Agent Seth Levinson knows any argument about the business of baseball might come off as petty against the backdrop of life and death the nation is experiencing because of COVID-19.
Players and owners, however, continue to discuss adjustments in pay, service time and other areas that would occur in a shortened season, including what would happen in the worst-case scenario – the cancellation of the 2020 season entirely.
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Both sides desire to play as many games as possible, but the agreement they are negotiating must account for every contingency. The service time players would receive if no games are played in ’20 remains a stumbling block, and a deadline of sorts is looming: Thursday, the scheduled start of the season, marks the beginning of the players’ first pay period.
Levinson, whose ACES agency represents players such as Jon Lester, Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Carrasco, said service time is a vital issue to the players because of its importance in the game’s pay structure.
“Service time equates to a year in a player’s career,” Levinson said. “MLB has a stranglehold over both the entry and exit dates of a player’s career, and the length of that career has continually grown shorter. In the worst-case scenario, both sides will have suffered substantial losses; however, it is the players who will suffer the most significant damage with the irretrievable loss of a precious year of their careers.
“Service is nothing more than property rights to owners. The loss of a year only means that the owners retain their exclusive property rights for five years instead of six.
“Comparing the finite years of a player’s career with property rights is a vile concept. Still, it does illuminate the enormity of the merit of the players’ position.”
If the season is not lost entirely, a service-time solution would appear relatively simple. As reported previously, the definition of a full season could be adjusted accordingly, based upon the number of games played.
The 2019 season consisted of 186 days, including off-days. A player’s maximum service time was 172 days, which equates to a full season. A 100-game season, for example, would consist of 115 days using the same proportions, with a maximum service time of 106.
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A canceled season creates a different set of issues. The owners, after losing an entire year of revenue, would want relief in a variety of areas, including service time. They would not simply grant a year of service to every player who appeared in a single major-league game in 2019. The union, likewise, knows a certain threshold of service in ’19 would be required, and its proposals reflect that understanding.
Sources confirmed a report by the New York Post’s Joel Sherman saying the union initially proposed that if no games are played in ’20, a player would receive a full year of service as long as he had 60 days of service in ’19. The details of MLB’s proposal are not known, and talks are fluid on a number of fronts. The player leadership held a conference call on Friday night, and negotiations are expected to continue this weekend.
One argument the league might make: The financial losses stemming from a canceled season might change baseball’s entire economic landscape, making free agency perhaps a less attractive proposition than it might be after the sport resumes and a full season is played.
Consider Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts, who is projected to be the most attractive 2020-21 free agent. In normal circumstances, he would much prefer to hit the open market entering his age 28 season instead of his age 29. But if the ’20 season is canceled, might it be better for him to carry over his $27 million salary into ’21 and then go free after a full season of economic recovery for the sport?
In theory, the answer might be yes. But Betts, if he became a free agent after a shortened or canceled 2020 season, also could allow himself to negotiate in a better economic climate by signing a one-year deal and then re-entering the market the following offseason.
The union views service time as an issue bigger than any one superstar, critical to players between zero and three years of service who are trying to reach arbitration, and players between three and six years who are trying to reach free agency.
Lost time, the players know, is something they cannot get back.
(Photo of Mookie Betts: Ron Vesely / Getty Images)
