Cincinnati Reds: Could Anthony DeSclafani miss out on free agency?

Service time calculations could be greatly impacted by a shortened season. Cincinnati Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani could miss out on free agency.

The 2020 Major League Baseball will start on time. When the season commences, how many games will be played is anyone’s guess. Despite the desire of teams and players to play as many games as possible, baseball is likely to experience a shortened season. How might this impact the impending free agency of Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani?

DeSclafani and fellow Reds stater Trevor Bauer are slated to become free agents at the end of the 2020 season. However, since the upcoming season is unlikely to start until the middle of May and more likely early-June, we’re unlikely to see teams play a full 162 game schedule. That could be problematic for DeSclafani.

This all boils down to service time – a hotly contested term among baseball front office executives and the player’s union. As Reds fans are keenly aware, service time was the overriding reason that Nick Senzel did not make the Opening Day roster in 2019. Some will argue otherwise, but we know better.

So, how will service time be calculated if the season is reduced by 20 games or more? According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, MLB and the player’s union are in negotiations as we speak. Chief among their concerns is the issue of service time. So, let’s unpack this a bit, shall we?

According to MLB.com, each day that a player spends on the 26-man roster earns them a day of service time. Each league year typically consists of 187 days. A player is deemed to have reached “one year” of service time once he is part of the active roster for 172 days. Upon reaching six years of service time, a player is eligible for free agency.

So how does that affect Anthony DeSclafani? Currently DeSclafani has 5.062 years of service time accumulated. A full season would put Disco over the six-year threshold and he’d become a free agent next winter. However, what if the league isn’t able to play a full 162 game schedule?

According to Sherman, the current proposal being floated out there by the player’s association would give players a full year of service regardless of the number of games played during the upcoming season. Major League Baseball countered, saying that a full year would be credited for 130 games or more.

Anthony DeSclafani is 110 days short of reaching free agency, meaning if the season does not start prior to the second weekend in June, his free agency will be in jeopardy. That’s under the assumption that the season ends on September 30th. The chance remains that the MLB season could drift into October.

It’s not yet known when the season will begin, how service time will be calculated and which players may be affected. However, you can bet that those discussions are going on behind closed doors, and Anthony DeSclafani’s future could be hanging in the balance.