Chicago Cubs: Kris Bryant files grievance over service time

The news broke that Kris Bryant had filed a grievance that the Chicago Cubs manipulated his service time to buy another year until his free agency, but this wasn’t news to the Cubs. The grievance had been filed in May but has just been made public.

Some were caught off guard when the news of Kris Bryant filed a grievance against the Chicago Cubs broke yesterday. Bryant wasn’t brought up to Chicago until eight games after the season started, pushing back his first year of free agency until 2021.

The Cubs had said they felt Bryant’s defense needed more work and that was the reason for Bryant not breaking camp with the team. While that was probably true, most believe Bryant was the team’s best option at third base coming out of Spring Training, and for a team that wants to win should have been the clear choice.

The Cubs, however, aren’t concerned about the grievance that they have been aware of since its filing in May.

"“We’ve known about this since May,” Hoyer said. “We have a great relationship with Kris. We feel like we were in the right.” h/t Jesse Rogers, ESPN"

There’s no precedent for a service time issue going to hearing so the MLBPA and MLB will be setting the tone for this and future issues on this matter. I believe it’s unlikely anything will come of the matter, but it will surely signal a change when it comes time to a new collective bargaining agreement.

Next: Cubs re-sign Cahill

After winning NL Rookie of the Year, Bryant seems to be destined for stardom, but that rise is never assured. But if it continues, he will get paid as a free agent after 2021, and the Cubs will be likely to pay him to make up for that extra year. But his agent Scott Boras might make them pay for that extra year.