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Outright Release Waivers are irrevocable and cannot be withdrawn once they are requested.
While a player claimed off Outright Assignment Waivers costs $50,000 (formerly $20,000), a club can claim a player off Outright Release Waivers for the minuscule sum of $1. However, a club that claims a player off Release Waivers is responsible for paying 100% of the player's remaining salary, whereas if the same club waits until the player clears Release Waivers, the club can sign the player for the MLB minimum salary (or prorated portion of the MLB minimum salary), with the player's former club responsible for the balance.
A player who is claimed off Outright Release Waivers has the option to decline the assignment and become a free-agent (he has up to five days to decide). For most players, refusing an Outright Release waiver claim means the player's contract is terminated with no severance and his former club owes him nothing (same as an Article XX-D minor league FA who refuses an Outright Assignment), but for a player with "no trade" rights who refuses an Outright Release waiver claim, the player is owed his full salary for the balance of the contract, same as if he had not been claimed.
A player on an MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) who is released during the period of time extending from MLB Opening Day through August 31st cannot be added back to the MLB Active List of the club that released the player for at least 30 days - UNLESS - the MLB Active List of the club that released the player has at least one open slot during the period of time beginning when the player is released and extending up until the released player is re-signed and added back to the club's MLB Reserve List, and a player on an MLB 40-man roster who is released anytime during the period of time extending from September 1st to MLB Opening Day cannot be added back to the MLB 40-man roster (or MLB Active List) of the club that released the player until May 15th.
NOTE:: While an unsigned player under club control who is not tendered a contract for the next season ("non-tendered") becomes a free-agent, it is not considered the same thing as an Outright Release, so a club can re-sign a non-tendered player to a Major League contract (or minor league contract) without any restrictions anytime after the player is non-tendered. Thus, the MLB contract tender date is a sort of roster "island oasis" in the middle of the off-season where a club can drop a player from its MLB Reserve List (including injured players) without having to worry about waivers or restrictions on off-season outright assignments or Outright Release.
A player on an MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) signed to a non-guaranteed contract who is released more than 15 days prior to Opening Day receives 30 days salary as termination pay (paid at the "minor league rate" if the player is signed to a "split contract"), and a player on an MLB Reserve List signed to a non-guaranteed contract who is released 15 or fewer days prior to Opening Day receives 45 days salary as termination pay (all players paid at the "Major League rate"). A player on an MLB Reserve List signed to a non-guaranteed contract who is released prior to MLB Opening Day receives 100% of his salary as termination pay if he is released while he is unable to render service due to an injury or illness suffered while under contract to the club.
NOTE: Beginning in 2022, a player eligible for salary arbitration who signs a contract prior to an arbitration hearing will receive 100% of his salary if he is released prior to MLB Opening Day (although salary liability for former club would be partially offset by the pro-rated MLB minimum salary if the player signs an MLB contract with another club after being released).
A player on an MLB Reserve List who is released during the MLB regular season receives 100% of his salary as termination pay (paid at the "minor league rate" for players on Optional Assignment to the minors).
An unsigned player on an MLB Reserve List released during the off-season receives no termination pay.
An MLB Rule 5 Selected Player (a player who was selected in the MLB Rule 5 Draft) cannot be released until restrictions have been removed, and if Rule 5 restrictions have been removed and the player is released, the player's termination pay is always paid at the "Major League rate" as long as he is released prior to being outrighted to the minors.
Outright Release Waivers cannot be requested on a player while he is on the Bereavement List, Military List, Suspended List, Disqualified List, or Ineligible List.
A club cannot option a player signed to a "split contract" to the minors if the purpose of the assignment is to release the player and avoid paying termination pay at the "Major League rate."
A player is automatically & immediately removed from his club's Reserve List (40-man roster) and Active List when placed on Outright Release Waivers.
