ootp baseball designated for assignment

What does 'DFA' mean in baseball? It's not an endearing abbreviation.

Albert Pujols . David Ortiz. Alex Rodriguez. Manny Ramirez. Nelson Cruz. Robinson Cano. Justin Upton.

Ortiz is enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Pujols is a lock for the Hall. Cruz is a future candidate for Cooperstown. And all were former major league All-Stars.

What do they all have in common?

Each of them have been DFA'd during their major league baseball career.

Ultimately, it means the player is cut from a team. It's one of several transactions that can happen to an MLB player. But it's a more common process for players who are in the latter years of their career and in the middle of a contract.

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What does DFA mean in baseball?

Designated for assignment.

It's one of the more unique transaction types in baseball, where unlike being traded, the player is optioned to the minor leagues or simply cut from the roster.

What does being designated for assignment mean?

Teams are allowed to have 40 players on their roster, with 26 of them active on the major league roster. Over the course of the season, teams make roster moves, which sometimes involves cutting a player. In order to take someone off the 40-man roster, they must be designated for assignment.

MLB.com explains the process: "When a player's contract is designated for assignment — often abbreviated "DFA" — that player is immediately removed from his club's 40-man roster. Within seven days of the transaction (had been 10 days under the 2012-16 Collective Bargaining Agreement), the player can either be traded or placed on irrevocable outright waivers."

Can another team claim a DFA'd player?

Yes, any team can pick up a player off waivers. However, if that team claims the player, they would have to add the player to their 40-man roster.

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When must a player be placed on waivers.

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• The player is being demoted from a parent league team to an affiliated minor league team and is out of minor league option years.

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Force out: What happens to players who are designated for assignment?

This has been a big year for one of baseball's most mundane transactions.

From Hanley Ramirez to Matt Harvey, from Phil Hughes to Melky Cabrera, from Adrian Gonzalez to Pedro Alvarez, there may never have been a season with more big names listed in the depths of the newspaper agate pages under those three cruel words: Designated for assignment.

When a team decides to DFA a player, he's taken off the 40-man roster immediately, and the team has seven days - a change this season, as previously it was 10 days - to trade him, send him outright to the minor leagues after he clears waivers, or release him. That is what happens from an official standpoint, but it's easy to forget that there is an actual person whose life is turned upside down when the DFA comes.

Imagine being a professional baseball player, but all of a sudden you have nowhere to play baseball. What do you do?

"It's a complete case-by-case basis," said Angels outfielder Chris Young, who was DFA'd by the Mets in August of 2014, then released before signing with the Yankees and rejuvenating his career.

"I went home, continued to work out and hit, and then I got the phone call from the Yankees. You don't know anything. I didn't know anything. I was just hopeful that another opportunity would come my way, and when it did, try to take advantage of it."

Young makes it sound fairly simple, but just going home and working out to stay in game shape is a challenge. If and when another team comes calling, the opportunity to make an impression can be fleeting.

The best way to prepare for that would be to head to the organization's minor league facility, hit the gym, and get some reps on the field with minor leaguers. When a player is designated for assignment, though, that is not an option - even if the team's plan is for an outright assignment to the minors. During that week, the player is not part of the team, but also not free.

"You're in limbo," said former Cubs infielder Jeff Huson, now a Rockies broadcaster, remembering when he was designated for assignment in 1996 by the Orioles . "You either go home, or you stay in the city for a few days. In my case, I waited around for a few days because I got DFA'd by Baltimore, and I stayed there because I didn't want to go home, because what if it's an East Coast team that claims me? Then I'd have to go all the way back.

"You literally sit there not knowing what your future's gonna hold. It's the worst possible case for a player, because you have no home, and you're trying to stay in shape - where do you go? You maybe go to a high school field? Play some video games and the quarters you have left over, go in the cage? Think about playing in a major-league game, then going to some warehouse and hitting off a machine, or even if you can find somebody to throw to you, they're not going to be as good as what you get in the major leagues.”

At the same time that physical challenge is foisted upon a player, there's also the mental one. It's not just the potential ennui of being without a team, but of having been cut from a 40-man roster. How a player handles that can have a lot to do with what happens next, and seizing that opportunity.

"I never took it as anything bad or looked too far into it when all I could do was just keep working on stuff," said Yankees reliever A.J. Cole, who had a 13.06 ERA when the Nationals designated him for assignment in April, and has posted a 0.69 mark in seven appearances with New York since a trade for cash considerations. "I needed to keep doing what I need to do as a pitcher.

"Everyone says it's always good to get a good start in a different place, and sometimes it is. Right now, it's really helping me, and there's some great guys here that help me out. It's a fun place to play here."

Not every player gets to land with a team as good as this year's Yankees, but there can be positives in other ways. Cubs catcher Chris Gimenez has been DFA'd four times in his career, thrice during the season. His experiences have varied from heading to the minors - "once you decide to accept the assignment, you're champing at the bit to get there" - to being traded to a Cleveland team in 2016 that wound up going to the World Series.

That was Gimenez's third time with Cleveland, having made his debut there in 2009, with stops in Seattle , Tampa Bay , and Texas before returning to Ohio in 2014.

"That was the one that kind of sticks with me," Gimenez said. "In that case, it worked out good, because my wife was basically ready to have our second son. We had two times where we went into the hospital and nothing happened, and that kind of gave me an extra three days. The terrible thing was, we were building our house where we live now, so we were staying with her parents, and our 3-year-old son, at the time, was there. It was a little bit of a crowded spot, and I appreciate her parents letting us stay there, because it wasn't the original plan the way everything happened.

