The Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies have some of the best rookies the MLB has to offer, but rumors suggest both clubs will have to address grievances filed on behalf of their top young players.
Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant and Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco have both filed grievances against their teams due to service time considerations. Both players believe their service time was manipulated in order to delay their future free agency, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports.
"While neither case has yet to reach an arbitration panel, according to sources, the grievances indicate that players believe teams have not abided by the intention of service-time rules and operated in bad faith," Passan adds.
Bryant's case was among the biggest MLB storylines last offseason. The former No. 1 prospect and Minor League Player of the Year did not get promoted to make his MLB debut until April 17, as the Cubs could gain an extra year club control of the youngster if they kept him in the minors for the first 12 days of the 2015 season.
He finished the season with 171 days of service time and a full year is considered 172 days. Bryant was the NL Rookie of the Year this past season after hitting .275/.369/.488 with 87 runs scored, 26 home runs and 99 RBI.
It was reported back in August that the 23-year-old would likely file a grievance in response to the Cubs' actions.
Bryant batted .325/.438/.661 with 118 runs scored, 43 home runs and 110 RBI in 138 games between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa in 2014 and led the minors in home runs. He followed up that campaign with a monstrous spring training last March, during which he hit .455/.477/1.175 with 14 runs scored, 9 home runs and 15 RBI in 14 games and led the league in most categories.
Both president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer stressed that Bryant needed some polishing on the defensive side of the ball. There were perhaps arguments regarding his offensive drop-off from Double-A to Triple-A in addition to his high strikeout total (162 Ks in 138 games). Additionally, he had played only 70 games above Double-A up until that point.
Bryant's agent, Scott Boras, expressed his discontent with the Cubs' decision last year as well.
As for Franco, his situation wasn't as highly documented because he made his MLB debut in 2014 and there were clear issues with his development, but he finished the year with 170 days of service time, which creates speculation.
Franco, 23, was promoted on May 15 and hit .280/.343/.497 with 45 runs scored, 14 home runs and 50 RBI in 80 games with the Phillies. His debut in 2014 was much more underwhelming when he slashed .179/.190/.214 with five runs scored and five RBI in 16 games.
In 133 games at Triple-A Lehigh Valley last year, the slugger batted .257/.299/.428 with 64 runs scored, 16 home runs and 78 RBI. He began the year at Lehigh Valley and tore up the minors with a .355/.384/.539 stat line as well as 15 runs scored, 4 home runs and 24 RBI in 33 games.
It's unclear how long this process will take, but it will receive a lot of attention this offseason.
