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Kansas City was ecstatic when the Royals called up their top prospect, Jac Caglianone, but one former MLB executive called it the “single-most irresponsible move I’ve seen in quite a long time.”
Former Miami Marlins team president David Samson vocalized his displeasure with the Royals’ front office bringing Caglianone up to the big leagues despite his success in the minors.
It wasn’t Caglianone’s performance Samson was referencing in his opinion. It has to do with service time.
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Kansas City Royals designated hitter Jac Caglianone bats against the St. Louis Cardinals during the second inning of his Major League Baseball debut at Busch Stadium. (Jeff Curry/Imagn Images)
“If he’s going to be that good, how do you call him up now where he will hit arbitration a full year earlier than if they waited until after around June 17?” Samson wondered.
“I have no idea how a team that’s not in the top 10 of payroll is not paying attention to dates. And the Royals forcing the issue, that’s a bunch of horse hockey. You take the extra two weeks because it gives you an extra year and compounds itself in arbitration.”
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Caglianone will reach arbitration a year early because Kansas City brought him up before the Super Two deadline. Service time has been a debated topic for some time among baseball experts and fans because teams do have the ability to keep prospects down on the farm to ensure another year of control.
But Kansas City clearly doesn’t mind bringing up Caglianone now.
Kansas City Royals designated hitter Jac Caglianone (14) bats against the St. Louis Cardinals during the second inning of his Major League Baseball debut at Busch Stadium. (Jeff Curry/Imagn Images)
He was just called up, but Caglianone is one of the top prospects in baseball and has been raking in the minors this year with a .322/.389/.593 slash line with 15 homers and 56 RBIs between Double-A and Triple-A.
Samson believes calling up Caglianone now puts more pressure on him to perform right away because of the service time scenario.
“This is a $10 million decision they made. He better be Vladimir Guerrero Sr., and he better start now,” Samson said.
Caglianone went 0-for-5 in his major league debut Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Kansas City Royals designated hitter Jac Caglianone runs off the field after lining out during the second inning of his Major League Baseball debut against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. (Jeff Curry/Imagn Images)
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Kansas City is hoping Caglianone can get acclimated to the big leagues sooner rather than later, and they’re hoping to reach the playoffs in back-to-back seasons after breaking an eight-year skid last year with a wild-card berth.
The last time the Royals reached the playoffs before that was the 2015 campaign, when they defeated the New York Mets in the World Series.