"I ended up spending six days at home - three on the paternity leave, and three after I (was designated for assignment). Then I got the next flight to Texas, and ended up coming home like four days after that anyway - I got traded, was there for a day, then my wife had our son. It was a lot of travel for a few days, but that's alright.

"Every possible way that could've happened to me, it's happened in my career, but that's how it goes, and you can either let it affect you, or just suck it up and go about your business."

Jesse Spector is the sports business columnist for Dealbreaker, a columnist for Rockies Magazine, the host of "Jesse Spector Is..." on Lightning Power Play Radio, and one of the hosts of the Locked On Yankees podcast. He previously was the national baseball and hockey writer for Sporting News, covered the New York Rangers for the Daily News, and worked for SportsTicker, the Associated Press, and the Brooklyn Eagle. He lives in New York.

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What is Designated for Assignment (DFA) Mean in Baseball?

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Of all the distinctive terms used in Major League Baseball, “Designated for assignment” must be near the top of the list for the hardest to explain to new fans. When a player is declared this, often stated as “He was DFA’d,” what exactly does it mean?

Designated for assignment refers to a player’s contract, and it means the team will immediately remove that player from its 40-man roster. For MLB fans, it means you will no longer be seeing that player on that team, at least for a decent spell.

Typically MLB teams do this to clear space for another move, or simply to rid a player from the squad entirely.

Once a player is officially DFA’d, a 7-day period begins, where the club must make a decision about the next destination for that player. In other words, it’s a way for baseball teams to put a player in temporary limbo while they try to figure out their roster situation.

During the 7-day period, that player can be sent to one of the team’s minor league affiliates; traded to another team; or placed on waivers, a list of players for other teams to acquire (under certain rules).

Basically, when you see this term attached to a player, that person is being moved off the regular MLB team at least for the time being. Sometimes, though not often, they are returned to their original team.

Baseball Club Options with Players Designated for Assignment

Once a player is DFA’d, the clock starts for the club to pick an option for that player’s immediate future. Those options are:

• Assign the player to one of a minor league team affiliated with the club. (This is not available for all players; see Common Questions at bottom).
• Place the player on the Waiver Wire . This move begins another type of clock ~ where other teams can take the player, under the league’s waiver rules.

2B. If the player on the waiver wire is claimed, his new team must immediately put him on their 40-man roster.

2C. If the player, over a specified period of time, is unclaimed from waivers, he can be assigned to his previous team’s minor league system. Unless: The player has enough service time in the major leagues, or has run out of minor league options (See below), in which case he becomes a free agent who can sign a contract with any team.

• The player could be released from his contract, that is, set entirely free to go play with any other team. In such instances, the club is responsible for paying the player according to the terms of their contract together.

Types of Rosters in Major League Baseball

All this talk assumes fans know what a 40-man roster is ~ and it’s not just the list of players the current MLB team can use for games. That would be the 26-man roster.

Here’s a breakdown of the 2 types of MLB rosters, which are essentially lists of their players who either can be used in games (26-man), or who are in line to play in games in the near future as well (40-man).

26-Man Roster in MLB

The 26-man roster (or 24- or 25-man rosters in seasons past) is for players available to participate in MLB game play. Players not on the 26-man roster, such as those on injured lists, or in the minor leagues, cannot be entered into an MLB game.

So, MLB teams cannot just sign anyone off the street and instantly insert them into a game. Well, maybe not instantaneously, but at least a full day. However, even that would involve some juggling of personnel, as noted in this article.

40-Man Roster in MLB

A club’s 40-man roster is filled by a combination of players on the 26-man roster; along with players on various injured lists (7-, 10-, and 15-day injured lists); on an emergency list for bereavement or a family medical emergency; and some minor league players.

All players on a 26-man roster are also on the 40-man roster. That leaves a club 14 spots to manage all year long ~ and not just during the regular season.

The 40-man roster is important to watch during the offseason , as all those players are protected from other teams “taking” them in what’s called the Rule 5 Draft, held at the end of every year during the MLB’s Winter Meetings.

Notes on the Rule 5 Draft in Major League Baseball

Since 1920, the Rule 5 Draft has given minor league players opportunities with new MLB clubs ~ if their original club did not protect them from this draft by keeping them on the 40-man roster.

The way it works is, clubs with a spot open on their own 40-man roster select players not on 40-man rosters of the other clubs. This ends up like the regular MLB draft, with teams selecting in reverse order of the standings the previous season.

Players are eligible for selection if they are not on their team’s 40-man roster at the time of the draft, and they have either spent 4 seasons in professional baseball after signing at age 19 or older; or spent 5 seasons in pro ball after signing at age 18 or younger.

Even when drafting an eligible player, it’s not over. The new team pays the player’s previous club $100,000, places the player on its 40-man roster, AND then must keep the player on the 26-man roster for the entire next season.

This last requirement makes selecting other team’s unprotected minor league players a true challenge, as they do not yet know if that player will succeed at the major league level. If not, the team pretty much loses a roster spot through season’s end, filled by a player who can hardly contribute.

If the new club takes that player off the 26-man roster, however, it has to offer to return him to his previous team for $50,000.

Perhaps the most famous Rule 5 case was that of Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers at age 19 and buried on their Montreal, Canada minor league team, where he got all of 155 at bats .

That didn’t fool Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who that winter selected Clemente in the Rule 5 Draft ~ and then had to keep him on the roster that next season even as he struggled as a young foreign player competing at the game’s highest level.

Eventually the Puerto Rican hero came around, and became one of the best outfielders of all time.

Why Does ‘Designated for Assignment’ in Baseball Have to be So Complicated?

