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Nick Hagadone grievance against the Indians (filed on his behalf by the MLBPA), stemming from how the team handled him following an injury in 2012, has been settled by the two sides. MLB.com's Jordan Bastian revealed the news and explained some of the ramifications in a series of tweets earlier today.
Hagadone fractured a bone in his forearm when he slammed his arm into a door following a poor outing in July, 2012. Because the injury was self-inflicted, the Indians optioned him back to the minors and placed him on the DL there (as opposed to placing him on the MLB disabled list, since the injury occurred while he was on the 25-man roster. This meant the 94 days he missed did not count towards his MLB service time, which is why the grievance was filed.
For Hagadone, today's decision means he gains those 94 days (and is financially compensated for them). The additional money is nice, but this also means that if he spends most of this season on the MLB roster, he'll qualify as a "Super Two," and be eligible for arbitration following this season (whereas before that wouldn't have been possible).
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More from Let's Go Tribe
The Indians are out some money, and potentially will have to pay him a lot more a year sooner, but this does also mean they get back the option on Hagadone that they used in 2012. Without that option, the Indians would have had to carry Hagadone on the 25-man roster all season, or place him on waivers, likely leading to another team claiming him. Instead, the Indians can now send Hagadone to Columbus to keep working on things, and/or shuttle him between the Majors and Minors as the needs of the team chance throughout the year.
Hagadone is one of a handful of lefties competing for a bullpen spot this year. Talented enough that you wouldn't want to just give up on him (8.9 K/9 in 67.2 career MLB innings, 12.8 K/9 in 32.1 Triple-A innings in 2013), but not so accomplished that you want to feel obligated to keep him on the roster all year (5.6 BB/9 in MLB, and a 5.59 ERA).
If he were out of options, and didn't pitch well in spring training, I'd have let him go, but it's nice to be able to wait things out for a few extra months and see what develops.
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