The Basics: What is a DFA?

DFA is a bit of a tricky concept, since it's often (mis)used by sports news outlets, broadcasters, and bloggers as a synonym for outrighted, released, or even optioned. However, when a player is DFA'd, or designated for assignment, all it means is that he has been removed from his team's 40-man roster and essentially placed in baseball limbo. His team has 10 days to trade him, release him, or send him outright to a minor league affiliate. When a team wishes instead to release a player, it's usually reported that way initially (e.g. "the Mets released Luis Castillo" as opposed to "the Mets designated Luis Castillo for assignment with the intention of releasing him"). Similarly, when a team comes to terms with another team on a trade, the DFA also typically goes unmentioned.

DFAs tend only to be announced when, either, 1) the team intends to pass the player through waivers and outright him to the minors, or 2) the team needed the roster spot and wants to try to trade the player before trying to pass him through waivers to outright him to the minors. If the team is unable or unwilling to trade the player who has been DFA'd, then the team must request outright waivers. Waivers take a minimum of 47 hours to obtain (e.g. if the player is placed on waivers by 2 pm on Monday, and no one makes a claim, waivers will be obtained at 1 pm on Wednesday). So in order to outright a player who has been DFA'd, waivers have to not only be requested, but obtained by the end of the 10-day window. In some cases, as the Mets did with Chin-lung Hu, the team will pass the player through waivers before he is even DFA'd. The risk here is that he will be claimed and the team will lose a player before his roster spot was even needed. The benefit is that if he clears waivers, he can be outrighted immediately upon being DFA'd, without having to clear waivers at that time.

Ultimately, the DFA is just the way a team clears a spot on its 40-man roster.

The Basics: What are options?

Options are among the more misunderstood facets of the game. Options (or option years) are years in which a team can send a player who is on the 40-man roster down to the minor leagues without the risk of losing that player to another team. A player sent down in this manner is said to be on optional assignment with the minor league club (hence the term "option"). Each player is granted 3 option years, however during an option year, there is no specific limit on the number of times a player can be called up or optioned down. There are, however, a few other noteworthy limitations and exceptions.

A player who has been optioned cannot be recalled until 10 days after the assignment, unless he is replacing a player who is being placed on the DL.

If a player spends fewer than 20 days on optional assignment in a given season, the season does not count as an option year for that player.

If a player has used all 3 options, but has not yet played 5 full professional seasons, he becomes eligible for a 4th option. A full professional season involves at least 90 days spent on an active roster in a given season.

For a list of Mets with options remaining, as well as a more detailed breakdown of individual Mets' option status, check out the Options tab.

The Basics: Who can refuse a minor league assignment?

There are two types of players who can refuse minor league assignments. The first, and more prominent, are the 5 year veterans. Any player who has accrued 5 years of Major League service has earned the right to refuse any minor league assignment. If such a player exercises this right, his team must either reinstate the player to the active roster or grant him his unconditional release. If the player is released, the team is on the hook for the remainder of the player's contract. In this situation, the player essentially holds all the cards. Jason Bay (7.154 years of ML service, as of 6/13/11), Angel Pagan (5.046 years), and RA Dickey (5.081 years) are examples of this type of player.

The other type of player who can refuse a minor league assignment is a player who has either accrued at least 3 years of Major League service time (but less than 5) and/or has already been outrighted once in his career. This type of player cannot refuse an optional assignment, but he can refuse an outright assignment. In other words, if a player who fits these criteria is optioned, he has no say in the matter. But if he is DFA'd and sent outright to the minors, he has the right to refuse the assignment. If he exercises this right, he becomes a free agent, however he forfeits the remainder of his contract. If, on the other hand, he accepts the outright assignment, he automatically defers his right to become a minor league free agent until the end of the season, provided he isn't back on the 40-man roster at that time. Mike Pelfrey (4.024 years), Nick Evans (prior outright) and Jason Pridie (prior outright) are examples of this type of player.

The Basics: What are waivers?

This is a simple question with a complicated answer. Essentially, waivers are a form of permission to make a specific transaction, granted to the requesting club by the other 29 clubs. Though the term most often used is simply "waivers", there are 4 different types of waivers: unconditional release waivers, trade assignment waivers, optional assignment waivers, and outright assignment waivers.

