All-Star catcher Buster Posey opting out of season, and Giants downgraded half-win on MLB odds

San Francisco Giants All-Star catcher Buster Posey had missed the past few days of Spring Training 2.0 because he and his wife recently adopted twin girls who were born prematurely and in the neonatal intensive care unit. Posey was on the fence about playing this season because the twins were going to be in the NICU for some time, and needless to say they would be high risk in a coronavirus pandemic. On Friday, Posey decided not to add to that risk by opting out of the season.

Because he is not high risk himself, Posey is not guaranteed to receive his salary – although the team can still choose to pay him. Posey, who also will not accrue a year of service time, said he likely would have played this year if not for adopting children during the pandemic. Posey and his wife also have 8-year-old twins.

With all due respect to Dodgers left-handed pitcher and former AL Cy Young winner David Price, Posey is the most accomplished player in the majors to opt-out thus far. Posey was the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year, 2012 NL MVP and won the league batting title that year, a six-time All-Star and helped the Giants win three World Series titles last decade.

The 33-year-old Posey was for years clearly the best offensive catcher in baseball but has slowed down in recent seasons largely due to injury. He hit .320 in 2017 in 140 games, but was down to 105 games the next year and batted .284, and then dealt with a hamstring injury and a concussion in 2019 and hit a career-worst .257 in 114 games.

Aramis Garcia is the only other catcher currently on the Giants' 40-man roster and probably opens as the starter. He has just 105 career MLB at-bats and is a .229 hitter. This also makes it much more likely that catcher Joey Bart, the team's top overall prospect and a 2018 first-round pick, will make his MLB debut this season – if there is one.

As of now, Posey is the 10th big-league player to opt-out, but there will be more. Angels superstar Mike Trout has yet to fully commit to the season with his wife due a child later this summer.

William Hill sportsbook dropped the Giants from Over-Under 25.5 wins to 25.0 in this 60-game season with the Posey news. Posey in his prime would certainly have downgraded the team more than a half-win. San Francisco remains a +5000 long shot to win the NL West with the team in a rebuilding stage.

The SportsLine Projection Model dropped the Giants' win total from just 26.1 to 26.0, but their their playoff chances fell from 5.7 percent to 5.3 percent. San Francisco opens at the rival L.A. Dodgers on July 23.

Ariel Cohen's Fantasy baseball projections are extremely high on a first baseman some are overlooking. He's set to hit double-digit home runs during the 60-game 2020 MLB season, but is being picked well outside the top 200 in early Fantasy baseball drafts. You ABSOLUTELY need to see what the ATC system has to say about each player before going on the clock.