The offensive failures we are currently witnessing around MLB are of epic proportions. Strikeouts are up, home runs are down and stars like Eugenio Suarez, Kyle Tucker and Michael Conforto are all batting under .200 for the season. The league warned us that alterations to the baseball would deaden power, but this is ridiculous. Couple that with the rash of injuries around the league, and fantasy baseball owners are clamoring for help. It is time for MLB to rid itself of this service time and “Super Two” nonsense and bring up the youth this league so desperately needs.
Feel free to use your Google machine to get the full definitions of MLB service time and Super Two status, but the bottom line is it all comes down to money, team control of a player and when said player’s arbitration clock begins. Clubs hold players down in the minors for extra time early in their careers to delay the start of the clock and maintain an extra year of control. There is nothing against it in the current collective bargaining agreement, but with so much younger talent emerging, the practice of holding a player down is being frowned upon more and more, and will be a hot topic of debate when players and management return to the negotiating table.
From a business standpoint, it makes sense for team owners to continue things as they are. Small-market teams would have trouble retaining their star players, as teams like the Yankees and Dodgers would swoop in with their fat checkbooks. But are we doing the overall game a disservice by allowing budding superstars to waste their prime years being stuck in places like Pittsburgh or Seattle? It’s not as if these teams are building a decent product around these players anyway. Just ask Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon.
As a fantasy owner, wouldn’t you rather see Drew Waters over Guillermo Heredia in the Braves’ outfield? Why must we endure a .212-hitting Jose Marmolejos in Seattle when we know Jarred Kelenic is ready? Where is Bobby Witt Jr.? Wander Franco? Instead, we have struggling D-list players littering major league rosters, and MLB can’t figure out why they’re losing fans and hemorrhaging money.
Make baseball better. Either contract the small-market teams or force them to bring up and play their young stars. The fans, and fantasy baseball players, will be much happier.
Howard Bender is the VP of operations and head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on Twitter @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy baseball advice.
