Posey opting out of 2020 season
SAN FRANCISCO » Giants star catcher Buster Posey decided to opt out of the 2020 season Friday out of health concerns for his newly adopted twin baby girls. The babies were born about eight weeks prematurely last Friday and
Posey and his wife, Kristen, finalized the adoption on Thursday. Ada and Livvi are healthy but will need to spend time in neonatal intensive care and will have weakened immune systems for the next few months.
“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,” Posey said.
Posey is one of the most prominent players to opt out of the season as a six-time All-Star, the 2012 NL MVP and a three-time World Series champion.
He joined other notable players like Dodgers pitcher David Price, Washington first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, Colorado’s Ian Desmond, Arizona pitcher Mike Leake in deciding not to take part in the 60-game season that starts on July 23.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler both said they support their star player’s decision and wished Posey’s family the best.
“This is not a difficult one,”
Kapler said. “I think that a lot of people around baseball will say family first. I think it’s important that we that we actually put that into action by throwing all of our support in making these decisions even easier for players because they know that they have to support the leadership in the organization.”