Dodgers: Crafty Service Time Move Costs Matt Beaty Super Two Status
When the Dodgers unexpectedly sent pinch hitter Matt Beaty down to the minor leagues late in August, it was a head scratcher. The left-handed batter had done everything the club had asked of him up to that point, hitting a solid .262 with a .358 on-base percentage in limited playing time.
Rumblings surfaced that perhaps the club might have had an eye on Beaty’s service time and super two status with the move, but that’s purely speculative and has no confirmable substance to the accusation. However, after MLB Trade Rumors owner Tim Dierkes confirmed on Saturday morning that the super two cutoff was set at 2 years, 116 days, it certainly gives the accusation more teeth.
Matt Beaty missed the super two cutoff by one day. Just one. Beaty was down in the minor leagues for 16 days, costing him about 25-26 days of service time.
Matt Beaty missed salary arbitration by one day https://t.co/OjsOYEKWCh
— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) November 27, 2021
As such, the Dodgers gain another year of team control over the utility player and will be able to pay him just the league minimum in 2022.
Unfortunately, this is where the old adage of baseball is a business fits like a worn glove. Moves like these not only affect players and their families, but they can do something to wear on a player’s love for the game. In parts of 3 seasons with the Dodgers, Matt Beaty has a .262 batting average with 18 home runs and 91 runs batted in over 240 games.
For more of a refresher course on service time and super two status, MLBTR scribe TC Zencka did a great job here.
Looking for more Dodgers News? Subscribe to our YouTube Channel! Subscribe and hit that notification bell to stay up to date on all the latest news, updates, rumors, interviews, live streams, and more!
NEXT: Andrew Friedman Hopes to Never See an LA Rotation without Clayton Kershaw
Evil!!!!!!
I understand the up and down moves with young players in MLB. BUT– ask Kris Bryant about this. The Cubs kept him in the minors his rookie year for just enough to gain an extra year of control. He tried to fight that a year and a half ago but lost. Sorry Matt. Not fair in your case if it was intentional. What’s that 45,000 to 540,000? Go out there and kick butt this next season.
Matty is a class act & deserves better treatment.
Possibly, an apology, from Dodgers (in general) is in order?
Rest assured, he & teammate Wendy, will handle this professionally & with dignity.
They both, emulate decency & strength.
Lastly…what goes around……..ya’ falla’ ?
GO MATTY!!!!!!
Yup evil. That is what corporations do, everyone who works in one knows. Hang in there Matt.
The Cubs business decision on Bryant’s service time led to the trade with the Giants because it was clear he wouldn’t resign. It’s pretty shortsighted to alienate a star player over a year of control. Beaty isn’t that kind of player but given how they pretty much ignored him and gave plenty of at bats to non performing utility players, his time on the team is short.
And those AB’S given to those other non performing utility players came back to haunt them in several games. Beaty was swinging well as seen in that Sunday game against Brewers with 7 RBI’S including a slam and the very next series in Chicago he didn’t get so much as even 1 at bat in that entire double header with Cubs in which Dodgers lost both games.
Paul, this goes to show that Drrrrrrrrr truly is a puppet to the FO. Drrrrrr could have put his foot down and made sure beaty was playing over Mckinney, Reks, Souza and all the other 150 hitters. And yes you are right, that decision alone cost the Dodgers the division, it cost them the seeding in the playoff’s, Muncy wouldn’t have been hurt, the pitching would have been rested, JT would have been rested. What a bunch of tight a@@ bias chumps tghe Dodgers are. Drrrrrr could have changed this, but his dislike for Beaty was Obvious. Dodgers deserved to lose the way they did making irrational greedy decisions like this. “Oh it’s strictly business, big Corporations”. Well, they strictly blew it, and need to look at themselves in the mirror. Inside moves like this is why some players move on from the Dodgers.
Totally agree, with you Kirk.
Isn’t it interesting how that one decision cascaded into events that eventually made it impossible for the Dodgers to make it into the WS? Totally agree with you, Kirk. Wouldn’t be surprised if Max ends up with the Giants or Angels as he wouldn’t have to deal with the poor decisions of Dave.
And don’t think Scherzer didn’t see this also….
It was a business move but I don’t believe it was so much to save money on Matt as it was to make him more attractive on the trade market. He is such a good hitter but has no position to be a starter. He would thrive as a DH which the Dodgers could use this upcoming season … perhaps. On the other hand, Matt would be a very good piece for a trade. Maybe that extra year of control plus a young “stud” could get a starting pitcher.
Ini tend to agree with Glen, but that being said if I’m him I ask tone traded. Not because of the service time issue (the players agreed to it in the last CBA negotiation), but because as long as Roberts is the manager he won’t get a fair shot.
He has a better shot elsewhere
I’ve been saying this ever since all of this went down. Drrrrrr, could have changed this, he could have grown a pair and stood for putting his best available options on the field instead of the garbage they played over him. Lux is in the same boat, they did the same thing to him as they played the Class A players in route to losing the division, the seeding, and eventually the season .. Horrible decisions by the FO and their puppet.
you don’t make sense. Glen was right – Matt has no position he can ply in the field. so you can’t play him!
Every player should understand that the CBA is about manipulation and should expect this type of maneuver to possibly come about, especially if the teams’ FO believes it beneficial to the ORG at some level or moment down the road. Whether it was one day, a week, the FO has the right to decide up to zero hour what they do with a player under their control. This is a non-issue because it’s in the CBA and why Bryant lost his case from the start.
