of Friday morning, 13 players have said they would sit out this season. Only one of them, St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Jordan Hicks, is known to be considered “high risk,” because he has Type 1 diabetes.
Of the remaining 12, half of them, including Nick Markakis of the Atlanta Braves, Mike Leake of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Ian Desmond of the Colorado Rockies, have already accumulated the 10 years of service needed to lock in their full pensions. Five of them, including Félix Hernández of the Braves, Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals and David Price of the Los Angeles Dodgers, have made $115 million or more in total salary. All but three have earned at least $25 million as major leaguers.
Dodgers pitcher David Price has opted out of the 2020 season.
PHOTO: RICK SCUTERI/REUTERS
“I think some more players will opt out,” Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo said. “We are in a pandemic. We are all at risk.”
Markakis cited an “eye-opening” conversation with Freddie Freeman—a teammate who experienced symptoms after contracting Covid-19—as the reason he’s giving up the $1.5 million he was owed in 2020. Zimmerman mentioned his three young children and high-risk mother. Price simply said, “It is in the best interest of my health and my family’s health” to skip the season.
Other players say they might have considered opting out themselves if they had the status and bank accounts of some of their richer, more established peers. Though the average MLB salary is around $4 million, close to two-thirds of players make $1 million or less. Younger players who bounce between the majors and minors don’t come close to that amount.
Consider the case of Cincinnati Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani. His wife is pregnant, leaving him to wonder if he should opt out. He quickly concluded he couldn’t: He needs to play this season to reach six years of MLB service, allowing him to become a free agent and seek a long-term contract that would secure his financial future. Since his debut in 2014, he has earned about $5 million in salary, with another $2.2 million due this year.
DeSclafani, who posted a 3.89 ERA in 31 starts last season, is already 30, putting him on the older side in the eyes of teams seeking pitching help. Opting out this year and becoming a free agent a year later could cost him millions.
“This is a big year for me having to pitch and play and get my service time,” DeSclafani said. “Being a free agent [this winter], there’s really no other option,”
For Brock Holt, the stakes are probably even higher. A 32-year-old utility man for the Milwaukee Brewers, Holt also thought about sitting out, because his wife is expected to give birth in September. The thought didn’t last long.
With his salary prorated over 60 games, Holt is supposed to make about $926,000 this season—not insignificant given his career earnings of roughly $9 million. More important, the Brewers have an option on his contract for next season that, if exercised, would net him $5 million. He feared that as a career bench player, sitting out would have devastating repercussions.
“If I didn’t play this year, my baseball career would be over,” Holt said. “If I were in a different situation contractually, it definitely would’ve been something I considered.”
Officials from MLB and the players’ union say they don’t anticipate widespread opt-outs as the season gets under way. But the right to opt out gives certain players an unprecedented opportunity to retaliate against their employers for one of the most controversial tactics in the sport’s contentious labor relations: service time manipulation.
Houston center fielder George Springer will reach six years of service after three days on the Astros’ roster this season.
PHOTO: ERIK WILLIAMS/REUTERS
Teams will frequently keep top prospects in the minor leagues just long enough to ensure it takes them essentially seven full seasons to accrue the required six years of service to reach free agency. Back in 2014, the Houston Astros waited about two weeks into the season before promoting outfielder George Springer to the majors, long enough to keep him under their control through 2020.
Now Springer is on the cusp of free agency. He’ll reach six years of service after three days on the Astros’ roster this season. If Springer wanted, he could opt out at that point and still hit the open market this year. Trevor Bauer of the Reds, Marcus Stroman of the New York Mets and James Paxton of the New York Yankees are other prominent players currently days away from becoming free agents.
Asked about this recently, Paxton said, “I’m here to play.”
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Write to Jared Diamond at jared.diamond@wsj.com
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