This all may seem confusing, but this system of using players in MLB game play, and also having extra players in case of injuries or emergencies, has evolved with the game. It’s a necessary structure that MLB clubs agree to abide by, for a lot of reasons, avoiding mayhem among them.

When a new fan sees these types of terms, usually in the agate type or side notes in sports sections, or sometimes added to the end of game news reports, they should consider just how hard it is to field a professional baseball team on a near-daily basis.

Baseball might look leisurely to play, but in reality the players exert parts of their body quite extensively ~ in some instances beyond what they are capable of naturally. A summary of a baseball player’s body that could force him off the field at any time:

• Arms . This includes shoulders, elbows, wrists, and fingers ~ all essential for baseball players to compete at all. The shoulders and elbows, in particular, are punished by the act of throwing a 5-ounce ball repeatedly over extended periods of time.
• Legs . Baseball is not a game of constant motion like the other major team sports. There is a lot of very instant starting, and quick stopping, which puts a lot of pressure on the tendons, ligaments, and joints of the legs. Knees and ankles give baseball players trouble, due to the starting-stopping, plus a lot of twisting involved in hitting and throwing.
• Core . This includes the abdomen, hips, and upper thighs. Probably more than the other major team sports, baseball is very tough on the middle of the body , mainly due to all the twisting. Batting, in particular, requires a tremendous twist of the torso to get the bat through the hitting zone, which can impact many muscle groups, as well as the spine.
• Back . Baseball players are susceptible to back injuries, mainly due to either overextending, or under-stretching. Often it’s a combination of both.

Add to all that the mental aspect of living life (e.g. having a wife and family) while away from home for weeks at a time, and the constant stress of having to perform well to remain in the game (and make more money). All the games, practices, stress, travel, loneliness, and more, can take a toll on any ballplayer.

In summary, any of these body (and mind) areas can take a baseball player out of service, maybe just for a few days, or a few weeks, or even many months. You can tell how often players get hurt by the MLB’s types of injured lists: the 7-day, 15-day, and 60-day injured list.

Roster Management in Baseball

All this gets us to the people responsible for getting the best players possible on the field during any MLB game. It’s not as simple as sending out the same 9 guys day in and day out. Pitchers in particular cannot pitch every single day, so extra pitchers must be brought along.

Some players might hurt a body part, but not in a major way, so all they need is a bit of rest. In these instances, pro baseball teams need a bench full of replacement players waiting to get in the game.

There’s also some competitive strategy involved. Baseball clubs can make changes to their roster daily, so if they foresee a problem upcoming, they can make roster changes to address it. Examples:

• Lengthy road trips . A club seeing a long stretch of games away from home might carry an extra pitcher just for that period. When they return home, they might send that extra pitcher back to the high minor leagues.
• Opposition strengths and weaknesses. The MLB regular-season schedule can be quirky, and sometimes teams play the same squads, or groups of them (e.g. from the same division), repeatedly over a short period. Maybe a club manager sees a group of upcoming games where every team has a lot of left-handed pitchers. Then, he may choose to swap out left-handed hitters, and add in more righties, just for that period of time.

In other words, the managers (and general managers) of MLB teams are constantly tinkering with their rosters, for a lot of reasons. Terms like DFA exist to add structure to all of this, in an attempt to ensure fairness for all the clubs, and avoid anarchy.

In summary, the designated for assignment system exists so MLB teams can add a newly acquired player onto their roster ~ through a free agent signing, a trade, a waiver wire grab, or to pull a player up from a minor league team; or to address players bouncing between the injured lists.

Whenever a player is getting healthy enough to return, fans usually get quite excited. But understand, for every player returning to play, another is forced to leave.

Common Questions

Question: what is the difference between being designated for assign and being “optioned”.

Answer: Remaining on the 40-man roster, or not. To be optioned means a player on the 40-man roster is moved to an “optional assignment” with one of the club’s minor league affiliates. An “option” is good for an entire season; and players only get so many options before clubs can no longer send them to a minor league team for roster management purposes. With DFA, if a player has an option remaining, that is something the club could choose to do in the 7-day “decision” period.

Q.: Why do teams only get 7 days to decide what to do with DFA’d players?

A.: It’s according to the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which is the operating structure of the MLB between clubs and players. This period is adjusted periodically upon agreement of a majority of owners and the players. For instance, in the CBA of 2012-16, the period was 10 days.

How Does Designate For Assignment Work? [reasons, Process, & Outcomes]

If you follow Major League Baseball, then you must have heard of the term Designate for Assignment (DFA). When a player is DFA in baseball, various things can happen. Seeing this, you may ask, “what does designate for assignment mean?”

Designate for Assignment is a contractual term in MLB where the team removes the player from the active 40-man roster but still has the rights to the player. DFA puts the player on a waiver period where other teams can claim him.

But why does a team DFA a baseball player? What happens when a team designates a player for an assignment? Continue scrolling till the end as I answer all your questions regarding DFA in baseball.

Table of Contents

DFA Meaning Baseball

DFA is a term in Major League Baseball (MLB), which is a short form of “Designate for Assignment”. It means removing a player from the active roster of the baseball team without immediately releasing the member.

Many people confuse releasing with DFA. But they are different things. When a team designates a player for assignment, it is setting aside the player, not completely releasing them from the team.

Reasons for Designating Players for Assignment

A team can designate a player due to various reasons. It can be for changing the game strategy and tactics or trying to strengthen the team.

Here are the most common reasons why a baseball designates a player for assignment:

• Performance issues: Performance reason is the primary reason for DFA. If a player fails to perform well and does not meet the team’s expectations, then the management may decide to DFA him and take someone else on the team.

The performance issues can be anything from struggling with batting to poor fielding or pitching and more. Even though the player is not performing well, the team may not want to leave the player completely. That is why they opt for DFA.

