The stories of the Washington Nationals and Ryan Zimmerman are intertwined. The franchise moved from Montreal, where they were known as the Expos, in 2005, the same year that they dropped Zimmerman from college. He made it to the major leagues at the end of the season and has been with them ever since, the face of the franchise through tough seasons, its rebirth, and, last year, its first World Series title.
The coronavirus pandemic, however, has ended that streak, or at least put it on pause. Zimmerman announced Monday that he would choose not to participate in the 2020 Major League Baseball season, which will begin on July 23. He became the most outstanding player to do so, joining teammate Joe Ross, former teammate Ian Desmond of the Colorado Rockies. and Mike Leake of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who also retired Monday, days before a second spring training begins.
“I can’t speak for anyone else, but given the unusual nature of the season, this is the best decision for me and my family,” Zimmerman, a first baseman, said in a statement issued by his agents, “and I really appreciate the understanding. and support from the organization. “
According to the rules agreed by MLB and the players union, any player can choose not to participate in the 2020 season, which is scheduled for the last 60 games. But only those at increased risk for serious coronavirus disease due to their medical history will receive payment and service time after choosing not to participate.
Zimmerman, who would have earned $ 740,000 in prorated pay during this shortened season, said in his statement that he had made the decision “a lot of thought” and cited his family’s circumstances: He has three young children, including one month old. son, and his mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1995.
“Everyone knows what it means to be part of a team, and I will really miss that camaraderie this year,” he said.
During the winter, Zimmerman, 35, re-signed with the Nationals for one year and $ 2 million. He has earned more than $ 133 million in his 15-year career. He said Monday that “he was not retiring at this time.”
Ross, 27, a right-handed pitcher who had the opportunity to make the initial rotation for the Nationals, was entering his sixth season with the club and was expected to earn around $ 555,000 in prorated payment.
In a statement issued by the team, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said Ross and Zimmerman opted for “their personal and loved ones’ health and safety” and said the club “one hundred percent” supported your decisions.
Desmond, 34, who won three Silver Slugger Awards while a Zimmerman teammate between 2009 and 2015, posted a long and heartfelt statement on Instagram Monday night exposing about his upbringing, the racism he has faced as a man. biracial, decreased accessibility of baseball. and his family. Desmond, a outfielder, was supposed to earn about $ 5.6 million in prorated pay, but wrote that he was not comfortable with the health risk of playing baseball this season.
“With a pregnant wife and four young children who have many questions about what is happening in the world, home is where I need to be now,” he wrote. “Home to my wife, Chelsey. Home to help. Start to guide. At home to answer questions from my three older children about the coronavirus and civil rights and life. At home to be her dad.
Leake, 32, was the first MLB player to make his exclusion intentions public. In what would have been his eleventh major league season, Leake was expected to earn approximately $ 5.6 million in prorated pay. His contract also required a $ 18 million mutual option or a $ 5 million purchase for the 2021 season.
“This was not an easy decision for Mike,” Leake’s agent Danny Horwits said in a statement. Horwits also said Leake had “many discussions” with his family about playing this season and took “countless factors into consideration, many of which are personal to him and his family.”
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker, 71, is the oldest in his MLB position and has vowed to manage this season. But he has acknowledged that he and his coaches, three of whom are 62 or older, are at increased risk during the pandemic.
On Monday, the Minnesota Twins reassigned two of their highest-risk major league coaches: Bob McClure, 68, and Bill Evers, 66, after examining the health history of their staff members.
“It is as difficult a decision as you are going to make in the baseball game,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters. “They both wanted to be a part of this season more than anything, both very disappointed to hear the news, but they both know it is the right thing to do and for sure.”
Twins officials told reporters that McClure and Evers would be paid their full wages, but that they would work remotely in other roles from home.
