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Cubs’ News: The Service Clock Keeps Ticking and I’m Mad

By Wayne Cavadi

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The Iowa Cubs became the best team in Minor League baseball yesterday.

Two of Grading on the Curve’s Top 5 Prospects (Kris Bryant and Addison Russell) as well as one of baseball’s best raw talents will be starting the year in Tripe-A.

Russell is understandable. Despite some opinion that he has surpassed Cubs Opening Day shortstop Starlin Castro in talent, he has not surpassed him in experience. Still just 21 years of age, Russell can go hone his offense or perhaps learn a new position so when the Cubs’ decision on what to do with Castro arises, they could possibly keep both. 

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Russell outplayed Castro this spring, showing the Cubs a glimpse of their future. He slashed .324/.359/.486 with four extra base hits. Compare that to Castro’s .275/.310/.475 over essentially the same amount of at bats, you begin to wonder how long it is until Castro is traded to open up a slot for Russell.

Baez is a no-brainer. The 22-year old infielder has already shown he has 20/20 potential and could quite possibly accomplish that at the big league level right now. However, the Cubs’ second baseman of the future still swings to freely and has to learn better plate discipline. This was on display this spring when Baez slashed .173/.218/.231 while striking out a team high 20 times in 52 at bats. When the Cubs traded for Major League ready second baseman Tommy La Stella this offseason, Baez knew he would have to have a spectacular spring to start the year in the bigs.

Unfortunately, the Service Clock won out and Bryant will start the year in Iowa. This has been debated all offseason, and will continue to be debated until the next collective bargaining agreement is reached, especially with Scott Boras having his hands on things. Whatever side of the fence you are on, the game of baseball lost out yesterday to the business of baseball. And if you ask me, that is a crying shame.

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I absolutely understand it. If the Cubs wait 16 games, a mere two weeks, they get to keep Bryant an extra year before he hits free agency because his MLB clock will not start ticking and he will not hit that full six years. Just because the Cubs are playing strategically by the rules, does not mean it is ok for the team, the fans, or the game.

Bryant went .425/.477/.1.175 this spring over 40 at bats. That is not a typo, folks, Bryant was raking and mashing off of big league pitchers like Felix Hernandez who he took yard last week. He hit 9 home runs and drove in 15 Cubbies. Bryant is not merely the No. 1 prospect in the Cubs’ organization (and by many accounts all of baseball) he is the best player on the Cubs’ roster.

Some will argue that he needs to hone his defense. This is true, but he would not be the first Minor Leaguer to make some errors as he adjusts to the hot corner in the Major Leagues. Some will argue that his swing needs more seasoning, as he strikes out (14 times over those 40 at bats) a tad too much. This is also true, but find me a power hitter in today’s game that does not do so.

Bryant was the USA Today and Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year last season. He led all of professional baseball in home runs with 43 while driving in 110. There is nothing left that he can learn in the Minor Leagues, and anyone who thinks that he is being sent down for any other reason than service time is fooling themselves.

The Cubs have not won more than 75 games in five years. They have finished dead last in the NL Central everyone of those years. Now, you may say it is only 16 games, but for a new look Cubs’™ team that has high aspirations for 2015, there is a big difference between starting 2-14 and 10-6, especially for a franchise that wins do€™ not come so easily for historically. Does that mean that I think Bryant can single-handedly win those extra games for the Cubs? By no means, but he certainly adds to the prospect of winning more games than losing. Should the Cubs finish the year 79-83, and miss out on the much needed .500 season because of a slow start, you can pinpoint it on the service clock.

Furthermore, yes, the Cubs lock up Bryant for an extra year, but whose to say who will be around in six years? Jon Lester and Jake Arrietta, the top two pitchers on the staff, are no spring chickens. Joe Maddon may leave town if he can not resurrect the Cubs as he did in Tampa Bay. And if the rebuilding process continues to reel off last place finishes, Theo Epstein may be looking for a job by then. Bryant won’€™t do much good with no one left on the team.

The biggest pain about the whole thing is that Bryant is represented by Boras. We all know this will not go down without a fight, especially if Boras is losing out on the almighty dollar. Now we are all stuck hearing him for who knows how long!

I am not saying the Cubs are wrong here by any means. They are actually making the right play according to the rules of service time. This is a problem of Major League baseball, showing that a players’ contract is more valuable than the game. The Service Clock shows that the business of baseball largely outweighs the game itself, and that is a sad day.

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