Service time manipulation: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:37, 24 April 2024

Revision as of 23:52, 24 April 2024

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==Service time==

For purposes of salary arbitration and free agency, a player acquires a year of service time if the player remains on the major league roster for at least 172 days of a typical 187-day season. Players may either be active, meaning that they are eligible to play in games, or on the [[injured list]]. If a player is on the major league roster for 171 or fewer days, they do not earn a year of service time, butand partial years cancannot be combined.<ref name="cbssports-2021-03">{{cite news |last1=Perry |first1=Dayn |title=MLB service-time manipulation: Why longstanding baseball practice is a major issue in 2021 |url=https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-service-time-manipulation-why-longstanding-baseball-practice-is-a-major-issue-in-2021/ |access-date=May 11, 2022 |work=CBS Sports |date=March 2, 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Six years of service time is a key metric for eligibility for free agency. Commentators have noted that the rules of service time create a [[perverse incentive]] for teams to avoid putting their best players on the major league roster for the entire season to save money and to retain control over their players.<ref name="azpbs-2021-05">{{cite news |last1=Johnston |first1=James |title=Service time manipulation: Why MLB teams wait to call up prospects |url=https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2021/05/17/service-time-manipulation-debate-rages-as-mlb-teams-hold-off-on-bringing-up-top-prospects/ |access-date=May 11, 2022 |work=Cronkite News |date=May 17, 2021}}</ref>

After several high profile examples of service time manipulation had been alleged in the 2010s and 2020s, MLB's new [[collective bargaining agreement]] to end the [[2021–22 Major League Baseball lockout|2021–22 lockout]] included provisions to increase service time eligibility. The top two finishers in Rookie of the Year voting in each league are automatically awarded a full year of service, regardless of how much they actually accrued that year. Teams will receive [[Major_League_Baseball_draft#Compensatory_picks|extra draft picks as compensation]] for promoting young players to their Opening Day roster who later finish in the top 3 in the Rookie of the Year voting or in the top 5 in [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|Most Valuable Player]] or [[Cy Young Award]] voting.<ref name="athleticsnation-2022-03">{{cite news |title=The new CBA: Some small wins for the MLBPA and a big win for the A's |url=https://www.athleticsnation.com/2022/3/11/22972345/mlb-collective-bargaining-agreement-details-oakland-as-salary-payroll |access-date=May 11, 2022 |work=Athletics Nation |date=March 11, 2022 |language=en}}</ref>