Unconditional release waivers are required whenever a club wishes to release a player. They are irrevocable, and though claims can occur, the player being claimed always has the right to reject the claim and become a free agent.

Trade assignment waivers (a.k.a. August waivers) are required to trade a player after the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. They are revocable, however they can only be withdrawn once per player per year. After that, they become irrevocable. If a claim is made, the team requesting the waivers has the option to a) pull the player back off waivers, b) work out a trade with the claiming team, or c) simply let the claiming team have the player (along with the remainder of the player's contract). Every August, trade assignment waivers are requested for many players, including many players that teams have no plans on moving. In addition to guaging interest or possibly unloading a contract, teams request August waivers to disguise their true intentions. If teams only requested waivers for players they were interested in moving, there would be far more claims made. By placing nearly everyone on waivers, it becomes harder for other teams to sniff out the truly available players to either block a rival's potential trade by placing a claim or smother the market for a player (since a claim limits the potentail trade partners to one team). Because every claim placed is also an offer to take on that player's entire remaining contract.

Optional assignment waivers are technically required to option a player to the minors if the player is more than 3 years removed from his initial MLB report date (i.e. the first time he was called up). They are also revocable, however they can only be withdrawn once per player per waiver period. I say they are “technically” required because I am not aware of any player that has ever been claimed in this manner, which is why you never hear about them. When DJ Carrasco was optioned to Buffalo in late April, the Mets had to obtain optional assignment waivers.

Most of the time (at least outside of the month of August), when people mention "waivers", they are referring to outright assignment waivers. Outright assignment waivers (or “outright waivers”) are irrevocable, and they are required whenever a team removes a player from its 40-man roster and wishes to send him to a minor league affiliate. For instance, outright waivers are necessary whenever a player who is out of options is sent to the minor leagues. Additionally, there are times when a player has options remaining, but still must clear outright waivers. For example, to make room on the 40-man roster for free agent acquisition Chris Young this offseason, the Mets removed Tobi Stoner from the 40-man roster. They then had to secure outright waivers in order to send him to Buffalo. This is commonly referred to as “going unclaimed”, “passing through waivers”, or “clearing waivers”.

The Basics: What is the 40-man roster?

The 40-man roster, or Major League reserve list, is the collection of all players who are currently signed to Major League contracts (with the exception of players on the 60-day DL or temporary inactive list). It includes players on the active roster, players on the 15-day DL, and players on optional assignment in the minors. Every transaction involving the active roster of the Major League club has to take into consideration the state of and effect on the 40-man roster. Players can be temporarily removed from the 40-man roster by being placed on the 60-day DL. Players are permanently removed from the 40-man roster when they are designated for assignment (or DFA'd), and can only be re-added if their contracts are once again purchased by the Major League club. Examining a team's 40-man roster can provide a good deal of insight into the team's overall roster flexibility (open spots, players with options, 60-day DL candidates, etc), as well as which specific players are most likely to be called up to the big leagues should a need arise.

The Basics: Introduction

One of my main purposes for starting this blog is setting up a forum where people can discuss, debate, and learn about MLB transactions rules, and specifically how they affect the Mets. I became interested in the subject a few years ago when I could not find a website that listed which Mets had options remaining and which did not. In searching for that information, I discovered how little I actually knew about what options really were and how they worked. A little more digging, and I learned how little I knew about other transactions-relevant topics, like the 40-man roster, waivers, arbitration, the Rule 5 draft, service time, and many, many more. So, I resolved to learn about them. They're often complicated, but I feel like I have developed a pretty good grasp on a lot of them. And, perhaps more importantly, I've gotten much better at finding my own answers when a transaction question comes up that I don't know the answer to.

Anyway, I think it's appropriate to start this blog by putting together a series of posts on some of the basic transactions questions that I've had over the years. I'll start with a few of the more important topics, and then add more as new questions come up. After I've gotten the ball rolling, I'll begin taking a look at specifics of the Mets' various rosters, some of the moves they've made, what options they have for the future, and how all of it can be analyzed through a transactions lens.