Designated for Assignment

by Greg Schuler on Aug 15, 2007 3:41 PM EDT Comment 10 comments

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DFA = full roster

A team can only designate a player for assignment if they're using all the spots on their 40-man roster. Don't know whether that helps or not.

by Vlad on Aug 15, 2007 3:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Not always true

When a team designates a player for assignment it does so to retain a player without exposing them to waivers and to open a spot on the 40 man roster. A team has ten days to do something - release, trade, outright, waive. A full roster is not the only reason a team will designate a player for assignment. Teams can use other methods - simply outrighting a player from the 40 man is one method. Transferring a player to the 60 day disabled list is another.

It was a question that Charlie raised in another discussion. It seems like the Pirates use that transaction more than most teams. All I did was to track how many times per team this year.

by Greg Schuler on Aug 15, 2007 4:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, yeah, but...

...I'm pretty sure that a team can only DFA (as opposed to placing on waivers) if their 40-man roster is full. There was a move earlier this year where that came into play. On March 26, the Rangers added organizational player Adam Fox to the 40-man roster to use up the roster's final free spot, so that they could then designate Rick Bauer for assignment instead of waiving him. (They needed Bauer's spot on the 25-man roster because they'd just claimed Ezequiel Astacio on waivers.) They chose Fox for the move because they knew he'd have no trouble making it back through waivers (he was outrighted off the roster a few days later), and he in particular was a nice guy with young kids for whom a few days of MLB service time might come in handy.

by Vlad on Aug 15, 2007 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You are correct

DFA is only allowed when the 40 man roster is full. But it is not the only way a team can make space on the 40 man roster. Most typically, a team will DFA a player to make an immediate space on the roster for another transaction and does not want to wait for a player to pass through waivers or does not have a player it can transfer to the 60-day disabled list.

by Greg Schuler on Aug 16, 2007 8:36 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What I'd like to know . . .

. . . although it'd be an awful lot of work, is how often teams DFA'd players, had them pass thru waivers, then brought them back up.

by WTM on Aug 15, 2007 4:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Right.

Thanks for doing this, Greg - this is a start - but my question was the one Wilbur just mentioned. It's not uncommon for even good teams to DFA players, but my sense is that they don't get them through waivers as often as the Bucs do, and that they don't then recall players they got through waivers just weeks later the way the Bucs do.

by Charlie on Aug 15, 2007 5:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I have that too

Again, no time to transcribe it, but generally players that are DFA'ed rarely get claimed on waivers. More often they are traded or released. I'd say that about half stay in the original organization and a small percentage of those players are recalled at least once during the season.

A quick glance at my notes says Hiram Bocachica (OAK to SD), Francisco Rosario (TOR to PHI, but by trade), Jeremy Guthrie (CLE to BAL), Jason Davis (CLE to SEA), Yorman Bazardo (SEA to DET, by trade), Michael Garciaparra (SEA to PHI), Marino Salas (BAL to MIL), Ruddy Lugo (TB to OAK), Daniel Hawgood (TEX to BOS, by trade), Matt Kata (TEX to PHI), JD Durbin (BOS to PHI), Jeff Kippinger (KC to CIN, by trade), Josh Phelps (NYA to PIT), Morgan Ensberg (HOU to SD, by trade), Grant Balfour (MIL to TB, by trade), JD Durbin (ARI to BOS), Brian Barden (ARI to MIN), Todd Linden (SF to FLA), Julio Franco (NYN to ATL), Josh Wilson (WAS to FLA), Levale Speigner (WAS to MIN to WAS, by trade - he was a Rule 5 pick), Sean Thompson (SD to KC to COL)

Huh, I guess I did have the time.

by Greg Schuler on Aug 16, 2007 8:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs