SF Giants will likely have one more arbitration-eligible player

According to Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, MLB set the cutoff for Super 2 status at 2.128 days of service time. This does not normally affect a ton of players but it will create a slightly different decision for SF Giants lefty Alex Young.

SF Giants will likely have one more arbitration-eligible player

Typically, a player goes through arbitration three times during his rookie contract. Each time, he receives a raise that is dependent on a lot of factors such as service time and performance. However, there is a small segment of players who are eligible to make four trips through arbitration.

Those players attain Super 2 status, meaning that they had enough service time to qualify for arbitration one season earlier than expected. Super 2 designation refers to players who rank in the top 22 percent among players between two and three years of service time.

Alex Young began the year with 2.076 years of service time and accrued approximately one-third of a season after being acquired by the Giants in the middle of the year. When MLB Trade Rumors published its projected arbitration salary estimates for this winter, it indicated that the Giants had 13 players eligible for arbitration.

They trimmed that list by one when they outrighted veteran reliever Jharel Cotton off of the 40-man roster in October. However, the addition of Young will bring that total back to 13.

Young had a nice season with San Francisco. The left-handed hurler registered a 2.39 ERA, 2.96 FIP, 1.48 WHIP, 6.8 K/9, and a 1.82 SO/W ratio in 26.1 frames in a Giants uniform. The 1.48 WHIP suggests that he pitched through a lot of traffic but limited the damage as he induced a ground ball in 54.2 percent of batted ball events.

Plus, he did not allow a home run in 2022. Young made a noticeable change in pitch mix when he was claimed off of waivers by the Giants. San Francisco's front office has been criticized, at times, with how aggressively it churns the waiver wire but teams can find a role player or two through this channel.

With Young attaining Super 2 status, it means that the Giants will have to decide whether or not to tender him a contract. If they do, then the Giants and Young's representatives will negotiate a salary for the 2023 season.

Given his relatively inconsistent track record, the 29-year-old will receive a raise but I would not be surprised if it was in the same neighborhood of the $838,000 that teammate John Brebbia received in 2022.

Giants manager Gabe Kapler likes to have multiple left-handed relievers in the bullpen, so it feels like tendering him a deal is an easy call.