Rockies hilariously mock veteran hurler set to celebrate huge milestone
If mockery is the sincerest form of flattery, the Colorado Rockies sure are fond of reliever Brad Hand. Over the weekend, Hand reached 10 years of MLB service time, and the Rockies' bullpen celebrated the milestone with a hilarious team-wide impression of the 13-year Major Leaguer.
Members of the Rockies bullpen dubbed Saturday "Brad Hand Day" while coming onto the field for pregame stretches decked out in the veteran's standard workout gear, including a backward hat, sunglasses, V-neck cut tank top and shorts.
Why is the 10-year mark so important? For one, players become eligible for lucrative pension benefits, reaching up to $230,000 annually. And, the second reason is, it just doesn't happen that often.
According to the MLB Players Association, roughly 10% of Major Leaguers pass the magical 10-year threshold, which means getting there is a huge deal.
Hand debuted in 2011 but is only now hitting 10 official years in MLB. To qualify for an entire season of service time, a player must be on a Major League roster for 172 days.
The 33-year-old is 2-1 with a 3.46 ERA over 29 games for the Rockies this season. However, the veteran has taken the mound for the Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres, Cleveland Guardians, Washington Nationals, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies over 13 seasons.
Hand joins a handful of other Major Leaguers to pass 10 years of service time this season, including Gerrit Cole, Marcell Ozuna, Anthony Rendon, Alex Wood, Nolan Arenado, Avisail Garcia, Starling Marte, Will Smith, Zack Wheeler and Corey Dickerson.
Service time manipulation, a time-honored tradition in baseball, isn't completely solved, and it undoubtedly cuts down on the number of players who obtain the highest possible tier of longevity-based benefits.
However, the newest collective bargaining agreement reached in 2022 attempted to address the concern with several changes, which could lead to more players getting to the decade-long mountaintop. Teams can only option players to the minors five times a season before they become subject to waivers.
Furthermore, the American League and National League Rookies of the Year and their runners-up receive a full year of service time.
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