Rockies Gardener Ian Desmond will choose not to play in the 2020 MLB season. He provided a thoughtful explanation of his decision-making process in an ad on Instagram.
Desmond explains that “the COVID-9 pandemic has made this baseball season a risk I am not comfortable with.” He says he is forced to stay home “with a pregnant wife and four young children who have many questions about what is happening in the world.”
Fortunately for all of us who care about the future of the game, the highly respected Desmond says he intends to work with his local Little League (in Sarasota, Florida) while not playing this year. He offered no indication of his future plans to return to the diamond.
Desmond’s ad is an essential read for all baseball fans. It is a powerful call to action to deal with dazzling inequity in the game, from its lowest to highest levels.
Three other major league players preceded Desmond by announcing that they would not participate in the 2020 season. Others will no doubt follow. It is not known if Desmond had a personal medical problem that allows him to choose not to participate while he still earns salary and time on duty. Otherwise, you will give up a prorated portion of your $ 15MM salary per year. He remains under contract with the Rockies until 2021; The club also controls it in 2022 through the club option.
