Giants wide receiver Buster Posey has decided not to participate in the 2020 season, he announced today in a Zoom call with reporters. Posey explained that he and his wife have adopted twins who were born prematurely.
They are in stable condition but will be in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for now. Both manager Gabe Kapler and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi have expressed their full support for Posey in his decision.
“With these babies as fragile as they are, for at least the next four months,” Posey said, the decision was easy from a family perspective. The former NL Rookie of the Year and MVP acknowledged that from a pure baseball standpoint, the decision to stay out of season weighed heavily on him, but he feels strongly that he is making the best decision for his family. Posey had been absent from the giants’ summer camp for the past two days.
Although Posey is not a high-risk individual, his decision serves as another reminder that there is much more to consider than individual well-being when it comes to the current pandemic. We have seen many players with family decisions deal with the same problems that are articulately described in their announcement. Ryan Zimmerman was the first player of his type to withdraw with those concerns in mind, but Posey now becomes the 10th veteran to do so. Others, including Sean Doolittle and Mike Trout, have expressed some reservations about playing due to concerns within their own families.
Because the pose is not high-risk, you will not receive service time in 2020 and will not be paid the prorated version of your salary of $ 21.4MM (approximately $ 7.9MM). His absence will leave a considerable hole in the team’s clubhouse, a fact both Zaidi and Kapler have emphasized, and it will also leave the Giants very thin behind the plate. Presumptive backup Aramis Garcia underwent hip surgery that could sideline him for the entire season, and the only other receivers in the organization to have called up a major league game are Rob Brantly and Tyler Heineman.
True, the Giants have one of the best catch prospects in MLB, 2018 No. 2 overall pick Joey Bart, but he has yet to play a game above Double-A (where he played in just 22 games last season. ). Posey’s absence could certainly open the door for Bart, but Zaidi also cautioned against expecting Bart to be pushed into a starring role (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly):
“This is a difficult environment to evaluate young players when you came in thinking they needed more competitive representatives in Double-A or Triple-A.”
The Giants will add another receiver to their pool of players, Zaidi continued (via the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea), either an outside acquisition or a promotion within the Giants ranks. There aren’t many notable free agents who haven’t been signed. Russell Martin is a notable exception and was said to be looking for a team in February, although what has happened since then may have altered his plans. Veteran Jesús Sucre was also unsigned this winter, and the Dodgers recently released José Lobatón.
Given the meager supply in free agency, the Giants could simply stay home or look to acquire an off-roster veteran who is in camp with another club. (GG) (Taken Rumors MLB.COM)