The labyrinthine rules regarding MLB service time will undoubtedly be a sticking point for the MLB Players Association when negotiations begin on a new collective bargaining agreement. Two rookies may have a significant role in how those negotiations play out.
According to Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan, Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant and Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco have filed grievances in which they allege their teams purposefully kept them in the minor leagues in order to keep them under team control for an extra season.
Passan highlighted how both the Cubs and Phillies did just enough to ensure Bryant and Franco failed to meet the standards for a full year of MLB service time:
On one hand, you can understand why Bryant and Franco would be upset with their delayed promotions. Bryant in particular was ready to play in MLB right from Opening Day but instead had to wait until April 17 to make his major league debut.
However, Hardball Talk's Matthew Pouliot argued the players may have a hard time winning their grievance:
The service-time rules were collectively bargained by both the owners and MLBPA. To a certain extent, the players created this problem for themselves by either not seeing how service time could be manipulated or by failing to do enough at the bargaining table to change the standards for what is a full year of service time.
The Phillies and Cubs may not have acted in good faith, but they didn't necessarily run afoul of the rules set up in the CBA.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
- Login to post comments