• Making room for new players: If the management finds an excellent performer outside the team, then they might decide to DFA an existing player. It will create room for the new player.

The new player may come from performing fantastically in the minor league. Plus, the management may also trade in new players from other teams.

• Creating balance in the team: Although the management plans well before listing their roster, they can still find an imbalance in the team. Besides, they may also want to switch players to change their game strategy.

In that case, designating a player for assignment from the team can be the best solution. It will allow the team to bring in a new player with the required skill to create balance in the baseball team.

• Trade options: Teams may also want to trade a player and that is why they do DFA. If the team directly releases the player, it will not give them any financial benefit. But they can DFA the player and look for trade opportunities.

If any other team is interested in the player, they may try to buy the designated player. In that case, the original team will get financial benefits from the trade.

• Injuries: Injuries can also be a reason for DFA. Athletes can get injured at any time while playing. If the injury lasts long, it can hurt the team as that member can not play for the team.

In that case, the team usually DFA the injured player. Then the team brings in fit baseball players to continue the campaign with a full active 40-man roster. 

Designate for Assignment Process

Designate for Assignment in baseball is usually made by the team’s front office. It includes the coaching staff and general manager. They evaluate the player’s performance and the team’s need to make the call.

Once they make the decision, they will let the player and the MLB authority know about it. The team management will also inform the media about the decision to keep the fans updated and also let other teams know about player availability.

What Happens After Designation for Assignment?

When a player is designated for assignment, he enters the waiver period. It means the other baseball teams have the opportunity to claim the player. The waiver period usually lasts 7 days in MLB.

If another team claims the player during this waiver period, then they get all the rights to the player and can move him to their active roster. Such trading is common in other sports too.

In this scenario, the team who designated that player for assignment relinquishes all the rights of the player. Now, the new team will take care of the player’s contract and salary.

However, if no other team claims the player during the waiver period, he will be outright assigned to the minor leagues. It will happen when the player has minor league options remaining and is not claimed off waivers.

If the player is outrighted to the minor leagues, he will be removed from the MLB team’s 40-man roster. But he will remain with the organization and enjoy all the benefits.

Interestingly, the player has two choices here. He can either accept the outright assignment and play in the minor leagues or can ask for release and become a free agent.

Many players often are not interested in playing in the minor leagues. In that case, they ask for release after the DFA. Then he becomes a free agent, and any other MLB team can sign that player.

1. What is the difference between DFA and being released?

The main difference between DFA and being released is that the team retains the right to the player in DFA. But when the team releases a player in baseball, it terminates all the contracts between them, and the team holds no right to the player.

2. What is the difference between options and designated for assignment?

The main difference between options and designated for assignment is that the option allows the team to send the player to the minor leagues without putting him into the waiver period. That means no other team can claim the player. 

3. Can a player refuse assignment after being designated for assignment?

No. A player usually does not hold the right to refuse a designate for assignment. However, if he has been with MLB for over 3 years or has been outrighted previously, he can refuse the outright assignment.

4. Can a team designate a player for assignment multiple times?

Yes. A team can designate a player multiple times during their contract period. Whenever the team feels that the player is failing to meet the team’s expectations, they can DFA the player.

My Opinion on DFA

DFA in baseball can be tough for players. The miseries enhance when no other team shows interest in claiming or trading that player.

But it is good practice to get better team results in the MLB. The process allows the team to reorganize and improve their performance. Besides, it also allows the player to look for better opportunities in other teams.

For these reasons, I think DFA is a pretty good option for both the team and the player. It can benefit both parties.

Learn More What Is A Breaking Ball?

What Is WAR (Wins Above Replacement) In Baseball

What Does Defect Mean In Baseball?

What Is The Dropped Third Strike Rule

What Is The Pennant In Baseball

Hello everyone. My name is  Jason Butler, and I live in California, America. I was a professional AAA Minor League Baseball player.  I lost my chance of playing MLB for injury issues, but I did not lose my love for baseball. I attended the coaching training program and am now working as a coach in a small school in San Diego. 

I always love to share my experience and knowledge if that can help you. Play baseball, and stay fit. 

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What does designated for assignment mean in MLB? What to know about Madison Bumgarner

The Arizona Diamondbacks designated pitcher Madison Bumgarner for assignment on Thursday after his latest rough outing on Wednesday.

Bumgarner is 0-3 on the season with a 10.26 ERA in 16.2 innings over four starts. He has given up 25 hits and 19 earned runs, while walking 15 and striking out 10.

What's next for the pitcher and the Arizona Diamondbacks?

Here's a look at the designated for assignment process and what it means for Bumgarner and his MLB team.

What does designated for assignment (DFA) mean in baseball?

The MLB.com glossary explains the process as follows: "When a player's contract is designated for assignment — often abbreviated "DFA" — that player is immediately removed from his club's 40-man roster. Within seven days of the transaction (had been 10 days under the 2012-16 Collective Bargaining Agreement), the player can either be traded or placed on irrevocable outright waivers."

What happens if the player is claimed off waivers by another team?

The glossary explains the process as follows: "If the player is claimed off said waivers by another club, he is immediately added to that team's 40-man roster, at which point he can be optioned to the Minor Leagues (if he has Minor League options remaining) or assigned to his new team's 26-man roster. If the player clears waivers, he may be sent outright to the Minor Leagues or released. Players with more than three years of Major League service time or who have been previously outrighted may reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency. Clubs may utilize this option to clear a spot on the 40-man roster — typically with the intention of adding a newly acquired player (via trade or free agency), a Minor Leaguer or a player being activated from the 60-day injured list."

