Kris Bryant Rule Working

In 2015, Kris Bryant's rookie year, he became the poster child for service time manipulation.  Despite having an outstanding Spring Training, where he proved without a doubt that he was ready for the Majors, the Cubs sent him to Triple-A to start the season.  They didn't call him up until the end of April, just long enough to make sure he wouldn't be able to spend enough time in the Majors to not get a full year of service time.

Bryant, of course, went on to win Rookie of the Year, then was NL MVP the following season, as the Cubs won their first World Series since 1908.  But, since he didn't spend enough days in the Majors as a rookie, his six-year free agent clock didn't start until the 2016 season.  Meaning he wasn't a free agent for the first time until this past offseason, after his seventh full year in the Majors! 

That's just the most glaring of the many recent examples of service time manipulation, where teams keep Major League-ready prospects in the Minors longer than necessary for the sole purpose of delaying their free agency.  It was such a big issue that it was one of the sticking points in the lockout.  The players weren't going to budge on it, either, even though it was going to be a tough thing to enforce.  The solution they came up with was pretty creative, though.

Now, the players who finish first and second in Rookie of the Year voting will be credited with a full year of service time, no matter when they're called up.  It doesn't matter if it's Opening Day like last season's NL Rookie of the Year Jonathan India or June like last year's AL runner-up Wander Franco. 

Of course, the "Kris Bryant Rule" doesn't apply to them, but you get the point.  If they're getting credit for a full year anyway, it stands to reason that teams would call their better prospects up earlier, especially since they'll (theoretically) help the team win.  There's also the fear that it'll go the other way.  Teams will keep their top prospects in the Minors even longer, figuring that with such late Major League debuts, they won't put up enough numbers to finish first or second in Rookie of the Year voting.

Fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case so far.  Teams did, indeed, put their top prospects on their Opening Day rosters.  Spencer Torkelson, the first overall pick in the 2020 Draft, was the Tigers' Opening Day first baseman.  Riley Greene, another one of the top five prospects in all of baseball, likely would've been on Detroit's Opening Day roster, as well, if he wasn't injured.

It's entirely possible that Torkelson and Greene were going to make the Tigers' Opening Day roster either way.  There's really no way of knowing that (or any team's intentions).  But it's also possible that Torkelson is the first beneficiary of the Kris Bryant Rule, which also incentivizes teams promoting their top prospects to the Majors by attaching draft picks to them. 

Draft picks have more value than anything else to MLB front offices, so you know teams like the idea of getting more of them.  For free!  All they need to do is keep their top prospects on the Major League roster all season, then, if that rookie performs, both player and team will be rewarded.  The player will get to dip into the bonus pool, another creation in the new CBA, and the team will get a draft pick.

Baltimore's Adley Rutschman, the No. 1 pick in 2019 and top prospect in all of baseball, appears likely to make his Major League debut this season, as well.  The only reason he's delayed is because he's been dealing with injuries.  It has nothing to do with service time manipulation.  He likely wouldn't have been ready for Opening Day one way or the other.  But, the great thing about the Kris Bryant Rule is that even if Rutschman's debut isn't until the All*Star Break, he still gets the full year if he finishes in the top two.

Meanwhile, the best player in baseball over the first three weeks of the season has arguably been another rookie--the Cubs' Seiya Suzuki.  Through 18 games, Suzuki is second in the National League in batting average (.339), first in on-base percentage (.465) and fourth in slugging (.643).  He also has four home runs, 14 RBIs and 13 runs scored, all while playing a dynamite right field.

Suzuki's situation is much different, though.  He's a Japanese import.  He wasn't going through the Cubs' system.  They had to pay the posting fee and sign him to a Major League contract just to get him to come over.  And, since he didn't come from the Minors, there's no service time to manipulate.  As is the case with all other Japanese rookies (Hideo Nomo, Ichiro, Daisuke Matsuzka, Shohei Ohtani, etc.), Suzuki was guaranteed to be on the Opening Day roster, so he doesn't really count when talking about the Kris Bryant Rule.

And maybe the sample size is too small.  This is, after all, just the first month of the first season under the new CBA.  We have no idea if these guys made the Opening Day roster because of the Kris Bryant Rule or not.  However, whether it's a coincidence or not, it's encouraging. 

If they're trying to win, teams should break camp with their 25 best players on the roster.  If that includes rookies, so be it!  In 2022, at least, that was the case.  Will teams still figure out a way to manipulate service time?  Perhaps.  Are some Major League-ready rookies still gonna start the season in the Minors?  Of course!  Or maybe the players got their message across in the CBA negotiations and this is the start of a new era, where rookies who deserve it aren't held back and given a fair chance at the start of the season.

Kris Bryant was eventually able to cash in.  A free agent for the first time, he signed with the Rockies for seven years and $182 million in the offseason.  It was a long, winding road for Bryant.  It won't be for the likes of Spencer Torkelson and all the other rookies who benefit from the rule that bears Bryant's name, even if only unofficially.  He didn't benefit from it, but he paved the way for others who will.  Which ultimately might be the silver lining in what the Cubs did to Kris Bryant seven years ago.