Seattle Mariners: Jarred Kelenic and the art of service time manipulation
Kris Bryant
Cubs third baseman, Kris Bryant, was the second overall pick in 2013. In his first full season of professional baseball (2014), he hit .325 with a 1.098 OPS across AA and AAA. He hit 43 home runs and was the second-ranked prospect coming into the 2015 season.
The Cubbies made it very public that they intended on holding off on bringing Bryant up to Chicago until the end of April. By doing so, they could keep team control of his contract through 2021. The first day Chicago could bring Bryant up, without giving him an extra year of service time, they did.
Bryant’s agent, Scott Boras, suggested that the Cubs weren’t trying to win by sending his player to the minors. It was an effort to try to get him, Bryant, to free agency a year earlier. The Cubs stayed disciplined, and while Bryant won the National League Rookie of the Year in 2015 and 2016 MVP, he has lost a step statistically in nearly every category.
MLB Service Time Clock
One hundred seventy-two days with the big league club are needed for a player to gain a year of service time. The Cubs are hardly the only team to ever manipulate the service time clock on a player. However, they were the most public about doing so. Dipoto has continued to use phrases like confidence and player development as a veil of secrecy over his intentions with Kelenic and Gilbert.
The MLB service time clock starts on April 1st. Seattle gains an extra year of team control out of both Kelenic and Gilbert by waiting to bring them up after April 16th.
“No hard feelings. We're playing baseball."
Kris Bryant addressed the media earlier today regarding service time grievance. pic.twitter.com/rBgokFBxHz
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) February 15, 2020