Bringing up Jay Bruce

Beyond the Boxscore reviews the Reds’ reasons for delaying Jay Bruce’s major league debut. The bottom line: the Reds will save money because Bruce probably won’t be eligible for arbitration in his third year. BBTB says that “The Reds were right to keep Bruce in the minors until now.” There’s another way to look at this, however: Bruce is getting gypped out of millions of dollars.

There’s a basic employee fairness issue here, and it’s hard to see how depriving a player of money he’s earned the right to make is fair. The “Super Two” clause is one of the more bizarre parts of the collective bargaining agreement, and it’s hurting fans who want to see their teams put the best players on the field.