If Drew Storen stays on the Nationals' roster all season, he will pile up 140 days of service time this year, enough to have a good chance at Super Two status after 2012. There are no guarantees that relievers- young or old- can maintain enough consistency to merit a roster spot all season long. And there are no guarantees that Storen will accumulate a full year of service time in 2011 and 2012.
But Storen's pedigree (drafted 10th overall) and hot start (10.7 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9) suggest he's as likely as any 22-year-old to stay in the major leagues. If he does, he'll be a Super Two in a couple years and will cost the Nationals more because he will go to arbitration four times, instead of the usual three.
Jonathan Broxton, another reliever who arrived in the majors at a young age, will earn $12.825MM for his three arbitration years. That shows that relievers can make big money before they hit free agency. Of course, Broxton has been nothing but dominant since 2006 and it's premature to ask for that kind of consistency from Storen. But if Storen stays healthy and lives up to his potential as a top prospect, he could become a Super Two player and earn even more than Broxton through arbitration.