What are the specifics of Madison Bumgarner's DFA?

The Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro explained the specifics regarding the situation for Bumgarner and the Diamondbacks in his story detailing the pitcher being designated for assignment on Thursday.

He wrote: "Bumgarner is likely to be placed on waivers soon, if he hasn't been already, and would become a free agent once he clears. He could then sign with another team for a prorated portion of the league minimum ($720,000). He is not likely to be claimed or traded given the amount of money still owed to him by the Diamondbacks."

How much do the Diamondbacks owe Madison Bumgarner?

Bumgarner signed a 5-year, $85 million contract with the Diamondbacks in December of 2019. He is still owed $34 million through next season. In cutting ties with Bumgarner, the Diamondbacks are setting a new club record for dead money, exceeding the $22 million they ate when releasing right-hander Russ Ortiz during the 2006 season.

More on Madison Bumgarner and the Diamondbacks

Madison Bumgarner designated for assignment by Diamondbacks

Why the Diamondbacks did not call up Brandon Pfaadt to replace Madison Bumgarner

With sense of urgency, Diamondbacks move on from struggling Madison Bumgarner

Arizona Diamondbacks fans sound off: Madison Bumgarner must be removed from rotation

Reach Jeremy Cluff at  [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter  @Jeremy_Cluff.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to  azcentral.com  today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What does DFA mean in baseball? What's next for Madison Bumgarner

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MLB options, waivers and outright assignments, explained

Here’s a glossary of what MLB transaction terms really mean.

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Now that the 2017 World Series is over, Major League Baseball teams are wasting no time in making moves to adjust their rosters for the 2018 season.

Andrew Romine was placed on waivers and claimed by the Seattle Mariners . Jim Adduci cleared waivers and was outrighted to the minor leagues. Alex Presley cleared waivers, was outrighted, and elected free agency. Tyler Collins cleared waivers, was outrighted, and might elect free agency. Kyle Ryan, Myles Jaye , Bryan Holaday , and Efren Navarro were also placed on outright waivers. Eight players, all placed on waivers, with different situations.

Here is how they work.

What are waivers?

Waivers are a way for a major league team to take a player off its 40-man roster in order to send him outright to the minor leagues, or release him and let him become a free agent. A player cannot be removed from the 40-man roster without first clearing waivers, where all 29 other teams have a chance to claim that player, and his existing contract, for a modest waiver fee.

What are MLB options?

An option (optional assignment) allows a club to move a player on its 40-man roster to and from the minor leagues without exposing him to other teams.

Once a player is added to a team’s 40-man roster, his team has three options, or three different seasons in which the club may to send him to the minor leagues without having to clear waivers. A player on the 40-man roster playing in the minors is on optional assignment. There is no limit on the number of times a club may promote and demote a player during one option season.

A player must spend at least 20 days total in the minor leagues during one season (not including rehabilitation assignments) in order to be charged with an option. John Hicks was sent up and down a half dozen times during the 2017 season, but used just one option.

When a player is out of options, he cannot be sent to the minors without first clearing waivers. Also, a player who has accrued at least five years of major league service time may not be optioned to the minors without his consent. Hicks , as well as Bruce Rondon , Drew VerHagen , Matt Boyd and Buck Farmer are now out of options, so they will have to go on waivers if they don’t make the team in the spring.

There are three types of waivers.

Outright waivers

Outright waivers are used when a team wants to send a player to the minors but he is out of options. If the player clears waivers, he may be outrighted to the minor leagues.

However, a player may only be outrighted once during his career without his consent. When a player is outrighted for the second time or more, he may elect to become a free agent either immediately, if during the season, or as soon as the season is over, unless he is added back to the 40-man roster. This is why Tyler Collins can — and probably will — elect free agency.

A player with three years of major league service may also refuse an outright assignment and choose to become a free agent immediately or at the end of the season. Alex Presley, who has over four years of service time in the majors, rejected his outright assignment and chose free agency.

Release waivers

Release waivers are requested when a team wants to give a player his unconditional release.

Special waivers

Special Waivers , also known as revocable waivers or major league waivers, are used only between July 31 and the end of each season. These waivers are required in order to trade a player who is on the 40-man roster to another major league team after the trade deadline. Justin Verlander cleared waivers and was traded to the Houston Astros on August 31 in one of the most famous post-deadline trades ever.

What does it mean for a player to be designated for assignment?

A player may be designated for assignment (DFA) , giving the team 10 days to either trade him, or send him to the minor leagues, provided he clears waivers.

Romine and Presley were eligible for arbitration this offseason, and the Tigers were not prepared to risk going through that process with them. The same fate may await Bruce Rondon or Blaine Hardy, who are also eligible for arbitration this winter. BYB posted the projected salaries for the Tigers’ arbitration eligible players here .

Hardy still has an option year remaining, whereas Presley, Romine, and Rondon are all out of options.

The Tigers have until December 1 to offer a contract to their arbitration-eligible players. If they don’t make an offer, the player is said to be “non-tendered” and becomes a free agent.

Teams have until November 20 to submit their reserve lists of up to 40 players to the MLB office in advance of the Rule 5 draft. The Tigers will be adding some young players to the roster by that date, and will want to keep a spot or two open so that they may make a selection with their first pick in the draft on December 14.

Thursday was the day that players who are eligible for free agency became free agents, but the Tigers had no such players, having traded any would-be free agents during the season. Detroit formally declined their $16 million option on Anibal Sanchez on Thursday, paying him a $5 million buyout and making him a free agent.

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Sports | MLB: Kingston High grad Zack Short designated…

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Sports | mlb: kingston high grad zack short designated for assignment by red sox following brief stay.

