Another New York Met has opted out of the abbreviated 2020 Major League Baseball season after it’s started.
This time, outspoken pitcher and impending free agent Marcus Stroman on Monday decided to forgo the rest of the year due to concerns about COVID-19.
“There’s just too many uncertainties, too many unknowns right now to go out there,” Stroman said in a statement, via The Athletic’s Tim Britton who noted that the pitcher changed his mind after coronavirus outbreaks have plagued the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals.
The Met’s are scheduled to travel to Miami for an upcoming four-game series beginning Monday, Aug. 17.
“We decided as a family it probably wasn’t the best to continue forward this year,” Stroman added, praising the Mets’ approach to safety protocols but mentioning how difficult it’s been for other clubs to contain the virus.
“It makes you realize how hard it is to make sure that everything is buttoned up, 24/7, from every angle.”
Stroman praised the Mets for their approach to the safety protocols. But he said of outbreaks elsewhere: "It makes you realize how hard it is to make sure that everything is buttoned up, 24/7, from every angle."
— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) August 10, 2020
Stroman needed 24 days of service with New York to become a free agent as planned at the end of the year, and in the shortened season, that requirement was adjusted to nine days, which he racked up at the end of July.
With all the outbreaks MLB is facing, Stroman’s decision is totally understandable.
And unlike teammate Yoenis Cespedes, he at least told the team he’d be opting out rather than leaving without giving any heads up.
