He doesn't have to win to get credit for a full year of service time, he just needs to be in the top 2. If the only reason he gets sent down is to game the service time, then he'll be down for a couple of months, at least, to try and avoid that scenario. It makes no sense for Elias to expose the org to another Adley-type situation. Either Holliday makes the team, or we don't see him until June. Even then, if he kills it and another candidate stumbles, there's still risk.