Tampa Bay Rays ace Blake Snell took to the popular streaming platform Twitch late Wednesday night emphatically declaring that playing baseball in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic would be risking his life. He is the second player to make a similar statement in recent days along with Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer.
“I’m mentally prepared to just come back next year,” Snell said in the two minute video clip. “Y’all gotta understand man, for me to go, for me to take a pay cut is not happening, because the risk is through the roof.”
The 2018 American League Cy Young winner adds that he knows people will disagree with him and that he should just play for the love of the game, but says the risk is too great without adequate compensation.
“If I play I should get the money I signed to be paid, (7 million dollars in 2020),” Snell said. “Not half of it because we play half a season, plus another 33 percent cut and that is going to be taxed. Imagine how much I’m getting paid to play then. I ain’t making shit. The risk is way the hell higher and the pay is way lower. Why would I think about that (playing)?”
One of the biggest detractors of Snell’s statements was Fox Sports Radio’s Ben Maller. The host of The Ben Maller Show called Snell “The King of all douchebags” on Twitter Thursday morning before addressing the issue on his show.
“The whole thing was cringe-worthy and a masterpiece at the same time,” Maller said. “It was riveting for all the wrong reasons.”
Maller went on to compare Snell’s comments to those made by NBA star Patrick Ewing during a labor dispute where Ewing said, “Athletes make a lot of money because they spend a lot of money.”
“It’s like Blake went to Patrick and said ‘Here, hold my beer.'” Maller said. “This guy is a super hero dum-dum.”
Other pundits were also critical of Snell’s statement. but were gentler in that criticism. In his latest For the Win column, USA Today’s Nick Schwartz calls Snell’s math questionable and points out that Snell is still set to make a lot of money if he plays in 2020.
“Snell is in the second year of a back-loaded five-year, $50 million contract with the Rays,” Schwartz writes. “He was set to earn $7 million in 2020. By his (questionable) formula, that would be reduced to approximately $1.75 million, but he does have the benefit of playing in a state with no state income tax.”
Snell later clarified his comments in the Tampa Bay Times, saying he knows people will view the comments as him being greedy, but “that’s not the case at all” and his concerns are rooted more in the health and safety issues.
