In what might be the first wave of several to come, three major league players on Monday decided to opt out of the 2020 season and not play. The three are Ryan Zimmerman and Joe Ross of the Washington Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Mike Leake.

Zimmerman was the most vocal of the trio, writing a piece for the Associated Press detailing his decision not to play.

“After a great deal of thought and given my family circumstances – three young children, including a newborn, and a mother at high risk – I have decided not to participate in the 2020 season,” the 35-year-old said. “Everyone knows how much it means to me to be part of a team, and I will miss that camaraderie dearly this year. Of course I would love to pursue back-to-back titles. I cannot speak for anyone else, but given the unusual nature of the season, this is the best decision for me and my family, and I truly appreciate the organization’s understanding and support.”

“To be clear, I am not retiring at this time. I have not decided on my future in baseball past 2020. But this year, I’ll be staying safe at home and pulling as hard as anyone for the guys to defend our championship.”

The Nationals’ first baseman will forfeit $740,00 by not playing. Zimmerman has earned well over $100 million in his 14 seasons with Washington and just signed a one year extension with the club in the off-season.

From the beginning of the pandemic, Zimmerman admits to being leery about playing in 2020 due to family matters.

“I have a 3-week-old baby,” Zimmerman went on to say. “My mother has multiple sclerosis and is super high-risk; if I end up playing, I can pretty much throw out the idea of seeing her until weeks after the season is over. There’s a lot of factors that I and others have to consider. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer; it’s everybody’s individual choice.”

Zimmerman posted a .257 batting average in 52 games last season with 27 RBIs and six home runs. He battled a foot injury that sidelined him for part of the 2019 season.

Ryan Zimmerman, dubbed Mr. National, holds most of the team’s career hitting records, and his two homers and seven RBIs last postseason helped Washington win its first World Series title in 2019.

Ross, 27, will miss a season in which he was expected to compete for the role of fourth of fifth starting pitcher in the Nationals’ rotation. In 2019, Ross went 4-4 with a 5.48 ERA in the regular season, and made a spot start for Max Scherzer in Game 5 of the World Series. He is arbitration eligible at the end of the 2020 season.

Leake, 32, was scheduled to make $16 million for a full season in 2020 and was positioned to be fighting for a spot at the back end of the Arizona rotation. His agent told ESPN,

“This was not an easy decision for Mike,” Leake’s agent, Danny Horwits, said in the statement. “He wishes the best of luck and health for his Diamondback teammates this season and he’s looking forward to 2021.” While not giving specifics for not playing, Leake mentioned that there were “countless” factors involved

Leake, a 10-year veteran who had stints with the Reds, Giants, Cardinals and Mariners, was acquired by the D-backs at the trade deadline from Seattle. He started 22 games for the Mariners in 2019, with a 9-8 record, two complete games and a 4.27 ERA. He was 3-3 with a 4.35 ERA in 10 games for Arizona.

Arizona general manager Mike Hazen told ESPN, “It definitely impacts us. Certainly, he’s a good major league starting pitcher. To what extent it’s going to impact us, it’s hard to say. I think I would probably have a different answer if it was over 162 [games] as opposed to if it was over 60.”

It’s likely the impact of COVID-19 may be at a nascent stage in MLB and that other players will decide not to play. MMO will continue to provide coverage of this developing story.