The debate about whether or not Kris Bryant will start the year in the majors with the Cubs appears to be over. Bryant was reassigned to minor league camp on Monday by the team, seemingly ensuring that they’ll get an extra year of control on him. While Bryant’s demotion makes sense from a business standpoint, that’s not exactly encouraging for fans who look at the demotion and think of it as “being cheap” or “not wanting to win”.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen plenty of teams manipulate service time in order to either gain another year of control on a player or push them out of Super 2 qualification. Sometimes it’s worked well. Sometimes it’s worked poorly. Here’s a brief recap of some of the most notable examples.
PITTSBURGH, PA – SEPTEMBER 17: Gregory Polanco #25 of the Pittsburgh Pirates reacts after hitting a solo home run in the first inning against the Boston Red Sox during inter-league play at PNC Park on September 17, 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Gregory Polanco, Pirates.
Pittsburgh didn’t give Polanco the Opening Day job in right field last year after he performed quite well in high-A and AA in 2013. After smashing AAA to a .328/.390/.504 line in 2014, Pittsburgh called him up on June 10th, likely knocking him out of Super 2 qualification. In the 89 games Polanco played in the majors, he hit .235/.307/.343. Polanco started hot in June, but struggled in the second half.
Travis Snider, Jose Tabata, and Josh Harrison all got playing time in right field over Polanco, and Pittsburgh ended up better for it – Snider hit .264/.338/.438 for the season and Harrison had a breakout year by hitting .315/.347/.490 and getting playing time at five different positions. The Pirates ended up winning one of the two NL Wild Cards, and Snider actually started over Polanco in their 7-0 loss to the Giants in the season’s final game.
This worked out pretty well for the Pirates. They successfully delayed Polanco’s clock, still made the playoffs, and if anything, they should have held off on promoting/demoting him for longer than they actually did. But Andrew McCutchen’s fractured rib in August forced Pittsburgh to keep Polanco on the roster, and if he never got hurt, the team could have passed the Cardinals and won the NL Central. What happened with him was pretty much the ideal scenario.
ST PETERSBURG, FL – APRIL 23: Right fielder Wil Myers #9 of the Tampa Bay Rays talks with teammates during batting practice before the start of the game against the Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field on April 23, 2014 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Scott Iskowitz/Getty Images)
Wil Myers, Rays.
The Rays kept Myers in the minors until June 18th of 2013, and Joe Maddon did his typical mix and match affair in right field before he was called up. Ben Zobrist, Matt Joyce, and Sam Fuld all got playing time in right pre-Myers, but Joyce and Fuld also both got playing time in left (since Tampa Bay’s most popular left fielder that year was…the immortal Kelly Johnson). Tampa Bay didn’t lose a ton going with those guys over Myers – Johnson was league average (.235/.305/.410) in left, Joyce was his usual solid self (.235/.328/.419) in both corners, and Zobrist was Zobrist (.275/.354/.402 while playing just four positions).
Myers killed the ball in his 88 games in the majors that season, hitting .293/.354/.478 with 13 homers and winning the AL Rookie of the Year award. The Rays snuck into the playoffs, beating the Rangers in a one-game playoff to claim the AL’s second Wild Card spot and knocking off the Indians in the Wild Card playoff game before falling to the Red Sox in the ALDS. All things considered, there isn’t much else the Rays could have done with Myers – they were three games above .500 when he was called up, and surged to a 56-38 record following his callup to barely make the playoffs. They would have needed an extra five wins in the first half to win the AL East, and I don’t think that was going to happen in any situation.
As for Myers? Well, his service time isn’t the Rays’ issue anymore – they traded him to the Padres this winter after an injury-plagued 2014.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 06: Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals hits a solo home run in the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants during Game Three of the National League Division Series at AT&T Park on October 6, 2014 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Bryce Harper, Nationals.
This is possibly the most interesting situation on this little list. Harper was one of the last draftees to get a major league contract, so Washington keeping him in the minors would only have an effect on him if Harper qualified for arbitration before the end of that original five-year contract. Of course, that’s exactly what happened.
The Nationals ended up needing Harper in 2012 more than it looked like they would have. Despite the team pacing the National League with 98 wins, the Braves won 94 and were in the race all year. The drop off from Harper to Roger Bernadina, or Rick Ankiel, or Tyler Moore for a full season could have crippled the Nationals.
Nothing ended up changing for the Nationals or Harper – he got his Super 2 qualification, and they ended up getting an extra year of control out of him. All’s well that ends well, right? This is probably where the Cubs and Bryant will end up – with Bryant as a Super 2 player, under control for a total of seven seasons. If major league contracts hadn’t been outlawed for draftees in the new CBA, you could bet that Scott Boras would have sought one for Bryant like he did for Harper (and Stephen Strasburg before him).
ATLANTA, GA – JULY 22: Jason Heyward #22 of the Atlanta Braves knocks in a run with a first inning single against the Miami Marlins at Turner Field on July 22, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
Jason Heyward, Braves.
Atlanta didn’t screw around with Heyward. He was their Opening Day right fielder in 2010 at age 20 with a total of 50 games above high-A under his belt. He finished as the runner-up in the NL Rookie of the Year race to Giants catcher Buster Posey, and was named to the NL All-Star Team. The Braves won the NL Wild Card, barely holding off the San Diego Padres to claim the final playoff spot in the National League.
Without Heyward for a full year, the Braves probably *don’t* win that Wild Card spot. Atlanta was already struggling in left and center with Melky Cabrera and Nate McLouth, and having to give even more playing time to either of those two, platoon bat Matt Diaz, or trade deadline acquisition Rick Ankiel (hey, it’s him again!) would have been a fatal blow to their hopes at contention.
The lack of a seventh year of control on Heyward did force Atlanta’s hand this winter, resulting in a four player trade that sent Heyward to the Cardinals a year before he hit free agency. But if Heyward was instead called up in May as opposed to April, not much would have changed this winter. He still would have been a Super Two, and the Braves would have been on the hook for two more large salaries instead of just one.
Maybe the Braves would have ended up saving $2 or $3 million to date on Heyward, only to face the possibility of a monstrous salary owed to him in his fourth and final year of arbitration. And that’s the risk you run when you play with the clock. For teams like the Cubs, where money really isn’t much of an issue, you favor future control over immediate results. For a team like the Braves, with tight payroll constraints, playing the clock game can result in a destroyed budget for future seasons at the gain of one more year of control.
It’s really a tough situation that differs by the team, and there’s no right or wrong answer. I still think the Cubs made the right decision with Kris Bryant, because paying him through arbitration for four years instead of three isn’t much of an issue for them. Similarly, keeping him in the minors for an extra two-four weeks to start the 2015 campaign isn’t going to obliterate their season, despite what some may say. Teams simply need to determine what works best for them, and that’s what the Cubs did in this situation.