The move coincided with the Red Sox’s announcement that they had reinstated infielder/outfielder Romy Gonzalez from the 10-day injured list to the major league club.

Short, 28, a former Kingston High star infielder, was traded from the New York Mets to Boston on May 1 for cash considerations.

Short appeared in just two games for Boston and was hitless in seven at-bats. He struck out four times.

Short saw time at second and third base for the Red Sox, but was designated for assignment to make room for Gonzalez’s return.

Short started at second base on May 2 and went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in a 3-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants at Fenway Park.

Short started at third base and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in his final appearance for the Red Sox on May 5 in Minneapolis as Boston ended the Twins’ 12-game winning streak with a 9-2 victory.

When contacted by the Freeman following his trade to the Red Sox, Short said he was happy for the opportunity to play in Boston.

“I am super excited to be there,” Short said. “They’re a young and talented team and I’m very excited to join them.”

Short did not return a message Wednesday on being designated for assignment by Boston.

Short played parts of three seasons for the Detroit Tigers from 2021 through 2023.

The Ulster County native was claimed by the Mets on Nov. 6, 2023, after he was put on waivers by the Tigers. But he was used sparingly by the Mets, appearing in 10 games this season. He had one hit in nine at-bats for a .111 average.

New York designated Short for assignment on April 26 in order to make room for veteran designated hitter J.D. Martinez on its active 26-man roster.

A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team’s 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the player to the 40-man roster, place the player on waivers, trade the player, release the player, or send outright the player from the 40-man roster into Minor League Baseball.

Short was selected in the 17th round of the 2016 draft by the Chicago Cubs. He played in the Cubs’ minor league organization for four seasons, advancing to their Triple-A affiliate, the Iowa Cubs, in 2019.

On Aug. 31, 2020, Short was traded to the Tigers for outfielder Cameron Maybin.

During his three seasons in the Tigers’ organization, Short shuttled back and forth between the Tigers’ Triple-AAA affiliate, the Toledo Mud Hens, and the major league franchise.

His most productive season came in 2023 when he appeared in 110 games for the Tigers, batting .204 with seven home runs and 33 RBIs. He had 45 hits, including nine doubles in 221 at-bats.

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How did the Red Sox make 26 moves in 12 days? One computer click at a time

BOSTON — The busiest person in the Boston Red Sox organization these days isn’t necessarily the manager, the pitching coach or the head of baseball operations. Sometimes, it’s a guy named Mike Regan who, yes, had a few minutes to talk last week, but did so literally while cradling his laptop in his arms like a baby. Regan’s title is director of major-league operations, and he describes his job as essentially making a bunch of spoken words actually mean something in the real world.

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“You can’t talk things into fruition,” Regan said.

There’s been a lot of Red Sox fruition happening lately. Since last Saturday, they’ve made 26 official transactions in 12 days. On Wednesday, they activated starter Nick Pivetta from the injured list, did the same with utility man Romy Gonzalez , optioned pitcher Naoyuki Uwasawa back to Triple A, and designated infielder Zack Short for assignment. The Red Sox had traded for Short barely a week ago, but multiple injuries have sparked a flurry of additions and demotions as chief baseball officer Craig Breslow works the phones and manager Alex Cora announces the daily lineups.

Regan and his cohorts, meanwhile, are responsible for making those decisions actually mean something.

“There are things that have to happen in order to kind of memorialize all of the conversation,” Regan said.

For example, Breslow agreed last week to acquire Short from the Mets . A day later, Cora put Short in the lineup at second base. But in between, someone had to officially move Short from the Mets to the Red Sox, then make room for him on the active roster and actually activate him. In that case, it was second-year Red Sox assistant for major-league operations Anna Clemson who did the computer work. Clemson, Regan and assistant director Alex Gimenez are the Red Sox officials responsible for handling eBIS, the electronic Baseball Information System, which Major League Baseball uses to track and record every roster move from the major leagues through the minors.

Have you ever made a video game trade or signed a fantasy league player and wondered how much different the real thing must be?

Turns out that aside from all the zeros after the dollar signs, the technical machinations are pretty similar. The eBIS database includes every affiliated player in the game, and the Mets trade — at least, in the digital world — was as simple as moving Short’s name from the Mets to the Red Sox. Putting him on the active roster meant clicking on Enmanuel Valdez , changing Valdez’s status from major-league roster to optional Triple-A assignment, then moving Short to the open spot on the Red Sox’s active roster.

The #RedSox today acquired INF Zack Short from the New York Mets, in exchange for cash considerations. — Red Sox (@RedSox) May 1, 2024

“Those are the buttons that get pushed,” Regan said. “Sometimes there’s questions that come up afterward when MLB wants clarity on something, and we answer those, but yeah, it’s handled exactly as you said, or not too far off.”

The Red Sox didn’t announce last Wednesday’s lineup until 33 minutes before game time because they were waiting to ensure new first baseman Dominic Smith , who’d been signed that afternoon, would be available (the daily lineups are submitted through eBIS, so Cora literally could not put Smith in the official lineup until the database recognized him as a member of the team). On Friday, they activated Vaughn Grissom from the injured list and played him immediately at second base. Pivetta was on the mound and Gonzalez at first base on Wednesday, within hours of being officially returned from rehab assignments. It’s common, Regan said, to give the league a heads-up whenever a roster move is in the works (the league ultimately has to approve each transaction).

If a move is going to happen late, it’s customary to let the opposing team know it’s coming. In the case of a trade, either team can enter the transaction into the system, and officials communicate to decide which will do the honors.

So, what would have happened last week if someone clicked the wrong name and instead of Dominic Smith tried to put Josh Smith or Pavin Smith or Ozzie Smith on the Red Sox’s roster?

