Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher David Price announced on Saturday that he has opted out of the 2020 Major League Baseball season. This is due to health and safety concerns for his family regarding COVID-19.
Price is the first Dodgers player to opt out of the season, but the list of players doing so might grow. This may result in a problem for MLB if many more big names decide not to play.
He posted his decision on social media.
“After considerable thought and discussion with my family and the Dodgers, I have decided it is in the best interest of my health and my family’s health for me to not play this season,” wrote Price. “I will miss my teammates and will be cheering for them throughout the season and on to a World Series victory.
“I’m sorry I won’t be playing for you this year, but look forward to representing you next year.”
The President of the Dodgers, Andrew Friedman, said he was in constant contact with Price over the last few weeks. He mentioned that Price had been back and forth on whether or not to play. But the last time they spoke, Friedman thought he was leaning toward playing.
“I think just talking to his family, he kind of arrived at this point,” Friedman said. “And my role in this has been just to support him through it and not have any rooting interest in what is a very personal decision.”
Not Financial
This is obviously not a financial decision at this point. Price has made over $200 million in his career and will forego his $11.8 million salary that he would have made this year. He even gave $1,000 to each of the Dodgers’ minor leaguers in addition to their stipend.
“The guys who do opt out, I understand that,” Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw said. “I get that decision. Everyone is going to have to make individual decisions, and we’re going to support that as a team with whatever happens with our guys.”
Price joins Mike Leake of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Ian Desmond of the Colorado Rockies, and Ryan Zimmerman and Joe Ross of the Washington Nationals as opting out. He is definitely the most prominent name that has decided to sit out of any major sport.
The worry for sports fans is whether or not this will be a growing trend. Leagues might regret a restart if they don’t have their star players. This would shake up the books in Vegas and might make room for a surprising team to do well.
Mike Trout has remained vocal that he has still not decided whether or not he will play in 2020. Price was harmful to MLB, but Trout would be detrimental. He is one of the main faces of MLB, and a season without him would be disappointing.
In the best-case scenario, all of these safety protocols that are put into place limit the number of coronavirus cases. If so, hopefully, most players decide to join the restart.
