Catcher Posey to sit out after adopting twins

Buster Posey’s decision to skip the shortened 2020 MLB season was made for health reasons, but not his own.

The Giants catcher announced Friday he would sit out the 60game season after his family adopted twin girls, born prematurely and currently in a hospital neonatal intensive care unit.

“After weighing it for a long time, talking to doctors, I just feel like in the current state that we are right now and these babies being as fragile as they are for the next four months at minimum, this ultimately wasn’t that difficult a decision for me,” he said.

The Giants know they will miss Posey, but “fully support Buster’s decision.”

“Buster is an integral part of our team and will be sorely missed,” the team said of the three-time AllStar in a statement, “but we look forward to having him back in 2021.”

Giants management seemed supportive of Posey’s choice Thursday, telling media they would respect such decisions.

“Because of what we’re going up against right now, we are going to take a family-first approach to this,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “We will take it on as a responsibility to scramble as necessary. We don’t want to rush these very personal decisions, and we want to respect and honor the stressors that people have that we may not be seeing.”

Posey, 33, is one of the 12 players to have declined to participate this season. He will not be receiving his salary, forfeiting approximately $8.2 million, and service time. Posey currently has one year remaining on his contract with the Giants — paying him $21.4 million in 2021, with a $22 million option or $3 million buyout in 2022.

Posey’s decision came not long after MLB released its intake testing numbers, announcing 66 positive tests out of 3,748 administered. Of the positive tests, 58 were players and eight were team staff.