>Tyson Ross didn't have a job with a team to opt out of. I
>think American baseball was in the process of opting out on
>Hector Noesi in general. Welington Castillo was probably
>looking at taxi squad catcher until/unless somebody got hurt.

Have to wonder if these guys aren't kicking themselves for not being more open to a deal with a Korean or a Japanese team. Safer situation that's probably more congruent with their skillset but in an abbreviated and weird season, probably wouldn't cover them with any kind of "couldn't get an MLB deal" stigma, to the degree such a thing exists.

>Price, Desmond, Posey, Markakis, Hernandez, and Zimmerman are
>all mid-30s with distinguished marks having made 9 figures and
>in the twilight of their careers. Mike Leake is similar in age
>but a cut below in terms of esteem and earnings.

Easily the most relatable set of decisions. Bunch of dudes with nothing left to prove shrugging and saying they'll catch the next wave, unless they retire first. It's true that Leake's lifetime earnings, but he's still on that silly contract St. Louis gave him, right? So it kind of looks the same if you squint.

Unrelated, I'm kind of shocked that he never really imploded. Never really rose to anything beyond "nearly adequate" like that contract imagined, but I really expected there to be a year where he just got, like, destroyed. Though I guess you don't leave pitchers in to get destroyed for a full workload anymore unless you're the team that paid them like a solid mid-rotation workhorse, so maybe last year's atrocious sixty innings were what I was waiting for?

>But I believe that Joe Ross so far is the only player under
>team control and in his 20s, seemingly with more to play for
>trying to play a "full" season after coming back from injury
>and having "only" made a few million on the cusp of
>arbitration.

Did he give a reason? I see both Ross brothers opted out. Maybe somebody in the Ross family that needs the additional protection?