Service time

Service time refers to the number of days a player has spent on a major league roster.

Service time is important for two purposes: (1) determining who is or isn't a rookie for the purpose of the Rookie of the Year Award and other similar distinctions; and (2) determining when a player becomes eligible for salary arbitration. In the past, service time also determined who was eligible for a major league pension - a player had to have completed a set number of seasons to become eligible, which often led to unfair situations -, but this is no longer the case as pension rights now accrue from the first day a player is called up to the major leagues.

In the second situation, teams have been accused of manipulating service time - i.e. keeping a player who could help the team in the minor leagues longer than would be otherwise justified - in order to delay the onset of arbitration by one year. The poster case for this was Kris Bryant, who was clearly the Chicago Cubs' best option to start at third base in spring training in 2015, but was still sent down to the minors at the start of the year, only to be called up three weeks later, when the risk of his being eligible for salary arbitration in two years had been averted. He then went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award, buttressing his agent's contention that he was kept down for reasons unrelated to his performance. His agent did file a grievance, but it was unsuccessful. This became an issue as part of the contentious Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations that followed the 2021 season and led to a lockout.