I think we have to believe that any opt out this season is both personally justified and unsurprising in the sense that any individual (and his family) might feel uncomfortable playing this season.
But, to this point, no player that has chosen to opt out is super early in his career, where service time considerations come most heavily into play (unfortunately). That changed today, as White Sox flamethrower Michael Kopech has decided to opt out:
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 10, 2020
Kopech, 24, was finally fully back from Tommy John surgery and theoretically ready to contribute his triple-digit fastball to the White Sox this year. But for his own reasons, Kopech will instead step back.
As I said, any younger player who loses a year of service time to opt out is potentially losing a whole lot to do so. But that’s the nature of this terrible situation, and also the deal the sides struck back in March. Best of luck to Kopech and his family.
As it relates to the White Sox this season, they will obviously not have Kopech available, which in turn means that those six games against the Cubs (10% of the season) won’t be quite what the White Sox hoped.