MLB players won’t even pay to read this article: ‘You stay rich by being cheap’

In 2009, Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke went viral after telling Yahoo Sports he was boycotting Chipotle’s guacamole.

“I mean, $1.50 is already pretty darn high. So they changed it to $1.80, and I’ll never again get guacamole,” Greinke said. “It’s not about the guacamole itself. I just don’t want to let them win.”

Fifteen years later, a (small) side of Chipotle’s guacamole is $2.65, and Greinke’s thoughts remain a common sentiment among MLB players.

“Greinke was on a kick for a while,” said Reds pitcher Scott Barlow, a former Greinke teammate. “It’s the principle.”

So what else are MLB players cheap about? Well, after The Athletic asked dozens of them the question over the past year, the answer is … pretty much everything.

“It’s that old cliche,” said Cleveland’s Steven Kwan, “You stay rich by being cheap.”

Some players took issue with the framing of the question. “I don’t like the c-word,” A’s pitcher T.J. McFarland said. “I use frugal.”

You be the judge.

Whit Merrifield, free agent: It’s funny when music is playing in the clubhouse and someone has their phone hooked up and an ad comes on. Guys will yell, “You’re a big leaguer making millions of dollars and can’t pay $11.99 for Spotify?!”

Ryan McMahon, Rockies: My wife is on her cousin’s Spotify, so I use that.

Jake Cronenworth, Padres: I don’t buy any music. It’s a pretty useless purchase. I like to drive in silence. Total silence.

This, two Padres teammates who overhear the conversation tell Cronenworth, is characteristic of a psychopath.

Zach Neto, Angels: I use Apple Music but I’m still on my (cheaper) student account. Don’t tell Apple Music that. It’s the only app I pay for.

Hayden Birdsong, Giants: I’m not paying for any apps. I’m on my mom’s Spotify.

Tyler Glasnow, Dodgers: There’s something about (buying an app). I just don’t want to give them the $2.

Barlow: If I have a game app and it says you can upgrade for no ads, I won’t do that.

Glasnow: It’s probably worth it, too. It’s just ingrained in my brain — like, no, I’m not doing it.

Despite being division rivals last season, former Yankees pitcher Lou Trivino was on Orioles reliever Cole Irvin’s Netflix account.

Tanner Scott, Dodgers: We are definitely still on my wife’s family’s Netflix.

Evan Carter, Rangers: I’m on my wife’s parents’ Netflix and my parents’ Hulu.

McMahon: If you’ve got someone else’s log-in, you’re all set.

McFarland: Up until about two years ago I was on my family cellphone plan. And I wasn’t even paying my parents, it was free. Finally, my dad is like, “You are in the big leagues, time to get your own s—.”

Dansby Swanson, Cubs: I had that moment, too. I needed a new phone and it was a good time to switch my phone number. I was like, “All right, it’s time to get off my parents’ plan.”

Tristan Beck, Giants: That day is coming for me, too. But I’m going to try to avoid it as long as I can.

Matt Strahm, Phillies: I’m not going to just buy new clothes because I want to. I need to need clothes to buy clothes.

Joe Musgrove, Padres: You know how in elementary school you get to go back to school shopping and you get a few pairs of jeans and a couple T-shirts to last you the year? I’m still the same way.

McFarland: I’m coming in with shoes literally coming apart — the sole was coming off. My wife was like, “That’s enough.” She took them and threw them out.

Derek Law, Nationals: My wife is like, “You need to get some new shirts,” and I’m like, “Ehh, I’m good.”

Ryan Mountcastle, Orioles: I never need new clothes.

Mike Yastrzemski, Giants: I don’t buy clothes, I don’t buy shoes. I get very weirdly indecisive about things. I’ll be like, “I want this,” and then I’ll turn around 10 minutes later and be like, “Well, what’s going to change if I buy this? Nothing.” So then I’m like, “I guess I don’t need this,” and I move on.

Strahm: I’m very simple and cheap with clothes. There is black, white and gray in my closet, just plain T-shirts.

Craig Kimbrel, Braves: I’ll wear stuff out.

Kwan: Socks, undershirts, that stuff I will ride until the end.

Musgrove: I’ll wear it until I can’t wear it anymore.

Mountcastle: Until it literally has holes in it.

Kwan: I had a pillow for 10 years that my now-wife was totally disgusted by. She’s like “You can get a new one!” and I was like “Why? I don’t need a new one.” One day she took the cover off and said, “You need to look at this, it’s disgusting.” And it was. I did end up throwing it away my first year up here. It made it to the big leagues, though.

Seth Lugo, Royals: I hate paying for shipping.

Austin Riley, Braves: There was something — it was a hunting gadget, it was like $6, and the shipping was $8. And I was like, “I’ll just go buy it somewhere.”

Jesse Chavez, Braves: And a “processing fee.”… Processing? Where did that come from?

McFarland: When you use DoorDash and it’s an extra couple bucks to have someone deliver the food to you, I tell my wife, “No way, we are picking it up.”

Lugo: Go get it yourself. I’m not ordering stuff (to get delivered).

McFarland: Sure, it’s 15-20 minutes to go pick it up and you are probably spending that money on gas, but (delivery) is something I am not OK wasting money on.

Jesse Winker, Mets: I feel like Uber’s prices have gotten out of control, so if I can’t walk somewhere, I’ll rent a scooter for a fraction of the price.

