Travis d'Arnaud officially passed the "ten years of MLB service time" milestone this weekend in Atlanta's series against the Chicago Cubs.
After being drafted by Philadelphia in the 1st round in 2007, Travis was traded as a prospect to the Toronto Blue Jays in the Roy Halladay deal in December 2009. He then was traded again in December of 2012, this time to the Mets in the RA Dickey deal, and debuted with them on August 17th, 2013. He was DFA'd in late April of 2019 by the Mets, signing as a free agent with the Dodgers and being traded by them to Tampa Bay after five days and one game played. He signed with Atlanta in November of 2019, and signed a contract extension earlier this season that, if the team option is exercised, will keep him in Atlanta through 2024, his age 35 season.
Ten years of service time is a milestone that less than 10% of major leaguers ever get to and there's a lot of additional benefits and perks that come with ten years of service time in the major leagues.
10/5 Rights
Any player that has ten total years of service time and the last five years with the same team earn what are called "10/5 Rights". This allows the player to veto any trade that would require them to change organizations - obviously, a full or limited no-trade clause can be negotiated into any free agent contract, but 10/5 Rights are automatic.
(As d'Arnaud first signed with Atlanta in 2020, he'll gain 10/5 Rights in the 2024 season as that'll be his fifth season with Atlanta.)
Fully vested in the pension
As negotiated in the CBA, ten years of service time fully vests an MLB player in the league's pension plan. Players are eligible to begin drawing as young as 45, where they'd receive only $68,000/year, with payouts increasing on a sliding scale. By waiting until the max age to begin drawing, 62, eligible players would receive $220,000/year.
Of particular note is these payouts are similar for coaches, managers, and trainers, who have much lower salaries than players.
MLB Gold Card
Technically referred to as a "lifetime pass", it's commonly called the Gold Card. It allows the holder and a guest unlimited access to any regular season game at any ballpark in MLB. There are a few caveats: it's not eligible for spring training, postseason play, or "marquee events (All-Star Game, HR Derby, etc), and it must be presented in person by the named passholder at the ticket office, but it's a nice perk to be able to get complimentary "best available" seats any day you want them.
Congrats, Travis!
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