You're supposing they're perfect and don't make any mistakes. I knew more than they did about Jeff Gray, that's apparent. Slama will likely never amount to anything, but there's a problem with the process here.
Jeff Gray's stuff played well enough at the ML level to be given 50+ innings of some of the worst relief work in the entire league. I find it very, very hard to believe that Slama's stuff isn't at least as "good." It's a bull**** piece of reasoning, and the front office should be called on.
Aren't there restrictions in place to keep teams from playing games with minor league free agency and/or the Rule 5? My google magic is a little rusty tonight, I haven't been able to find anything.