“I think we all operate with, like, a high degree of paranoia to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Regan said.

eBIS (pronounced like E-Biss) can be accessed through a phone, but Regan said he prefers using his laptop. Paranoia rarely likes shortcuts, and Regan also likes to talk through his transactions as he’s entering them, which can lead to awkward mutterings at the kitchen table.

“My wife laughs because I often am reading things out loud,” Regan said. “Like, if I’m working from home and something’s happening, I am reading things out loud to make sure it’s exactly right, and she just thinks it’s a funny process for me overhearing what I’m reading.”

Overhearing isn’t typically a concern, but overstepping is. No player gets added to a roster without someone else coming off, and whether it’s a trade, a demotion, an injury diagnosis or a release, Regan said the Red Sox have an organizational philosophy that guards against players finding out second-hand about a move. Cora and Breslow tend to handle the talking, and while demotions and cuts can be long and difficult conversations, welcoming new players — especially lately — tends to happen pretty quickly.

“It’s short, to be honest with you,” Cora said. “You know the situation and what can happen in two or three days or in a week or in a month, but they’re welcomed and, ‘Hey, do your job.’ That’s what we’re trying to accomplish.”

All Regan is trying to accomplish is to create a digital footprint of the personal dialogue. He doesn’t put anything into the system, he said, until the conversations are complete. His first year handling eBIS for the Red Sox was 2020 when COVID-19 created an unusual amount of roster chaos and general uncertainty. It not only gave Regan a crash course on the system, but an appreciation for the people behind the moves as well.

eBIS might technically be the way a move becomes official, but Regan said Red Sox executive vice president of baseball operations Brian O’Halloran taught him to think the opposite way. The discussion is the real move. The database entry is just a way to confirm, honor and remember that conversation. Hence Regan’s use of the word “memorialize” when describing his job.

“For me, the player is the transaction,” Regan said.

It’s always personal. Even on the computer.

So far this season, the Red Sox have put 16 players on the injured list. In the past week and a half, they’ve made three trades (all for cash, which also gets entered into eBIS). They’ve designated four players for assignment, three of whom cleared waivers to be sent outright to Triple A. The Red Sox have optioned four others to Triple A, called up one from the minors, and signed one to a major-league deal. They’ve started three rehab assignments, and already ended two of them. They’ve acquired a player, and DFA’d him after seven at-bats.

Every move is discussed at length, but no one really goes anywhere until the computer says so.

“Before (any) transaction happens, there’s a lot of boxes to check,” Regan said. “So, it’s really making sure that stuff is centralized and the transaction happens.”

Talking, it turns out, can do only so much.

(Photo of Zack Short: Brian Fluharty / Getty Images)

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Chad Jennings is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Boston Red Sox and Major League Baseball. He was on the Red Sox beat previously for the Boston Herald, and before moving to Boston, he covered the New York Yankees for The Journal News and contributed regularly to USA Today. Follow Chad on Twitter @ chadjennings22

Guardians designate right-hander for assignment, recall bullpen arm

• Updated: May. 03, 2024, 7:26 p.m. |
• Published: May. 03, 2024, 4:01 p.m.

Peter Strzelecki has joined the Guardians from Triple-A Columbus. John Kuntz, cleveland.com

• Joe Noga, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians swapped right-handed relievers to bolster their road-weary bullpen prior to Friday’s series opener against the Angels at Progressive Field.

Right-hander Peter Strzelecki was recalled from Triple-A Columbus and righty Tyler Beede was designated for assignment.

Cleveland’s bullpen has logged the second-most innings in the American League through its first 31 games at 124 2/3, but has the second-best fWAR according to Fangraphs.com at 2.1 behind the Mets.

Strzelecki, acquired March 28 from the Diamondbacks in exchange for cash, begins his second stint in Cleveland’s bullpen. He made two scoreless appearances for the Guardians registering a strikeout and one hit allowed in his two outings before being optioned on April 15.

With the Clippers, Strzelecki was 1-0 with a save and a 2.57 ERA in seven appearances. Strzelecki struck out 11 and walked one in 7 innings.

Beede, a former top prospect with the Giants, signed a minor league contract with Cleveland on Jan. 27 and made the club out of spring training. Manager Stephen Vogt said it was a tough conversation to have with Beede, who was once his teammate in San Francisco, who pitched in Japan in 2023.

The 30-year-old righty started strong with five scoreless appearances, striking out nine and walking two while allowing just one run in six innings to open the season. But over his last eight outings, Beede’s effectiveness waned as he pitched to a 14.63 ERA with nine strikeouts, seven walks and two home runs allowed. Beede surrendered 13 earned runs in his last eight innings as opposing batters slugged .714 against him.

“He was great for us at times and struggled at times,” Vogt said. “With the state of our bullpen and with our roster, we just had to make a tough decision. But I wish Tyler nothing but the best in the future. And he could be back with us, which would be great.”

Beede allowed five runs in 1/3 of an inning in Thursday’s 8-2 loss to the Astros in Houston.

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Guardians Designate Tyler Beede For Assignment

By Steve Adams | May 3, 2024 at 2:41pm CDT

The Guardians designated right-hander Tyler Beede for assignment Friday and recalled fellow right-hander Peter Strzelecki from Triple-A Columbus in a corresponding move, Mandy Bell of MLB.com tweets .

The 30-year-old Beede (31 later this month) signed a minor league deal over the winter and won a spot in Cleveland’s Opening Day bullpen with a nice spring showing. He’s been hit hard through his first 14 regular-season innings, however, yielding 13 runs on 16 hits, nine walks and three hit batters. He’s fanned 18 opponents, giving him a nice 26.5% strikeout rate, but a poor 13.2% walk rate and a lofty 44.7% hard-hit rate have overshadowed his ability to miss bats.

