5 MLB Players Who Will Retire if 2020 Season is Canceled

The 2020 MLB season is still on hold until they either agree on a proposal to play games without fans, or the coronavirus curve significantly flattens. The doomsday option, which involves cancelling the 2020 season, is still very much on the table. Should the worst happen and the 2020 season ends up being postponed, we might have seen the last of these five tremendous MLB players, some of whom could end up in Cooperstown.

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5. Ben Zobrist

Personal issues limited Zobrist to a handful of games last year, and he remains without a ballclub. The market for 39-year-old utility guys with a .268 batting average over the last three years is not as robust as other positions, which could make it hard for Zobrist to latch onto a pro roster, provided that former Rays and Cubs manager Joe Maddon doesn't throw him a lifeline.

4. Fernando Rodney

Rodney is the oldest active player in the MLB at 43 years old, and he showed last year that he is still more than capable of getting outs on a Nationals team that ended up winning a World Series. What works against Rodney, however, is the fact that pitchers who thrive on velocity are held in lower regard as the years go by, and a 44-year-old is going to have a hard time latching on to a roster that dreams of making the playoffs if he misses a full season here. Rodney's 17-year career might be coming to a close.

3. Adam Wainwright

Wainwright has played his entire 15-year MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals, but his time in the midwest might be in the home stretch. Wainwright's numbers last year (14-10, 4.19 ERA) were by no means awful, but he is sliding further down the Cardinals rotation as young hotshots like Jack Flaherty and Dakota Hudson start to pass him in the pecking order. With a wave of talented pitchers coming down the pike, Wainwright and his heavy curveball likely don't have long left in St. Louis, and the cancellation of 2020 might force the 38-year-old out of town, especially with so many partial seasons under his belt in recent years.

2. Yadier Molina

Molina's 16-year career with the Cardinals might be even more legendary than Wainwright's, but he probably has less left in the tank. The amount of catchers who can continue to produce at a high level as they approach 38 (Molina's birthday is in July) are few and far between. The amount who can do that while playing at least 110 games every year for 15 years is even smaller. Old catchers are always a wild card, and this might be when Molina finally calls it quits.

1. Albert Pujols

Pujols is a lock for the Hall of Fame with 656 home runs (sixth on the all-time list), 10 All-Star games, three MVPs, and two championships. With his legacy intact, two rings on his finger, and a boatload of money from both the Cardinals and the Los Angeles Angels, there really isn't anything left in baseball for Pujols at this point, other than paychecks or chasing Willie Mays' 660 homers on the all-time list. If the season were to be cancelled, the 40-year-old Pujols could retire and end one of the greatest careers in baseball history.