There has been a growing distrust between the MLB and the MLB Players Association over the last few years. The Players Union does not like that teams are tanking, hitting back on their free-agent costs, and tampering with their top potential service time, among other things. The collective bargaining agreement expires in December and negotiations are expected to be contentious.
Service-time manipulation is widespread but close to impossible to prove. Chris Bryant filed a lawsuit against Cubs in 2015 for alleged misappropriation of his service time, And lost the case because he had no evidence. Those open secret teams manipulate service time (e.g. keeping their prospects longer in minors for delays in free agency). Good luck proving it though.
The best evidence is the sincere comments made by the other side, and Seattle Miners President Kevin Mather appears to have made these comments earlier this month. During an event with the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club, Mather Thare suggested that the club should not call last season at their forefront for service time reasons, due to service-time reasons. A video of the Friday, February 5 event was posted on YouTube, but has since been removed. A complete transcript is available on Lookout Landing.
“If there was a COVID rupture or injuries to our Major-League team and we had to call people from the taxi squad, we were a little short on the players, because in T-Mobile you weren’t likely to see these young players. Park,” Mathews said. “We’re not going to put them on the roster of 0-men. We weren’t going to start the service-time clock. There were all sorts of reasons. If we had an injury problem or a covid rupture, you probably saw my big belly in the left area. -Our young players at Mobile Park, don’t see our potential. ‘
Later in the video, Mather was asked about top prospect Jared Callenick, and said the club tried to sign a similar long-term contract, like the six-year extension given to Evan White last year, before White entered the MLB. Mather later hinted that Kalenik would be called to the minor next week after a few weeks (which would delay his free agency). He also talked about the possibility of top pitching Logan Gilbert.
“He’s a very good player and we clearly think he’s going to be a superstar.” Mather said about the clinic. “We control his Major-League career for six years, and after six years he will be able to become a free agent. In the next six or seven years, T-Mobile will be in the left-wing sector, then it will become a free agent. It will not commission its free agent for years to come. “
And here’s a part of what Mather Thare said about Gilbert: “You won’t see him on April 1, but in mid-April you’ll see a young man named Logan Gilbert. That’s the real deal.”
Mather offered an apology in a statement on Sunday night, saying “there is no excuse for my conduct, and I accept full responsibility for my terrible loss in the verdict.”
Service-time manipulation is not technically against the rules, but it is a bad-faith trick that is tantamount to wage theft. Manipulating service time delays a player’s first major payday. George Springer manipulated his tenure in 2014. How much more does he get as a 30-year-old free agent ex-savvy compared to the six-year, 150 150 million deal he got as a 31-year-old. Winter? Probably. A lot more Money was taken from her and her family through service-time rigging.
For a player with zero MLB service time, such as Callenick (and Gilbert), it takes 15 years to push a free agency back one year. Some teams have chosen not to manipulate their top prospect service time in recent years, including Pedres with Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Mets with Pete Alonso, but they are in the extreme minority.
Acquired in the Robinson Canoe / Edwin Diaz business with 21-year-old Kalenik Mets. He hit .291 / .364 / .540 at three levels in 2019 and MLB.com gives him the fifth best chance in the baseball. His scouting report said spending 2020 on an alternative site paved the way for him to “begin to reach his potential as an all-star very soon”.
In addition to the service-time comments, Mthare complained about paying Hisashi Iwakuma’s translator and said that future Julio Rodriguez’s English was “not overwhelming.” He also claimed that MLB teams have lost Rs 92.9 billion in 2020.
The Dominican outfielder, Rig Drigze, ranked No. 2 in Seattle’s farm system, reacted to Twitter immediately after the video made a round of social media.
