Comprehensive List of Opt-Out Players

[urban2014 1,742]

Not a best player but he is pretty good 

[CooL 3,281]

3 hours ago, Sidearmer said:

 

Meh.  Yeah, he was an all star two years ago.  But the fact is he's in a crowded outfield and the Brave signed Ozuna so he wasn't going to play a lot anyway.  Veterans who have been in the game a long time have already made their money and likely are playing for legacy/fun versus needing money.

[My Dinner With Andre 5,826]

56 minutes ago, CooL said:

Meh.  Yeah, he was an all star two years ago.  But the fact is he's in a crowded outfield and the Brave signed Ozuna so he wasn't going to play a lot anyway.  Veterans who have been in the game a long time have already made their money and likely are playing for legacy/fun versus needing money.

Is there even such a thing as “legacy” anymore in baseball?

[MrWannaBee 94]

2 hours ago, My Dinner With Andre said:

Is there even such a thing as “legacy” anymore in baseball?

more COVID out there now than in the beginning. How they going to play baseball?

[countseth 276]

Buster Posey has opted out. 
 

Let’s review some basic items we’ve discovered so far:

1) Opt-outs have slowed. 
This was to be expected. Most players who would opt out would do so fairly early. That’s what happened. Some more may still opt out, but there are less opt outs each few days, it seems. 
 

2) No “elite” players have opted out yet. David Price was the most fantasy-relevant player, and he’s not a top 40 player, or probably even a top 100 (haven’t looked at ADP recently, but I think he was outside the top 100).

3) Identifying players who benefit from opt-outs is mostly speculation and probably not all that useful. 
 

4) Total players testing positive is fairly low, overall. With quarantine procedures in place, things are going more or less as the league probably expected. 
 

I think I’m comfortable with things so far. Things may still get out of control, but I’m actually feeling decent about a season happening, completing, and having most of its stars play. 

[The Big Bat Theory 8,028]

To add details to Buster Posey's decision:

Quote

Buster Posey has opted out of the 2020 season.

Posey shared that he and his wife recently adopted identical twin girls who were born prematurely, which, understandably, played a large role in his decision to opt out. He is the most well-known position player to opt out to this point. Aramis Garcia is the only other catcher currently on the Giants' 40-man roster and he isn't expected to play this season following hip surgery. It could potentially open things up for Joey Bart to debut in 2020, although probably not initially.

Source: Andrew Baggarly on Twitter                Jul 10, 2020, 12:10 PM ET

I actually think more players will opt out as we move forward and that there has been a LOT of positive tests coming back for players including those not called positive yet but instead have "not yet reported" etc.  A LOT more than I expected anyway and the numbers will increase.

Edited July 10, 2020 by The Big Bat Theory

[JE7HorseGod 2,766]

21 minutes ago, The Big Bat Theory said:

To add details to Buster Posey's decision:

I actually think more players will opt out as we move forward and that there has been a LOT of positive tests coming back for players including those not called positive yet but instead have "not yet reported" etc.  A LOT more than I expected anyway and the numbers will increase.

I guess it depends on what your expectations were.

To me so far the number of positive tests results and players who have decided to opt out are much less than what I was figuring, at least so far.

[countseth 276]

My sense is that most players planning to opt out have already done so. We’re less than 2 weeks away from the first games being played. A few more may be on the fence and a few may have their minds changed, but my guess is that there won’t be too many more fantasy-relevant names drop out. 
 

The big question will be if players can avoid infection when traveling. The travel seems like it may expose lots of players to a much greater degree, so you may see an increase in positive tests in the first two weeks of the season. And if that happens, maybe more players drop out. 

[JE7HorseGod 2,766]

56 minutes ago, countseth said:

My sense is that most players planning to opt out have already done so. We’re less than 2 weeks away from the first games being played. A few more may be on the fence and a few may have their minds changed, but my guess is that there won’t be too many more fantasy-relevant names drop out. 
 

