David Price decides to sit out his first season with the Dodgers

David Price is the highest-profile name to opt-out of 2020 season.

David Price’s debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers will have to wait until 2021.

The left-hander and former Cy Young Award winner announced in an Instagram post on Saturday afternoon that he was opting out of the 2020 season and won’t join the club for the 60-game schedule.

“After considerable thought and discussion with my family and the Dodgers, I have decided it is in the best interest of my health and my family’s health for me to not play this season,” he wrote. “I will miss my teammates and will be cheering for them throughout the season and on to a World Series victory. I’m sorry I won’t be playing for you this year, but look forward to representing you next year.”

Under the rules agreed to by the league and Players Association, a player can choose not to play but only those with preexisting medical conditions will get paid and earn a year of service time. Price is giving up nearly $12 million in salary by not playing this year. He still has $64 million remaining on the final two years of the deal he signed with the Boston Red Sox prior to the 2016 season. The Dodgers acquired him, along with Mookie Betts, in February in exchange for outfielder Alex Verdugo and prospects Jeter Downs and Connor Wong.

Price, who will be 35 by the start of the 2021 season, had an injury-plagued four years in Boston. Only twice did he play a full season for the Red Sox, including in 2018 when he went 16-7 with a 3.58 ERA and helped the club defeat the Dodgers in the World Series. He was limited to just 22 starts last season, posting a 4.28 ERA, his worst since his rookie season in 2009. He went 46-24 with the Red Sox with a 3.84 ERA.

David Price decides to sit out his first season with the Dodgers

He joins a list of players who’ve decided to sit out this season that already includes Ryan Zimmerman and Ian Desmond. The loss of Price, though, will hit his club the hardest. The Dodgers were counting on his veteran presence in the rotation. With him, the Dodgers had arguably the most formidable pitching staff in the league along with Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, and Alex Wood. Now that he’s chosen to sit out the season, the Dodgers will have their depth tested in a truncated year in which that quality is more important than ever.

Ross Stripling figures to become a regular arm in the rotation in his fifth season in the big leagues. He’s made 36 starts the last two seasons, making the National League All-Star team in 2018. But behind him is youth and inexperience. Dustin May, who the Dodgers refused to give up in the Betts-Price deal, is entering his first full season. Tony Gonsolin, another rookie who made 11 appearances last year, is another option. Together, May and Gonsolin have made 10 career starts in the Majors; Price, by comparison, has made 311.

The Dodgers will still enter the season as overwhelming favorites to win the NL West for the eighth straight year. But they’ve yet to bring home a World Series championship in that time. They expected Price to lead them past that hurdle in 2020; now they’ll have to do it without him.