Clay Holmes, Mets: I’m cheap about flights. You fly so much with the team you never even think about it, then you go to book flights in the offseason, and it’s like, “I got to pay this much to fly?”

Jameson Taillon, Cubs: I have a hard time paying for extra legroom. I can afford to fly first class or in an exit row, but I feel like I’m getting punished for being tall, so I refuse to upgrade my seat.

Triston McKenzie, Guardians: I look at first-class seats, but I don’t ever buy them.

Matt Vierling, Tigers: I still drive my car from college. It’s a 2012 Ford Escape. It broke down on the highway on me (in September).

Birdsong: I’ve got a 2015 Ford Fusion.

Paul Sewald, Guardians: I had my first car, a Toyota 4Runner, for 13 years in the big leagues, and only upgraded in 2021 because we got pregnant and needed a bigger car.

Vierling: I was driving an even older car before. (The Escape) was used when I got it; it had like 65,000 miles on it. Now it’s got like 172,000, and we are still rolling. I am going to try to ride it out for another year. I got everybody in my family saying, It’s not safe, you should get another car. And I’m just like, “Not yet. I will ride it until it dies.”

Birdsong: I was a sixth-rounder, I’ll keep it till it breaks, and it’s pretty close. It’s got 140-150,000 miles on it.

Sewald: I’ve got a Ford Expedition now. It’s not fancy. It’s pretty much a dad car.

Birdsong: Maybe I’ll get a Prius next.

Kwan: I still don’t own a car. I lease one and do some (promotional stuff) for the company, and they pay for it. That saves a lot of money.

Kyle Gibson, Orioles: When I was in college, my junior year (2009), I needed a 60-degree lob wedge. So I went to Walmart, and bought a $19.99 wedge. I still have that club, and I have yet to buy a new one because I love it. The grip is ripped badly, the shaft of the club is completely rusted out. Whenever I golf with somebody new, they see me pull it out of my bag and they go, “What are you doing?”

Yastrzemski: I have the same clubs I’ve had for four years that I got for free anyway. I called my agent because I cracked my driver face and said, “Hey, do you know anyone who can send me a driver? I don’t care what it is.” I didn’t want to buy it. … I did buy a new putter recently. It took me a year and a half to pull the trigger on it.

Chavez stayed near a lake during the All-Star break with teammate A.J. Minter and their families. There were eight people total, and they filled up a cart, mainly with fruit and vegetables. It was $600.

Chavez: I’m also a big stickler at the grocery store. … Where did this (bill) come from?

Law: Groceries are crazy.

McFarland: I will look at the store, and it’s like, “OK, if it’s 60 cents less, I am getting the generic brand.”

Emilio Pagàn, Reds: Even if it’s 40 cents cheaper.

McKenzie, Guardians: If I need medicine, I’m definitely getting Target brand ibuprofen.

Law: If the strawberries say they’re two for $7, I’m going to get two strawberries because I feel like I’m saving money. Am I? Probably not, because they made me buy two now.

Jake Diekman, free agent: The other day at self-checkout I was like, where are all the bags? And the lady said you have to buy them. It was wild. I only bought two, though.

Law: Most of the time you forget the bags that you’re supposed to bring. And it’s like, damn, I am not paying 10 cents.

Kwan: I don’t like paying for snacks. I have my little Lulu(lemon) bag and it’s like a trick-or-treat (in the clubhouse) every day. Usually it’s spilling out the brim. I’ve got free waters and these sweet Thai chili almonds I’ve been absolutely emptying out.

Winker: The price of water has gone way too high. We get so used to just being able to grab water (in the clubhouse). Then in the offseason you go buy water and you’re like, “This water is this expensive?”

Dustin May, Dodgers: I’m not saying I don’t load up (on the free waters). I definitely do.

Neto: I won’t pay for water bottles. Before I leave here, I will take a couple home with me to drink.

McFarland: The same guys walking out of here with tons of free water bottles have no problem spending $25,000 on a Rolex.

Manny Machado, Padres: I won’t spend money on a wine (at a restaurant) that they charge you 800 percent (markup) on. I’ll just go home and drink my own wine or bring my own wine.

Pagan: For the longest time, my diet included a lot of Taco Bell. Crunch Wrap Supreme is hard to beat. That helped my cheap mindset, but now I’m getting older and can’t eat that as much.

Machado: I like wine, but the value’s got to be there. I’m a value guy.

Diekman: You have to go to Costco, the No. 1 seller of wine in the world. I feel like everyone trying to save should go to Costco, grab yourself a hot dog and get some wine.

Kwan: You got to buy in bulk. I’m not playing around going to get toothpaste five or six times. I’m going to get the 10-pack and let that ride out.

Logan O’Hoppe, Angels: Don’t hate me, but even though it’s a dollar, I refuse to pay for The Athletic. Even if my name is in it, my ego gets in the way and I don’t want to pay for it.

(Editor’s note: Subscribe now for just $1/week for four weeks, Logan.)

McKenzie: I did finally subscribe. (Guardians beat writer Zack) Meisel got me to. He was like, it’s only a dollar! But I did hold out for a little bit.

O’Hoppe: I am not paying that damn dollar. It’s the principle. I will read the first paragraph before the paywall. So, I guess I’m too cheap to read this article.

— The Athletic’s Katie Woo, Dennis Lin, David O’Brien and Patrick Mooney contributed to this story.

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photo: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)

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