We knew this was coming because there had been rumbles about it back when Logan Morrison was sent down to AAA back on August 13th, but now it’s official: Morrison has filed a grievance against the Marlins. The basis, as reported by Amy K. Nelson of ESPN: that the demotion was a form of discipline without just cause, not a demotion for baseball purposes.
Which it probably was. Morrison was second on the team in OPS when he was demoted. But he had skipped a function with season ticket holders and his outspoken nature — particularly on his Twitter feed — was making the Marlins uncomfortable. Nelson details the many minor incidents that have involved Morrison this year. That it was a behavior thing was all but admitted by the Marlins when team president Larry Beinfest told reporters that Morrison needed to learn more about “being a major leaguer.”
Ultimately these grievances don’t amount to much. Morrison could get the difference between his big league pay and minor league pay for the time he was at AAA. I suppose the Marlins would be on some sort of double secret probation. It’s probably far more significant from a team/player relationship point of view. And that didn’t seem too hot to begin with.