[sporr]

Here's the quick and dirty on service. I'll try to provide more detail as I do more testing. If you notice any errors, either email or PM me and I'll do some testing and update this as needed.

There are two types of service in the game:

MLB Service: This is the amount of time that a player has spent on the active, major-league roster. It is tracked in days from the 1st day of the season (regardless of whether there are games that day or not) until the last day of the regular season. Any day that the player spends on the active roster or the 15-day DL accumulates towards this. Once a player has accumulated a certain number of days in a season (default is 172 but his varies based on league setup) he will earn a year of service.

Pro Service: Pro service is the number of full years the player has spent on any team's roster, regardless of whether that time was spent on the active roster or on a minor league roster. This is tracked in years. A player drafted in 2000, for example, will have 1 year of Pro Service at the start of the 2001 season. Only if a player spends an entire year in the Free Agent pool will he not accumulate a Year of Pro Service.

Here's how they are important:

MLB Service will affect player contract status. If a player has less than 3 years of MLB service at the end of the season, he will have his contract automatically renewed at the league minimum level. If the player has more than 3 years but less than 6, he will be awarded arbitration during the off-season and will be awarded a salary based on his ability/ratings. If the player has more than 6 years of MLB service at the end of the year, he will become a free agent if his contract is up.

Pro Service only affects a player's Rule 5 status and minor league free agency. A player with more than 3 years but less than 6 of Pro Service will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft if they aren't protected on the 40-man roster. A player will become a minor league free agent after his 6th year of Pro Service. To me, this means that this will happen at the end of the season in which a player shows 5 Years of Pro Service since he won't earn his full 6th year until the very end of the season. I'll have to test this to be sure this is correct.

Please keep in mind that converted leagues will have inaccurate information for these two items. Currently, Pro Service can be edited with Pierre's Career Editor. MLB Service cannot be effectively edited since the game recalculates the years based on days of service.