What does “designated for assignment” mean? How is it different from “released”? Why don’t they use the word “cut” to describe a player who’s no longer wanted?
Designated for assignment is a way to get a player off the active roster. When a player is designated for assignment, the team has 10 days to either:
a. release him
b. send him to the minors
c. trade him
It’s a way to clear a roster spot while giving the GM a few days to decide just what to do with the guy.
Zev Steinhardt
Thanks, zev. It sounds like DFA is frequently followed by “released”, especially for a veteran player who can refuse to be sent to the minors.
When a player is released, I assume that he’s still under contract, ie, he gets paid?
Yes, “released” means that the player is now a free agent and is free (naturally!) to seek a job with any team he chooses. However, his former team is still responsible to fulfill the remainder of his contract, so he will continue to get a paycheck. This is an option of last resort for a ballclub.
I’m not certain if signing up with another ballclub negates the previous contract or if the player gets two paychecks…
A player under contract who is released receives his contracted salary. A team that wishes to sign him (if he’s been released) can typically pay the minimum and the releasing team has to pay the balance of his original contract.
This is provided the contract is ‘guaranteed’, of course. If it’s not (as is the case in many younger players) the player is screwed out of a job and a check.
Almost no baseball contracts are not guaranteed now. Only guys just breaking in are that way.
And they are rarely released outright because teams can send them to the minors or other teams will sign them because they don’t cost much.
On a related note, I’ve heard conflicting explanations of options. So:
Does a player who is called up only have a certain number of times they can be optioned to the minors, or is it a length of time? I’ve heard 3 seasons, but I’ve also heard it’s a specific number (and I often hear “has no options remaining” about players.)
It’s 3 seasons of options. But a player can be moved up and down as many times as you want during one of those seasons. But once those seasons with options are over (and they are over forever once you put in enough time), a player can’t be sent to the minors without his permission.
Hence “designated for assignment”.
Yeah, I know you can’t outright a guy to the minors without getting him through waivers once he has 3 years of service (I didn’t remember if it was 3, but I knew it was a certain amount) but the options thing always confused me.
As a side point, it should be noted that those three option years only start from when the player has a major-league contract (and is assigned to the 40-man roster). Until he has a major league contract, he can’t be optioned to the minors, and hence those years don’t count toward the “three option years.”
Zev Steinhardt
The “option” in “optional assignment” refers to the fact that the team has the option of having the player in the majors or the minors. It’s not the same as an option year on a multi-year contract.
Note also that it’s not ‘3 years consecutively’. Someone can be optioned two years then make the majors for 10 years straight and he’d still have an option left.
I seem to recall seeing this happen once a decade or so. But it irritates the player involved something fierce.