The big question will be if players can avoid infection when traveling. The travel seems like it may expose lots of players to a much greater degree, so you may see an increase in positive tests in the first two weeks of the season. And if that happens, maybe more players drop out. 

Yeah I think we all know the chances of getting through this season without players testing positive after July 24th are going to be pretty slim.  Hopefully we'll never see anything like this again, but it'll be interesting...

[2ndCitySox 4,971]

Add Kopech. Personal reasons. Apparently anxiety.

[The Big Bat Theory 8,028]

42 minutes ago, 2ndCitySox said:

Add Kopech. Personal reasons. Apparently anxiety.

Why do you say anxiety?  I don't see anywhere that that is cited.  If you mean by that that he has health issue concerns during a pandemic I call that having basic common sense, not anxiety:

Quote

Michael Kopech will not participate in the 2020 season, the White Sox announced Friday.

“Michael Kopech has informed us of his decision to not participate in the 2020 season," reads the statement from White Sox general manager Rick Hahn. "We recognize that reaching this decision is incredibly difficult for any competitive athlete, and our organization is understanding and supportive. We will work with Michael to assure his development continues throughout 2020, and we look forward to welcoming him back into our clubhouse for the 2021 season." Kopech was in the hunt for a starting rotation spot this year in Chicago after sitting out all of 2019 following Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery. The 24-year-old could line up as a post-hype fantasy sleeper for 2021 after consecutive lost seasons.

Source: Scott Merkin on Twitter              Jul 10, 2020, 6:02 PM ET

 

[MrWannaBee 94]

2 hours ago, JE7HorseGod said:

Yeah I think we all know the chances of getting through this season without players testing positive after July 24th are going to be pretty slim.  Hopefully we'll never see anything like this again, but it'll be interesting...

Time for players and owners to pack it in. Plan for 2021 hopefully.

[2ndCitySox 4,971]

2 hours ago, The Big Bat Theory said:

Why do you say anxiety?  I don't see anywhere that that is cited.  If you mean by that that he has health issue concerns during a pandemic I call that having basic common sense, not anxiety:

 

Local sports radio had discussed that was a cause. He was iffy a couple of weeks ago. Like actual psychological anxiety. However, I dont know their source other than what they may have heard from the Sox. Ill research. 

 

From Jan: https://670thescore.radio.com/media/audio-channel/michael-kopech-on-personal-struggles-with-anxiety-depression

 

And https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2020/7/10/21320550/white-sox-michael-kopech-to-miss-2020-season

 

 

The anxiety thing seems to be speculative at this point, but ultimately it doesn't matter. He is out for 2020. Here's to him being full beast mode in 2021. 

Edited July 11, 2020 by 2ndCitySox

[KingJoffrey 956]

It’s stuff like this that makes me question why I’m playing fantasy this year.. I love the game .. the real game and fantasy and it’s made me some extra money over the years. But maybe I’m just being stubborn.

 

its only July 10 and there’s two weeks left Until the season starts and there’s plenty of time for more opt outs. Players opting out and players getting Corona on top of the usual baseball related injuries.

[JE7HorseGod 2,766]

3 hours ago, MrWannaBee said:

Time for players and owners to pack it in. Plan for 2021 hopefully.

Been hearing this since March.

Yet it seems like we're two weeks away from baseball now from my vantage point.

[2ndCitySox 4,971]

1 hour ago, KingJoffrey said:

It’s stuff like this that makes me question why I’m playing fantasy this year.. I love the game .. the real game and fantasy and it’s made me some extra money over the years. But maybe I’m just being stubborn.

 

its only July 10 and there’s two weeks left Until the season starts and there’s plenty of time for more opt outs. Players opting out and players getting Corona on top of the usual baseball related injuries.

Yeah its a trash year for fantasy IMO. I mean its better than nothing but its a much bigger crapshoot than usual.

