Service Date

[AHF]

I saw a comment in ESPN's Top 12 for 12 article on minor league prospects last week that: " the magic service-time date has been passed on the calendar".

Can someone elaborate on what this means? Does it mean that there is no more financial incentive for clubs to keep minor league players down at this point? I was thinking that deadline was usually early June but maybe that has changed.


As SaltyDog pointed out back in 2009 it was uncertain whether the key date had passed in early June:

From MLBTraderumors.
[url]
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/10/n ... tatus.html[/url]

Early in the 2009 season, before Wieters made his MLB debut, I explained why the Orioles might delay his callup until early June. "He won't accumulate more than 126 days service time. This would likely prevent him from becoming a Super Two and would likely save the Orioles millions of dollars in years ahead." As frustrating as it can be for fans to wait while MLB-ready prospects play in the minors, the Orioles weren't going to contend no matter what in 2009 and they are undoubtedly better off paying Wieters $500K than $3MM in 2012.

So how does ESPN already know the deadline has passed this year before the middle of May when the Orioles could only say in early June that it would "likely" prevent him from becoming a Super Two. Are these two different things or has the rule changed?

Thanks in advance!

[Bobbleheadrusty]

Basically the "date" is a guess on when a certain number (22%) of this year's rookie class will have debuted by.

Basically those 22% of players get into the free agency track after 2 rather then 3 years (thus the "Super 2" status label). Players called up after this date get an extra year of team control (and a year later before the big raises come). Teams are fine bringing up filler players, but if a player doesn't break camp with the team and is considered an elite prospect teams are unlikely to bring them up before they feel that enough other rookies have come up. Teams rarely care about most rookies who debut, as most are filler.

As for ESPN saying the date is past, they are probably wrong. In years past 17% of rookies received super 2 status, this year it is 22%, meaning the magic day could be a couple weeks later. I've seen July 1 tossed around as a target date for a few teams.

[AHF]

Basically the "date" is a guess on when a certain number (22%) of this year's rookie class will have debuted by.

Basically those 22% of players get into the free agency track after 2 rather then 3 years (thus the "Super 2" status label). Players called up after this date get an extra year of team control (and a year later before the big raises come). Teams are fine bringing up filler players, but if a player doesn't break camp with the team and is considered an elite prospect teams are unlikely to bring them up before they feel that enough other rookies have come up. Teams rarely care about most rookies who debut, as most are filler.

As for ESPN saying the date is past, they are probably wrong. In years past 17% of rookies received super 2 status, this year it is 22%, meaning the magic day could be a couple weeks later. I've seen July 1 tossed around as a target date for a few teams.

Fantastic response. Thanks very much for the information!