Hey guys. A question from the new guy.



In MLB, the rules for service time are as follows:

A player uses one of his pre-arbitration years and uses up his rookie designation in a season if he meets any one of the following three criteria:

A) 40 days on the ML roster BEFORE roster expansion (all 40 must be before expansion)

B) 50 ML innings pitched

C) 120 ML at bats

Any player playing in the majors but not meeting any one of these three criteria will use up an option, but will still have his full compliment of pre-arb years and will still be eligable for ROY awards in subsequent seasons.



Are these rules the same for HBD?

Specifically, if I call up a SP 1 HBD day before roster expansion (so he won't meet criteria A), give him 7 starts (should easily be less than 50 IP, so he won't meet criteria B), then put him on my playoff roster, would I still have his rookie status for next year and 3 full pre-arb years?



Thanks guys.

I don't have an answer to the HBD side of question, but a point of clarification about your MLB fact pattern:

the "use up an option" happened the minute he was added to the 40-man, but put on optional assigment to the minors ... it is the "option" to send the guy to the minors, not the "option" to call him up to the majors

I understand. I was using shorthand because I'm really not concerned with options in this case anyway (the prospect in question is not currently on the 40-man so my shorthand is acurate in his case, and he's of the once-he's-up-he-stays-up variety, so I'm really concerned with service time and pre-arb years not options). But thanks for the clarification.

No. That is not how service time is calculated in HBD.

Then how is service time calculated? Many players who take a brief swim through the majors in a given year do not get credit for a year of service. What, exactly are the criteria? I've been unable to find this in the help section, and several experienced players have been uncertain.



Also, why isn't it done this way? When you ask WIS why you can't, for example, trade draft picks they tell you it's because they can't do it in MLB. Why the variation here?

As long as you spend 20 days on optional assignment, it does not count as a year of service.

Here is a good example of a player who has not yet reached arbitration due to the strange calculation employed in HBD.

http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=1499969

Thanks! So any player with 20 HBD minor league service does not use a year of service time for that season. That is a strange calculation. Any reason given by WIS?

That is only sort of correct. MLB and HBD have the same rule. One day of service is credited for each day a player spends on the 25 man roster, and a total of 172 days is required for one year of service (though the season is longer than 172 days). If the player is on the roster for less than 172 days during the season, it won't count as his first year of service. The reason "20 days" comes up is due to a second rule. If a player spend less than 20 days in the minors during a given season, that time gets counted as ML time. So, if a player spends 165 days on the ML roster and 15 days on the minor league roster, it will count as 180 ML days and thus a year of service. This is why you routinely see players spend 20 days in the minors (thus not counted towards the ML service time) and about 160 days on the ML roster. That keeps them under 172 ML days, and the season won't count as their first year of service for purposes of arbitration. Super 2 eligibility is an added twist to this process which MLB has, but HBD does not.

Thanks, that helped. MLB does have the additional feature of an AB/IP limit. Recently read a story about the Rangers' Julio Borbon and Neftali Feliz. It said that while neither had accrued enough roster time for 2009 to count as their rookie season, Borbon's 136 AB exceeded the limit of 120, so he used up his rookie year, while Feliz did not exceed 50 IP, so he will be a rookie in 2010. From what I am reading here, it seems that this rule does NOT apply to HBD in any form. Is that correct? Thanks.

I believe that acquiring 1 year service time and not qualifying as a "rookie" for ROY are different.

I always thought the IP/AB numbers were just for rookie status in MLB (with no bearing on service time).

Huh, I was under the opposite impression, but either way it makes no difference in HBD. So thanks!

jvford is correct. HBD uses the same service time rules as MLB with the exception of the Super Two exception which is a bit too convoluted for use here.

The only relevance the IP/AB minimums have in MLB, I believe, is determining eligibility for Rookie awards.