Service Time Grievances

Disputes over service and playing time have been rearing their ugly heads quite a bit this year.  I saw today that the Twins’ Glen Perkins is considering filing a grievance because it looks like the Twins may shut him down for the year as he recovers from shoulder problems, while he is rehabbing in the minors and not on the Twins major league roster.  Here’s an article by Joe Christensen of the Star-Tribune about it.

The situation is that since Perkins has been sent to the minors and is not on the major league disabled list, he does not incur major league service time unless he is promoted back up the Twins major league roster.  If Perkins loses the month of September 2009 as service time, he will not be eligible for arbitration this off-season as a Super-Two (the 17% of players with at least two years of major league service time, but less than three years, who have the most major league service time are eligible for arbitration).  Thus, the basis for his grievance.

The Twins Francisco Liriano apparently also considered filing a grievance under similar circumstances last year, but ultimately did not.  The problem both Liriano and Perkins have in proving a grievance is that they’re not healthy enough to show that they should have been on the Twins’ major league roster.  Instead, their best argument is that they should have been placed (and left) on the DL, where they would continue to accrue major league service time.

A similar issue has also cropped up in the Jon Garland trade between the Dodgers and DiamondBacks.  The key prospect the D-Backs received, Tony Abreu, filed a grievance after getting hurt in 2007.  Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports that the Dodgers are nearing a settlement with Abreu and his agent Scott Boras that would give Abreu 47 additional days of service time, which means that he will become arbitration eligible a year earlier than the D-Backs expected (or the Dodgers informed them).  Needless to say, the D-Backs feel that L.A. has pulled a fast one.

Other stories involving service time and playing time disputes this year include the Brewers and J.J. Hardy.  Hardy was playing poorly and the Brewers sent him down just long enough to push back his free agency by a year.

Hardy obviously isn’t happy about it, but given the way he’s played this year, he isn’t likely to win a grievance.  Everyone now expects the Brewers to trade Hardy this off-season and go forward with 22 year old Alcides Escobar as their shortstop in 2010.  Escobar is hitting .273 with a .656 OPS in 55 major league ABs since being called up this year.

With Hardy’s free agency pushed back another year, the Brewers should find strong interest on the open market.  Hardy’s trade value is way down after his poor 2009, but given his age and performance in 2007 and 2008, he’s a great risk if the price is right.

Also, it looks like the Tigers will do the honorable, but perhaps financially reckless, thing, and let Magglio Ordonez get enough plate appearances for this $18 million 2010 option to vest.  Magglio got hot in August, hitting .348 with a .961 OPS for the month, and that pretty much tied Detroit’s hands.  Magglio is only about 35 plate appearances away from vesting his 2010 option, so it’s a lock unless he gets seriously hurt.

Meanwhile, Milton Bradley’s 2010 and 2011 options have long since vested, and the Cubs will either be stuck with Miltie for two more years, or they will have to eat the greater part of this salary to find a trading partner.