Longtime San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey announced today he will opt out of playing the abbreviated 2020 MLB season.
Posey, 33, and his wife Kristen adopted newborn baby twins who were born prematurely and will be in NICU for an extended period of time. While Posey did not mention COVID-19 given the current fragility of their condition it was surely no small factor in his decision. Posey had previously stated having reservations about playing this season.
The Georgia born Posey has spent his entire professional career with the Giants winning NL Rookie of the Year in 2010 and NL MVP in 2012. Posey has been named to 6 NL All-Star Teams and earned three World Series rings. In recent years, Posey's offensive production has declined batting a career low .257 in 2019. However, Posey has a lifetime batting average of .302 with 140 HR and 673 RBI in 1258 career games.
Posey is the 11th player to opt out of partaking in the 2020 MLB season. The ten others are Mike Leake of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Ian Desmond of the Colorado Rockies, Ryan Zimmerman, Joe Ross and Wellington Castillo of the Washington Nationals, free agent pitcher Tyson Ross, Felix Hernandez and Nick Markakis of the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher David Price and Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Hector Noesi.
Curiously all 11 players are from National League teams.
Less than two weeks remain before Opening Day on July 23rd. Will there be a torrent of players to follow in the coming days? Or will it be a trickle? It may depend on whether players carry pockets full of Posey.
No comments:
Post a Comment