"Super 2 Rule" A.K.A. Evan Longoria Rule

The "Super 2" rule is the reason the Rays were going to leave Evan Longoria in the Minors until the beginning of June this season hadn't the team been hit with injuries. The official MLB rule is posted below but in simple terms, around the end of May to the the middle of June you are in the clear to bring up your fresh prospects and not have it count has a service year towards arbitration. Prospects that gain Super 2 status are eligible for salary arbitration in 2 years instead of 3. This is the reason why Ryan Howard inked a $10 Million dollar deal for the 2008 season with the Phils. The Phillies had to bring him up early because Thome had a bad back and went on the DL. This is a point of contention for Prince Fielder right now and this is probably his last season in MIL because they renewed his contract for this season at $650,000. People were comparing his situation the Howard's but it is a completely different situation because Fielder is not a Super 2 prospect unlike Howard. Fielder is eligible for arbitration after this season and his agent Scott Boras is licking his chops at the $ he will rake in on Fielder. Stud prospect Matt LaPorta(Kyle) would be in line to take over at 1st base if Fielder departs MIL.

This is the reason why we are not seeing Jay Bruce hitting balls out of Great American Ballpark yet. I was reading through the Dayton Daily News and found an article where Walt Jocketty, new GM of the Reds, stated he didn't know the exact date of the Super 2 prospect cutoff and he didn't want to bring Bruce if he wasn't going to play. WTF??? He better know the date because it is his job to know and let's be honest here Walt, Coery Patterson isn't exactly lighting the world on fire for you. Let's examine the player that in blocking Bruce:

AVG: .227
OBP: .272
SLG: .398
OPS: .670

A .272 OBP for your leadoff centerfielder? I have already profiled the stats of Bruce but here are some for a quick comparison:

AVG: .369
OBP: .397
SLG: .661
OPS: 1.058

Not really a close comparion and I understand that Patterson is facing much better pitchers, but the numbers for Bruce demonstrate that his underlying skills are way better then Patterson's. Bruce's SLG is only .009 points lower then Patterson's OPS (OBP + SLG).

Final Thoughts:
I really don't mind teams holding back players until they clear the Super 2 window but don't give lame ass excuses about not knowing the date or playing time issues. You will see more players making the trip from the Minors to the Bigs beginning in mid June.


On the official site of the MLBPA,
"A player with three or more years of service, but less than six years, may file for salary arbitration. In addition, a player can be classified as a "Super Two" and be eligible for arbitration with less than three years of service. A player with at least two, but less than three years of Major League service shall be eligible for salary arbitration if he has accumulated at least 86 days of service during the immediately preceding season and he ranks in the top 17 percent in total service in the class of Players who have at least two but less than three years of Major League service, however accumulated, but with at least 86 days of service accumulated during the immediately preceding season."