COVID-19 Service Time Manipulation
Back in the 2015 season, the Chicago Cubs held Kris Bryant back in the minor leagues for two weeks, which essentially gave them another year of control. The Cubs manipulated the service time to gain Bryant for the 2021 season. This is a smart business move, but essentially steals the ability for a player to enter free agency and earn long-term money in a market that multiple interested parties are bidding on their services.
This wasn’t a new tactic in terms of the MLB, but it was a new tactic when it came to the Cubs. But, players haven’t done much about it outside of voicing dissatisfaction publically. As I’m sure you recall, MLB, the Cubs, and Bryant came to a conclusion on the grievance in January that Bryant and his agent filed back in the 2015 season. That case was the first time a player really fought service-time manipulation. Bryant, which was expected, lost that case in front of an arbiter.
Now, it seems that Bryant and any other player that is expected to be a free agent after the 2020-2021 seasons will possibly earn a free year – well… kinda…
In an effort to keep some sort of structure, Major League Baseball is providing players with similar service time credit in the 2020 season as they did in the 2019 season. Meaning, if you are a free agent after the 2020 season, even if there is no baseball played they will still become a free agent.
This isn’t earth-shattering news to anyone that has really paid attention to the business end of baseball as they navigate the COVID-19 crisis. But, in a sense, the Cubs (along with any team that has a player that will enter 2021-22 free agency) will essentially lose that extra year of control they held Bryant back for. While he will not be a free agent until the 2022 season the Cubs, if there is no baseball, will only receive six seasons of Bryant as opposed to the seven they would have gotten.
But, if there is no baseball in 2020, here is a list of players that we may have already seen the last days in a Cubs uniform.
- Jon Lester – $10 million buyout or $25 million salary
- Jose Quintana – free agent after 2020
- Tyler Chatwood – free agent after 2020
- Daniel Descalso – $1 million buyout or $2.5 million salary
- Brandon Morrow – free agent after 2020
On top of that, these players will have never laced them up for an official game in a Cubs uniform…
- Steven Souza – signed a 1 yr $1 million deal
- Jeremy Jeffress – signed a 1 yr $850k deal
- Hernan Perez – signed a 1 yr $1 million deal
- Jason Kipnis – signed a 1 yr $1 million deal
But further, these players will only have one more season left and we need to start looking at their extensions or replacements.
- Anthony Rizzo – 2022 free agent
- Craig Kimbrel – $1 million buyout or $16 million salary
- Kris Bryant – 2022 free agent
- Javier Baez – 2022 free agent
- Kyle Schwarber – 2022 free agent
- Ryan Tepera – 2022 free agent
- Dan Winkler – 2022 free agent
- Rex Brothers – 2022 free agent
The coronavirus is a worldwide epidemic that is much more serious than any professional sport, but if there is no professional baseball played in 2020 it very well could have ended the best era of Cubs baseball we have seen in our lifetime. I do expect the Cubs to find a way to keep two or three of the main guys, but after a season which they will not earn income, spent a ton to launch a TV network, and still had Wrigley renovations on their books – they could be even less active with the checkbook than even this past offseason.
But the teams this can really hurt are teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers. A team that traded good assets for Mookie Betts, who will become a free agent after the season.
