This will come up in the new CBA negotiations...

[Lipman 1]

The Seattle Marines president has just given the MLBPA more ammunition over "service time manipulation":

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mariners-president-kevin-mather-admits-team-manipulates-service-time-and-criticizes-players-english-in-video/

[DeployEloy]

It was probably going to happen regardless of the Mariners CEO comments. Still, I don’t know how something like this is so openly publicized and admitted.

[blurry]

The MLBPA is going to have a field day with his comments and rightfully so. I don't know how they should fix the service time issue but it has to happen. It would also be nice if some sort of salary floor were instituted where if the team goes below it, they don't get revenue sharing.

[HomeFish]

An act of remarkably poor judgment from a very experienced baseball executive. I'm speechless.

[ChiTownTrojan]

The MLBPA is going to have a field day with his comments and rightfully so. I don't know how they should fix the service time issue but it has to happen. It would also be nice if some sort of salary floor were instituted where if the team goes below it, they don't get revenue sharing.

Has anyone heard any suggestions of how this can be "fixed"? The only think that would be fair and not have the potential of anyone gaming the system is for the clock to start the day the player is drafted/signed (with some variation in the contract length based on age). i.e., you draft a high school player you get X years of control (starting the day of the draft), and if you draft a college player you get Y years of control. International prospects that can range from 16 to 23 when they sign are a whole different mess.

Of course this system has the potential for players to be rushed in their development so teams can get the most value out of them they can.

[ChiTownTrojan]

An act of remarkably poor judgment from a very experienced baseball executive. I'm speechless.

Mather just stepped down (as he should have).

[blurry]

Mariners made a statement: https://twitter.com/Mariners/status/...is_position%2F

As did the MLBPA: https://twitter.com/MLBPA_News/statu...34305672716297

[Mohoney]

Nobody forced the MLBPA to sign that contract. They agreed to the provision, knowing full well that front offices were going to play these games with service time. Perhaps they will do better in this next round of negotiations.

[blurry]

Nobody forced the MLBPA to sign that contract. They agreed to the provision, knowing full well that front offices were going to play these games with service time. Perhaps they will do better in this next round of negotiations.

You're not wrong. The MLBPA operates like many other unions in that the senior members will lead a vote for a deal that helps them the most but the compromises are generally on the backs of the youngest members. It's why so many veterans were ticked off that George Springer was offered a bigger contract before he even made the majors (they said he didn't "earn" it yet...in that, they didn't like a younger person making more money than them).

I have a feeling this time may be a little bit different. Some of the veteran players who had their service time manipulated are still openly unhappy with how the entire process is handled. It's a system that everybody wants to see fixed; players want to get paid sooner and I'm betting GM's probably want to stop being the bad guy and having to lie through their teeth with their "needs to work on their defense" garbage.

[HomeFish]

Nobody forced the MLBPA to sign that contract. They agreed to the provision, knowing full well that front offices were going to play these games with service time. Perhaps they will do better in this next round of negotiations.

The CBA does not allow MLB teams to act in bad faith, and that is essentially what a senior Mariners executive just confessed to. This could lead to successful grievances.

[Lipman 1]

Nobody forced the MLBPA to sign that contract. They agreed to the provision, knowing full well that front offices were going to play these games with service time. Perhaps they will do better in this next round of negotiations.

I guarantee you they'll do better although more than likely it is going to lead to a strike either in 2022 or later in the 2021 season. The other possibility is the owners locking out the players as soon as the 21 season ends. This doesn't bode well for anyone but with owners making huge profits the past few seasons while players salaries have gone done, now throw in the cold free agent markets and service time manipulation the MLBPA has a lot of battles they can fight hard on.

[thomas35forever]

Jomboy breaks it down:

https://youtu.be/zBg8_44uDZ0

[Lipman 1]

A nice story looking at the in's and out's of service time manipulation and the impact on the next CBA:

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-service-time-manipulation-why-longstanding-baseball-practice-is-a-major-issue-in-2021/

[Lipman 1]

Another notch that the players union is sure to bring up in the CBA negotiations...this will not end without a long struggle/stoppage:

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/4/16/22387899/mlb-average-player-salary-decreases-again

[Dumpjerry]

Another notch that the players union is sure to bring up in the CBA negotiations...this will not end without a long struggle/stoppage:

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/4/...ecreases-again

Other than increasing the minimum, how would a CBA address this? This seems like a free market result-the players are agreeing to smaller contracts. This could be the result of so many rookie and second year players signing long extension to avoid Arb years. This would suppress salaries. The players are not forced to accept the offers, but they are excellent insurance policies against a career ending injury.