Louis Varland and Andy Pages reach Super 2 arbitration status

The Super 2 Cutoff

Twenty-eight players with two to three years of service time have qualified for salary arbitration as Super 2s.

Boston right-hander Tyron Guerrero and Colorado outfielder Jordan Beck made the cutoff at 2 years, 133 days. Milwaukee right-hander Quinn Priester finished just behind them at 2 years, 134 days. The cutoff changed from 2 years, 140 days during the previous offseason.

Eligible Players

The group includes Blue Jays closer Louis Varland, Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages, and Rangers left-hander Jacob Latz.

Other qualified names feature Spencer Arrighetti, Nathan Lukes, Davis Schneider, Sam Bachman, Jhony Brito, Benjamin Brown, Daniel Palencia, Jose Butto, Evan Carter, Slade Cecconi, Cooper Criswell, Carlos Vargas, Hogan Harris, Spencer Horwitz, Jahmai Jones, Kyle Leahy, Pedro Pages, Jordan Leasure, Parker Meadows, Mitchell Parker, Danny Young, and Randy Rodriguez.

Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong had enough service time, but he signed a six-year contract worth $115 million in March. St. Louis second baseman Edouard Julien, Milwaukee left-hander Jared Koenig, and Detroit outfielder James Outman were removed from 40-man rosters this week and missed out.

Close Calls and Rules

Phillies outfielder Johan Rojas missed the cutoff by a small margin with 2 years, 131 days of service time.

Rojas started the year at 2 years, 36 days, but received an 80-game suspension during spring training for testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance. He then underwent surgery on June 21 to repair a torn UCL in his right elbow, and went on the injured list for the rest of the season when his suspension ended four days later.

The top 22% of players by service time with at least two years and less than three years qualify for arbitration, provided they had at least 86 days of service this year.

Uncertain Schedule Ahead

The collective bargaining agreement for baseball expires on December 1, and a management lockout is expected.

Because of this situation, it remains unclear when teams and players will exchange proposed salaries or when arbitration hearings will take place.

Players were originally eligible after two years of service from 1974 to 1985 before the threshold moved to three years in 1986. The Super 2 class started in 1991 at 17% and rose to 22% in 2013.