The MLB season is finally about to begin next week, but not everyone will participate. As part of the agreement between MLB and the players association, any player who wishes to opt out of playing this year may do so. To date, 12 have made the decision to stay home this year.
The rationales behind each of their decisions are verified and personal. Some have been very public about their reasons while others have kept it close to the vest. What they all have in common is that they’re making the best choice they can for themselves and their families. As such, they deserve respect. Health and well-being matter more than baseball. However, their absences will have an impact on the field, and we’ll dig into that for each player.
Welington Castillo — Catcher, Washington Nationals
The defending champions are hit harder by opt-outs than any other team. Castillo is one of three players sitting out the season, but he’s probably the easiest of the three to replace. The ten-year veteran backstop has homered 98 times over the past six seasons despite inconsistent playing time. However, he recorded only a .304 on-base percentage over that span, making him rather one-dimensional at the plate. His defense rates poorly as well. Baseball Prospectus ranked him the second-worst defensive catcher in MLB last year out of 123 players.
In all likelihood, Castillo wasn’t going to make the team. After spending the past two years with the White Sox, he signed a minor league contract with Washington in February with a Spring Training invitation. They returned their veteran catching tandem of Yan Gomes and Kurt Suzuki on major league contracts. Barring injury, Castillo was merely intended to audition for the rest of the league in March. Still, the Nationals now lack a reliable third catcher in their player pool. They have invited four more catchers to Summer Camp instead: Tres Barrera, Taylor Gushue, Raudy Read, and Jackson Reetz. If Castillo had attended camp, the Nationals’ player pool would likely look much different.
Ian Desmond — First Base/Outfield, Colorado Rockies
As he explained in a powerful, passionate Instagram post, which everyone is strongly encouraged to read, Desmond’s decision to opt out has as much to do with the racial tensions and social unrest in America as it does with the pandemic. He intends to spend the year off making youth baseball more accessible and welcoming to everyone so that others can have the same opportunities he had as a boy. Time well spent.
Desmond’s days as a Silver Slugger and All-Star shortstop are long over. In three years in Colorado, he’s compiled just a .313 on-base percentage. His OPS+ is 82, meaning his overall offensive production is 18% below league average. Nevertheless, he would have been an important cog in the thin Colorado outfield depth chart. Charlie Blackmon and David Dahl are their two best outfielders, but the former is recovering from coronavirus and the latter has never played more than 100 games in a season. It’s not a coincidence that the team signed Matt Kemp after Desmond opted out.
Félix Hernández — Starting Pitcher, Atlanta Braves
After 15 memorable years with the Mariners, seeing King Félix wear any other uniform would’ve taken some adjustment. The 34-year-old former ace signed a minor league deal with the Braves prior to Spring Training. While he may have won a Cy Young award and made six All-Star teams in Seattle, his reign fizzled out with 5.55 and 6.40 ERAs over the past two seasons. His fastball averaged 95.8 mph as a 19-year-old rookie in 2005 but slumped to merely 89.6 mph in 2019.
Is this the end of the line for Hernández? It would have been hard to envision him cracking the Braves’ starting rotation. If he had made the team at all, it would’ve likely been as a long reliever. Atlanta won the NL East last year with 97 wins and figures to be competitive once again. That’s not the kind of team that can use roster spots on reclamation projects, regardless of sentimentality. Hopefully, he can resurrect his career to some extent in 2021.
Jordan Hicks — Reliever, St. Louis Cardinals
It’s not hard to recognize Hicks’ appeal. His fastball averaged 101.1 mph in 2019, joining Aroldis Chapman and Andrés Muñoz as the only pitchers in MLB to average triple digits. There have been 73 pitches clocked at 103 mph or higher over the past two years, and 60 of them were thrown by Hicks. He touched 105 on the radar gun in May 2018.
Unfortunately, with great power comes great strain on the elbow, and he underwent Tommy John surgery last June. It’s unlikely he would’ve been ready for the delayed Opening Day anyway. He probably would’ve pitched at some point this season though, so the Cardinals bullpen will be a little bit thinner.
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By Daniel R. Epstein | Last updated 7/17/20
