MLB: Ronald Acuna and the Atlanta Braves: The Krux with Service Time

Center Fielder Ronald Acuna is on his way to the MLB. But whether he will be part of the Atlanta Braves lineup at the opening day is a matter of doubt. The reason for this is a rule that brings financial benefits to a franchise, but is aimed at a player.

What is the best way to deal with highly talented baseball prospects? A question as old as… the current compensation system of the Major League Baseball. This contains a kind of cheat code to prolong the control of a franchise over an own growth for a long time.

In concrete terms, this means that a player can become a free agent for the first time if he has completed at least six years of so-called service time in the MLB. Service Time is the time a player spends in the active 25-player squad or on the Disabled List. Officially, the MLB counts 172 days for one year of service time. In total, however, an MLB year consists of 183 days.

This in turn means that a team can theoretically hold a highly predisposed rookie in the Minors for at least 12 days to prevent him from being credited for one year of service time. As a result, control of the player by the team would then be extended for another year. He reached the Free Agency only after seven instead of six years.

Many teams do not make use of this practice for top-class newcomers. The Yankees, for example, could have held Aaron Judge back in the previous year, but let him approach it from the very beginning. In addition, they emphasize this year that such a consideration will not play a role in their current top talent Gleyber Torres.

The best-known counter-example would be Kris Bryant, whom the Cubs actually held back in 2015 on the basis of this regulation, although apparently he would have been prepared to do so immediately. The end of the song: The Cubs missed the division title with three games behind and had to go over the wildcard. With Bryant from the beginning there might even have been more – Bryant eventually became NL Rookie of the Year.

This season it’s the Atlanta Braves who are about to decide how to deal with their top-rookie. The talk is about Ronald Acuna Jr., who is ready for the Major Leagues, no matter who you ask.

Acuna impresses with its incomparable dynamics, its strong defensive power and the power that he has demonstrated since his early twenties. If someone belongs to the MLB – and thus to the Center Field of the Atlanta Braves – then surely he does. Moreover, according to the MLB Pipeline, it is the best prospect among all position players this year – only Pitcher/Hitter Shohei Ohtani (Angels) is still ahead of him in the overall view. Baseball America, on the other hand, even put him in first place overall.

But it seems that the Braves won’t admit him to the squad for the opening day. A measure that seems to be purely financial in nature.

Officially, however, Acuna shows understanding and emphasizes:”I’ve talked to a few people and I think it’s about whether they leave me in triple-A for a couple of weeks or months – however it works – for the benefit of the team,” said Acuna, emphasizing:”I’m trying not to focus on anything like this. My goal is to fight for a cadre spot and hopefully make it to the team.”

However, one has to bear in mind that the Braves are kind of burned-up children as far as this kind of player management is concerned. In 2010 they decided to bring top talent Jason Heyward into the team for the opening day. The outfielder thanked the team and hit a home run right in the first game, but in 2015 he was already a Free Agent. How you do it, you do it wrong.

However, the instruction to Acuna also appears wrong, but please put his cap straight and not crooked. Seriously. In 2018. Bob Bowman of MLB. com recently reported that the “braves want him to wear his cap and keep a professional appearance,” but at least they would like him to keep his “fun-loving, extravagant approach” to the game.

Andruw Jones, once Center Fielder of the Braves himself, is quoted in the same article as saying:”The main thing is that he thinks about staying straightforward and respecting his environment.” And he added:”Be humble, but humble-frequent.”

The bottom line is that the Braves want a player who dresses properly, waits one year longer for his Free Agency for the benefit of the team and is also supposed to remain modest in some way. However, he is not the only player in the league who prefers to wear his cap crooked. Fernando Rodney (Twins) does it, even Tim Tebow – who seems to be light years away from the MLB – was photographed on Media Day with a wry cap on his head. So what exactly is Acuna accused of?

At the end of the day, however, a prospect like Acuna can’t do anything about what an organization does to him in the first years of his MLB career. However, the behaviour that is ultimately demonstrated sends messages to several parties.

The player himself might remember this when he comes close to the Free Agency. In case of doubt, another international talent would prefer to opt for a different organisation. And other MLB teams could also consider following the competition’s example, which would be bad for Prospects everywhere.

This article was published without prior view by the Major League Baseball.