Service-time manipulation has been a major point of contention around the Major League Baseball world over the past several years.
The most notorious example of this is in Toronto with the Blue Jays keeping top prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the minors last season despite him dominating inferior competition.
Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins attempted to address the issue during the spring. But his explanation didn’t make any sense.
We’re now seeing drama unfold surrounding the Cincinnati Reds and top prospect Nick Senzel.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft, Senzel was just demoted to minor league camp after posting a stellar .308 average during spring training.
Following the demotion, Senzel’s agent agent, Joel Wolfe, absolutely blasted the Reds’ organization.
This is going to be a continuing theme around the baseball world. Should Senzel remain in the minors through the middle of April, he wouldn’t accrue a season of Major League service time.
Then again, Senzel was limited to under 50 games in the minors last season and is switching positions.
With the Reds having made a ton of win-now moves during the winter, it makes sense for the team to keep him in the minors.
Apparently, Senzel’s agent doesn’t see it that way. After all, Senzel enters the 2019 season as MLB’s sixth-best prospect.