The Best of the Best Need to be Called Up

           Why are the number two and number three picks in the 2013 MLB draft waiting to make an impact for their major league clubs in 2015? The answer is simple; it deals with money, and millions of dollars are at stake.

In MLB, since free-agency eligibility requires six full seasons, a player can be shorted a full season of service time at any point in his career and wind up spending more than six actual years under team control. This is where players like Bryant and Gray are affected. In the case of the two former players, their clubs either have already decided, or will likely decide, to wait until 171 days are remaining in the season before adding them to the active roster. That way, the player will have accrued 0.171 and not 1.000 years of service time. Assuming Bryant and Gray remain in the big leagues for the entirety of their years under team control, they wouldn't become free agents until they reach 6.171 years of service time as opposed to 5.171 (or five full years plus 171 days). Baseball needs to reevaluate their rules about these issues. They are ruining the game of baseball over money, which should never happen.

Twenty-three year olds Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs and Jon Gray of the Colorado Rockies were held off of the 2015 opening day roster. After having amazing 2015 spring season with their respected big clubs neither of them were called up. Many analysts say that the service time rules in baseball played a major influence on the team's decision to keep Bryant and Gray in Triple-A for the first weeks of the season.

This is the silliest MLB rule ever. Keeping the best young players out of the MLB because a matter of days can mean the difference between millions of dollars in salary, or even an extra year of team control. I feel that this rule should be abolished because now we are making the game all about money and not about the love for the game, as a child you don’t play baseball for the money or fame, you play because you enjoy the sport, the competition, and the love you have to be on the field with eight other players that love it just as much as you do. Money is talking that passion out of baseball and it is disgusting.