This article is part of our Fantasy 101 series.
Usually a player must have accrued at least three years of MLB service time before being arbitration eligible, but those awarded Super Two status are the exception. If a player has fewer than three years of service time, but more than two AND they rank within the top 22 percent of all two-year players in terms of service time, then that player will become arbitration eligible. Super Two players get four years of salary arbitration instead of the typical three, and for a really good player, this can end up costing the team more than $10 million.
Last year's cutoff for Super Two status was two years, 133 days of MLB service time (written as 2.133). It should be obvious at this point that trying to manipulate the callup of a top prospect because of Super-Two fears is a very inexact science. In 2013, the cutoff was 2.122, and in 2012 the cutoff was 2.139. A general rule of thumb is that if a team calls up a prospect prior to July, that player will have a good chance of being awarded Super Two status in a few years.
Considering there is no exact date involved, and it is dependent on what is happening with other players, it is impossible to predict a player's callup date based on Super-Two ramifications. That said, Kris Bryant will not be a Super-Two consideration. The Cubs will not hold him down until July. He is going to get paid regardless, but they will try to get an extra year of control, which I will cover next. Players that could be held down because of Super-Two considerations are Jose Peraza, Francisco Lindor, Stephen Piscotty, Miguel Sano, and a bevvy of pitchers who will be covered in the tiers below.
Getting An Extra Year Of Control
According to the CBA, players are entitled to free agency after six or more years of major league service time. A year of service time is defined as 172 days on a major league roster, but a typical season lasts 183 days. This means that as long as a player is called up with fewer than 172 days remaining in the season, they will be under their current team's control for seven years, instead of six. With most players, and especially a player like Bryant, this is far more important than saving $10 or $20 million by dodging Super Two status. As noted above, Bryant is going to get paid, but having that extra year of control puts the Cubs in a better bargaining position when they start to talk about a contract extension with the young slugger. What does this mean for Bryant in 2015? It means that April 17 is a date that Bryant's owners should circle on their calendars. If the Cubs call him up for this game (the Friday opener of a weekend home series against the Padres), or any following game, they will control Bryant's rights for an extra year. Bryant is the only player who will clearly be affected by this loophole if he does not break camp with the team, but this math can be applied to any other prospect if the assumption is that their team will be looking to do the same thing.