[sjs1890 142]

Baseball will be fine, Manfred already said the infection rate is about 1.8% which is manageable. At least no one of significance has opted out yet. The bigger issue is the guys having kids and them having to quarantine for 14 days during the season that’s going to be a pain.

[The_Real_Deal 308]

46 minutes ago, sjs1890 said:

Baseball will be fine, Manfred already said the infection rate is about 1.8% which is manageable. At least no one of significance has opted out yet. The bigger issue is the guys having kids and them having to quarantine for 14 days during the season that’s going to be a pain.

 

I can see Mike Trout sitting out this season 

[Low and Away 1,675]

5 hours ago, The_Real_Deal said:

 

I can see Mike Trout sitting out this season 

IMO once a player like a Trout or Harper, decides to opt out the floodgates will open. Or teams in Florida, Texas, and Arizona start having home games you will see a lot of players just refusing to travel there at the current rates of infection. Personally right now you couldn't pay me enough to get on a plane, let alone go to those three states.

 

The scarey part is medical officials still say we are in the first wave and we still don't have it under control.

[sjs1890 142]

9 hours ago, The_Real_Deal said:

 

I can see Mike Trout sitting out this season 

That would be brutal for the angels having to pay Trout, while wasting Rendons first year while having zero consistent pitching. Trout sitting out could bury the Angels for years to come.

[urban2014 1,742]

I just don’t think they will make it trough the season. Don’t hate

[sjs1890 142]

17 minutes ago, urban2014 said:

I just don’t think they will make it trough the season. Don’t hate

They should be able to finish the season just fine since the infection rate is only 1.8%, and the recovery rate for those is over 99%. Baseball will be fine, and may actually be more exciting if more teams are in the playoff race.

[urban2014 1,742]

22 minutes ago, sjs1890 said:

They should be able to finish the season just fine since the infection rate is only 1.8%, and the recovery rate for those is over 99%. Baseball will be fine, and may actually be more exciting if more teams are in the playoff race.

You are an optimist 

[2ndCitySox 4,971]

3 hours ago, sjs1890 said:

That would be brutal for the angels having to pay Trout, while wasting Rendons first year while having zero consistent pitching. Trout sitting out could bury the Angels for years to come.

Why "for years to come"?

[The Big Bat Theory 8,028]

2 hours ago, sjs1890 said:

They should be able to finish the season just fine since the infection rate is only 1.8%, and the recovery rate for those is over 99%. Baseball will be fine, and may actually be more exciting if more teams are in the playoff race.

More teams are NOT in the playoffs.  That was a proposal that looked like it might get accepted but from what I read the final agreement just calls for the usual 10 teams making the playoffs again this season.  After FanDuel posted the below they just went on to cite the exact same playoff rules from last year to the letter including just the 10 teams with NL and AL Wild Cards having the one game and out thing as usual then first round of 5 games before the remaining rounds of 7 games.   Same old same old in other words.

Quote

However, despite the 60-game regular season, the 2020 MLB Playoffs and postseason format will remain unchanged from what we saw in 2019.   ...

Source: Posted on FanDuel website on June 26, 2020

As for keeping the season going, read this that I posted in the players and covid thread:

Quote

The Astros have cancelled their scheduled workout on Saturday as a precautionary measure.

Astros general manager James Click wrote in a statement that a member of the staff "was potentially exposed to a COVID-positive individual outside the organization.” The team is working with MLB and team doctors on testing protocol and cleaning before resuming workouts. The Astros also cancelled a workout on Monday after a delay in test results, so this week has been a bumpy ride, but it's better to err on the side of caution.

Source: Jake Kaplan on Twitter     Jul 11, 2020, 9:13 AM ET

This wasn't even a covid positive test coming back on a player.  It was a staff member who "potentially" was exposed to someone.  If this happens in season when a game is to be played instead of a workout what happens?  Does a team forfeit the game and do a deep cleaning instead that day?

Edited July 11, 2020 by The Big Bat Theory