It was easy to see how they were manipulating Matt Beaty throughout the year. The problem with their trying to save a few dollars by sending him down when they did, they opened the door for Souza, Reks, and McKenzie and between the three of them the Dodgers threw away their chance at a World Series. Penny wise and pound foolish, big time.
I’ve never rooted for a Dodger I liked to be traded, but I really hope Matt Beaty will land somewhere he will be truly appreciated for the talent he is.
I’m right there with you bud. Beaty deserves better than Drrrrrr and the Dodgers…..
Kirk, your post is right on about how Dodgers and their puppet Drrrrrr handled Beaty as well as others. Nobody will talk about it but as you said , privately players want out from under how Drrrrrr and Dodgers run things as far as player decisions go. Look, IMHO it’s going to take a season where Dodgers miss the PS altogether before any significant moves are made. As you may have noticed, not 1 key FA from Dodgers have rushed to get re-signed by them.
It’s shameful how Beaty was treated Paul. Yes as you recall we were livid watching all of this transpire. We demanded answers and all the Drrrr apologist media wouldn’t even confront him in ANY post game, pre game interviews etc. And if you recall, that’s when Df4L showed up and started this winning percentage campaign for Drrrrrrrr, with many others chiming in who’m we’d never seen here before. Don’t think the FO doesn’t pay attention to sites like this and their fan base. In this particular case regarding Beaty, they knew all along they were playing him, and like I’ve always claimed and you being my witness, ” Drrrrrrr had BIAS” against a player and people ask me here why I dislike him………. Proof is in the pudding, and most of all the TRUTH always surfices.
When I hear and see stories like this it makes me hope that baseball will not be played until these kind if injustices are corrected. Beaty clearly has been manipulated by the Dodger FO and DRRRRRR. Just as there are many players waaaay overpaid there are those that contribute but are undercompensated.
If Beaty goes somewhere else it would be nice to see him be a part of a team that knocks LA from playoffs.
you would root to see the Dodgers knocked out off the playoffs? That’s crazy
I’m sure he means for their own good. But Joe, don’t sit there and act like you know nothing about this sham that took place right before our eyes this past season. You claim Beaty can’t play any position? That’s bull, he played 1st base just fine. Question? Is he a better 1st basemen than Will Smith? Drrrrrr put Smith at 1st in the 9th against the Vagiants and he couldn’t put his foot on the bag and catch a stretch for the ball. Dodgers lose! And how many games did they lose the division by? Don’t act like the media that apologizes for Drrr’s lunacy…They created a false narrative that Beaty can’t play a position, and You fell for it….Makes me think your not all there…..
This was dirty pool!! I’m sure Matt will never forget what was done. I wouldn’t!
It’s all starting to make sense now Kid. Scherzer and Seager bail, Muncy says his arm is worse, FO already signing Heany and a few dumpsters. The dismantling of a should have been Dynasty.
There are two issues. First, the article talks about service-time manipulation. It appears that is what happened and it was certainly penny-wise and pound foolish. It used to be said that the Dodgers did not screw around with young players this way, they had too much class, in contrast to what the Angels did with Mike Trout in his rookie year. Apparently, this is not true any longer. The second issue is that even when Beaty was on the team, Roberts would not play him and instead went with the .150 hitters, allegedly due to Beaty’s poor defense. The two issues together no doubt resulted in the Dodgers being the wild card team rather than winning the division, and that in turn led to misuse of the pitching staff in the playoffs, and in turn to the loss of the opportunity to reach the WS. But they will save a few hundred thousand dollars or a little more on Beaty’s 2022 contract. What will they do with that?
They could use the extra 300,000 to give to their new 8.00 e.r.a.pitcher Beau, after they under bid Scherzer…..
We’re not exactly talking about a Kris Bryant or Mike Trout type of talent. Sucks for him that it may take just a little longer to make millions playing baseball for a World Series Contender. That being said….not a good look for Dodgers front office.
Yes, but it sure explains a lot about WHY all the Bias towards Beaty. Don’t know if you were here on the board at the time, but it was beyond head scratching. In the middle of a heated divisional race, Bellinger in a MLB record swoon being allowed to play, and 3-4 other guys playing in front of Beaty that had More runners left on base than their total Batting Avg’s. It also proves myself and many others speculations that Drrrrr was Biased towards Beaty.. That’s a even worse look in my Book..
It’s clear the Dodgers have been manipulating Beaty in a number of ways. What’s really ironic about this is choking off his super two status saved the team less than they paid McKinney, Souza, etc…So, bottom line they didn’t really save enough to warrant what they did with him. Players don’t forget the kind of stuff they’ve put Matt through. He’s perfect for organizations like Oakland, Cincinnati and others, which is where he will end up.
Oh, and one more thing: Beatty has played first, third and outfield in his career (including minor league games). Just because there is no starting opportunities with the Dodgers at these positions doesn’t mean he can’t play them off the bench. If the team doesn’t like his defense enough to play him simply coach him to a point where he doesn’t hurt them when called to play the field. You have to know that if he was a power hitter we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
beaty seems like a good guy. his defense is shaky at best. he looks a little more capable at first base. hes a decent contact hitter. good contact but the talent level is just okay. he’ll be clinging for his life everyday in the big leagues. maybe he’ll get motivated ,catch a gear and play better but he looks likely to have a short career unless he sticks to liner contact and adds a little launch angle. army mike here matt. pay attention grasshopper. it looked like roberts didnt like beaty after matt dogged it in rightfield one day but could it be that the dodgers held him back? its possible but it seems unlikely because the talent level evaluations around baseball would likely rate him as a sub all the way. the dodgers probably wouldnt even be interested in keeping him after his arb years ran their course. so it seems highly unlikely that theyd keep him back for any reason .