CLEVELAND -- The Indians hosted a meeting at their team hotel in Detroit on Friday with their entire traveling party, including pitchers Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac, who had been put on the restricted list after violating COVID-19 protocol. The meeting enabled teammates to address the two hurlers, and we learned Monday that some were very outspoken against their reinstatement to the active roster.
According to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan, veteran reliever Oliver Pérez said that he would elect not to play for the remainder of the season if Clevinger and Plesac were added back to the roster on Friday. The report also noted that shortstop Francisco Lindor was one of the most vocal during the meeting. Ultimately, the front office decided to option both Clevinger and Plesac to the club's alternate site in Lake County prior to the series opener in Detroit, which the Indians went on to sweep, extending their winning streak against the Tigers to 20 games.
The Indians have not publicly discussed the events of the team meeting.
The two had gone out past the 10 p.m. curfew while the team was in Chicago on Aug. 8. Members of the Tribe were upset with their decisions, including Clevinger’s lack of honesty about being out with Plesac. Late last week, Plesac took to Instagram to explain his side of the story, but his video (since removed) only made things worse for many people in the organization.
“I was disappointed,” Indians manager Terry Francona said about the video.
After all the feedback about Clevinger and Plesac joining the squad, it was determined the best move would be to option them to Lake County, where they remain.
The pair of righties have now been in Eastlake for four days and must remain there for at least 10 days before they can be called back up to the big leagues (assuming neither are needed to replace an injured player). Depending how long they stay in Lake County, their service time may be affected.
Clevinger entered the 2020 season with three years and 41 days of service time. Plesac had 125 days.
According to ESPN’s report, the formula for service time in this shortened season is 186*X/67. The "186" figure is the number of days in a typical season, while "67" represents the number of days in the 2020 season. However many days a player spends on the active roster can be plugged into “X” in the formula.
If Clevinger remains in Lake County for 20 days (only 47 days on the active roster), he would receive 130 days of service according to this formula, which would be one day short of reaching four years of service time. In that case, his free agency (set for 2023) could potentially be delayed by a year.
With a full year of service, Plesac would have a chance to be arbitration-eligible for four years instead of three (a Super Two). If he were to stay at Lake County for at least 18 days, he may not be eligible for arbitration until after the 2022 season.