Chicago Cubs: Kris Bryant officially loses his service time grievance
By Ryan Sanders
Kris Bryant has formally lost his grievance against the Chicago Cubs for service time manipulation. Now, where do the Cubs and Bryant go from here?
By now, we are all familiar that in order to reach free agency, an MLB player must accrue six years of MLB service time. Due to the CBA negotiated by the Owners and Players, players, especially elite ones have to play seven years of team control because teams can hold down a player for X amount of days to delay the start of their service clock.
In 2015, Kris Bryant became the most famous example of service time manipulation as he was conveniently promoted to the MLB roster a mere day after the Chicago Cubs were assured an extra year of control. Bryant and agent Scott Boras filed a grievance against the team back in 2015 that he should be granted free agency a year early. That lengthy process finally came to an end today as it is being reported that Bryant has lost his grievance against the Cubs.
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The most immediate consideration is now that Bryant has two confirmed years of team control, will he be traded? When I previously considered a Kris Bryant trade, I had the Nationals and Braves as likely destinations. Having missed on Josh Donaldson, both those teams still make sense to target Bryant to upgrade their lineups.
You could also add the Phillies to the mix since Scott Kingery may be better suited for a Brock Holt type utility role. The Phillies could make a compelling offer of CF Adam Haseley and then a combination of prospects like 3B Alec Bohm, RHP Spencer Howard, or RHP Adonis Medina. There is the added value in the NL East of not only making the Kris Bryant upgrade but keeping him from a rival. The Tampa Bay Rays would make for an interesting partner as they need an upgrade at 3B but they aren’t likely to take on nearly $44M or part with their cheap talent.
One has to wonder what’s the current state of the Chicago Cubs Front Office – Kris Bryant’s relationship and how likely that makes a trade. Both sides managed to avoid arbitration with a 1 year, $18.6M deal instead of taking the file-and-trial approach. Before the past two offseasons, one could argue Bryant/Boras should have pursued an extension since Bryant won’t hit free agency until he is 30. Scott Boras thought has regained his mojo and is having his best offseason ever, securing bag after bag for his clients., so finding Kris Bryant a lucrative deal shouldn’t be a problem. The Cubs are apparently “out of money” anyways so an extension probably wouldn’t have been in the cards.
Looking towards the future, the precedent is now set that teams can basically manipulate service time of any prospect at their discretion and leisure. Short of an email or a verbal admission, no court is going to side with the players in a service time grievance. Look for the Players Union to push hard in the upcoming CBA negotiations to redefine what is considered a full year of service.
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Pitchers and Catchers report to spring training in a little over two weeks and the most significant moment of the Chicago Cubs offseason just happened. The Cubs are still in a strong position to contend for a division crown but it will be a scrap with the Cardinals, Brewers, and much improved Reds. Kris Bryant remains a superstar and would upgrade almost any contender at 3B and he can even help in the OF. The Cubs front office has likely laid the groundwork of a trade for the two-year version of Kris Bryant so it stands to reason if Bryant isn’t moved in the next week, the Cubs intend to keep him…for now.