Beede spent the 2023 season with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, for whom he posted a 3.99 ERA in 49 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. A former first-round pick by the Giants back in 2014, the Vanderbilt product was a top prospect but has seen his career stall out — in part due to injuries (most notably, Tommy John surgery). He’s pitched 201 innings in the majors and been dinged for a 5.55 ERA with worse-than-average strikeout and walk rates of 19.6% and 10%, respectively.

Between MLB stints, Beede has rather dramatically overhauled his pitching repertoire. His initial MLB run saw him use primarily a four-seamer, changeup and curveball, but the 2024 version of Beede is brandishing a four-seamer, splitter and sinker in addition to his breaking ball (which FanGraphs classifies as a slider but Statcast considers a curveball). Beede didn’t throw a single splitter from 2018-22, but it’s been his most heavily used pitch in 2024. It’s been hit hard when put into play, but Beede has also missed tons of bats with the pitch (16.8% swinging-strike rate).

The Guardians will have a week to trade Beede, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or release him. He’d be able to reject an outright assignment to Columbus even if he ends up clearing waivers.

20 Comments

What is a guardian

statues in cleveland on a bridge

A silent guardian. A Dark Knight.

The person responsible for you since your Mom abandoned you.

CO Guardening, I did not laugh at this. I definitely thought it was in bad taste.

The original comment deserved it. He’s either trolling the name change (yawn) or too lazy to use Google.

My comment was supposed to be sarcastic

Allowing 5 runs in 1/3rds of an inning doesn’t really help!

That is the type outing where you knock over the Gatorade jug and/or punch a wall to get IL time to extend MLB service time

I know a fairly recent Cy Young winner who pitched 7 and a third scoreless in Mexico last sunday that they could sign right now for the league minimum…

What’s his name again? On the tip of my tongue. If only people talked about him more I would remember his name.

@Ignorant Son-of-a-b

I think it was Tyler…. somethings.

he is the guy that women get rough with, but he surely can pitch its not like that other teammate he had who is on trial about his wife or gf

And so does Harambe apparently just ask his throat I sent him cough drops early today

Did they ban your account you used to write “Trevor is waiting”?

Wasn’t me

Forever Giant

San francisco and yomiuri

I remember watching him in college thinking he’d be an MLB mainstay.

The Giants picked him one pick ahead of the Angels. We took Sean Newcomb.

Both looked like solid picks. Neither really worked out.

Not a word about the guy coming up, Strzelecki? Why not? He or a loved one might check in to MLBTR, desperately looking for any upbeat or optimistic words about Pete’s chances to stick this try.

Nothing positive to report? Maybe, make something up. He increased his spin rate. He has perfected a new pitch. His strike-zone command returned or has improved.

He has fully recovered from his foo-foo boo-boo. He lowered his elbow 4.7 degrees in his reshaped delivery and it has paid immediate dividends.

He’s been gobbling hypodermics like candy and is overly ready to fire away at the MLB level. His personal Attitude Coach found the key to unlocking his trapped talent.

But, nothing is written here. Nary a word. That leads me to believe that Peter Strzelecki best not sign any Cleveland rental contracts, car or home. The best advice or guidance one could give to him is to commute from Columbus during what ominously shapes up as a very short and uneventful visit.

Hopefully he gets more rave reviews than Peter O’Brien.

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Washington Nationals Designate Former All-Star Reliever Matt Barnes For Assignment

Sam connon | may 7, 2024.

• Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals have designated relief pitcher Matt Barnes for assignment, the team announced Tuesday morning.

Washington made the move in order to free up space for left-handed pitcher Robert Garcia, who was activated off of the 15-day injured list. Garcia had been out with the flu since April 21.

Barnes, meanwhile, had been on the Nationals' active roster since Opening Day. The 33-year-old righty had a 6.75 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 6.8 strikeouts per nine innings and a -0.2 WAR in 13.1 innings this season.

The Nationals have returned LHP Robert Garcia from rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 15-day Injured List.  The Nationals have designated RHP Matt Barnes for assignment.  The 40-man roster is now at 39. — Nationals Communications (@NationalsComms) May 7, 2024

The last time Barnes took the mound was May 2 against the Texas Rangers . He gave up three hits, a walk and three earned runs in that game, which marked the third contest this season in which he allowed multiple runs.

That doesn't mean Barnes wasn't effective at times in 2024, though, considering eight of his 14 appearances were scoreless. His ERA was sitting at 3.24 as recently as April 21.

Barnes signed a minor league contract with the Nationals in February.

It's been a tough few years for Barnes, who was once a first round pick, World Series champion and All-Star with the Boston Red Sox .

Right after he signed a two-year, $18.75 million contract extension with the Red Sox in 2021, his numbers fell off. From Aug. 7 to the end of the regular season, Barnes posted a 10.13 ERA, .340 batting average against and a 1.110 OPS against.

Barnes then went 0-4 with a 4.31 ERA in 2022, before Boston traded him to the Miami Marlins in 2023. Through 24 appearances that year, Barnes had a 5.48 ERA and 1.641 WHIP, at which point he underwent season-ending hip surgery .

Now, Barnes is either headed back to the minors, the waiver wire or the open market.

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Sam Connon is a Staff Writer for Fastball on the Sports Illustrated/FanNation networks. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's All Bruins, 247Sports' Bruin Report Online, Rivals' Bruin Blitz, the Bleav Podcast Network and the Daily Bruin, with his work as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk.

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