Maikel Franco Has Filed a Grievance Against the Phillies
When the Cubs were ready to call up Kris Bryant this season, there was much discussion about the timing. He came up on April 17 and immediately started tearing it up. He finished the season with 171 days of service time, one day shy of a “full year.” That means Bryant is kept under franchise control for an extra year since this season doesn’t count as a full one. Bryant, as he should, has filed a grievance against the Cubs for “service time manipulation” in order to delay future free agency.
Maikel Franco did the same thing.
Where Franco’s story differs is that he wasn’t as highly touted as Bryant. He also came up briefly in 2014, but made his 2015 debut when Cody Asche was sent down to the minors to learn to play left field. There was a three-day delay between assigning Asche and calling up Franco. Maikel ended the year with 170 days of service time.*
Yahoo reports that both players’ grievances “indicate that players believe teams have not abided by the intention of service-time rules and operated in bad faith.” With Bryant, it’s obvious. With the Phillies, it’s less so (though that three-day delay doesn’t look great). The one saving grace here is that Franco’s beef is with the people in charge who aren’t here anymore, so the lingering saltiness will be kept to a minimum. Thankfully.
*Service time is unaffected by injury status as long as they’re still with the major league club.