Dodgers, Diamondbacks Trade Hits Snag

When the Diamondbacks sent starter Jon Garland to the Dodgers late last month, they expected to receive infielder Tony Abreu in return. In addition to his gaudy minor league stats, Abreu appealed to Arizona because he still had two more pre-arbitration years ahead of him and five years total before he became a free agent. However, as Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports, the team had no way of knowing that Abreu and the Dodgers were close to reaching an agreement to settle a grievance filed in 2007. As a result of the settlement, Abreu will be awarded additional service time that will make him arbitration eligible in 2011 instead of 2012. The D-Backs believe LA did not act in good faith during negotiations. The grievance came after Abreu was optioned to the minors in July 2007, and he claimed he should have instead been placed on the disabled list with an abdominal injury. As you know from our service time primer, a player can accrue service time while on the DL ...