Recent comments
crunch 09/24/2023 - 09:52 pm (view)
cubs win...so do MIA and CIN,. ARZ is close to winning (up by 6 in the 8th). total wash of a day.
off day tomorrow then it's the last week of baseball...not an easy one vs MIL and ATL. last-week drama...
crunch 09/24/2023 - 09:47 pm (view)
merryweather puts the first couple guys on with 0 outs...and smyly is up in the pen. back end of the pen situation is a mess.
crunch 09/24/2023 - 09:31 pm (view)
"Coming into the game, they were 0-819 when trailing by nine runs or more." damn.
Charlie 09/24/2023 - 09:48 am (view)
I wonder how many pitchers have missed this much time in a relatively short span with recurring forearm issues and not had it lead to surgery.
Cubster 09/24/2023 - 09:34 am (view)
Historic win for Pirates...
https://www.mlb.com/news/pirates-mount-historic-rally-to-beat-reds?part…
Arizona Phil 09/23/2023 - 09:02 pm (view)
The deadline for trading players on an MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) and players who were outrighted to the minors after signing a 2023 MLB contract was August 1st, but trades involving players on a minor league reserve list are prohibited beginning at 12 PM (Eastern) on the 7th day prior to the originally-scheduled conclusion of the 2023 MLB regular season (Sunday 9/24) through the last day of the MLB regular season (including a day on which a regular season game is played after the originally-scheduled conclusion of the MLB regular season).
Arizona Phil 09/24/2023 - 09:41 am (view)
jdrnym:
As you know, the abbreviation "DFA" stands for "Designated for Assignment."
There are three types of assignments:
1. Trade Assignment (when a player is traded from one MLB club to another)
2. Outright Assignment (when a player is sent to the club's minor league Domestic Reserve List after Outright Assignment Waivers have been secured).
3. Optional Assignment (when a player is optioned to the minors, subject to being recalled at a later time).
So when a player is Designated for Assignment, the player can either be traded, outrighted to the minors, or optioned to the minors.
Normally a player is not Designated for Assignment and then optioned to the minors, because the club could just option the player to the minors immediately without a DFA.
Back in the day It was not that unusual for a player to be Designated for Assignment so that Optional Assignment Waivers could be secured (Optional Assignment Waivers were required before certain players could be optioned to the minors, and just like the old Trade Assignment Waivers, Optional Assignment Waivers were revocable if a player was claimed).
https://www.thecubreporter.com/why-player-designated-assignment-and-the…
Optional Assignment Waivers were eliminated in 2016 and Trade Assignment Waivers were eliminated in 2021, so all revocable waivers have been eliminated. What's left are Outright Assignment Waivers and Outright Release Waivers, and both are irrevocable (cannot be withdrawn) once requested.
With the new five option limit whereby a player can be optioned to the minors no more than five times in a given season before Outright Assignment Waivers must be secured (and it - IS - Outright Assignment Waivers that must be secured, even though it is for the purpose of an Optional Assignment), it now might be necessary for a club to DFA a player to clear a spot on the MLB 26-man roster (MLB 28-man roster in September) for another player and to allow for the two days (actually 47 hours) required to run a player through waivers. After the two day "Waiver Claiming Period" concludes (and presuming the player isn't claimed), the player can be returned to the MLB 40-man roster and optioned to the minors (even after being Designated for Assignment). But for that to happen, the player can - NOT - be replaced on the MLB 40-man roster by another player after being Designated for Assignment.
However, in the case of Jordan Luplow, he had - NOT - been optioned to the minors five times in the 2023 season prior to be optioned to AAA St. Paul on 9/18, so the Twins did not need to DFA Luplow in order to secure Outright Assignment Waivers so that he could be optioned to the minors a sixth time. But because he was Designated for Assignment and not replaced on the 40 by another player after the DFA, the Twins could return him to the 40 and option him to the minors even after he was Designated for Assignment, because an Optional Assignment is one of the three types of assignments.
So Luplow was Designated for Assignment even though he didn't need to be, and then the Twins returned him to their MLB 40-man roster and optioned him to the minors a couple of days later (which they can do, since Luplow wasn't replaced on the 40 by another player after he was Designated for Assignment). What the Twins did (DFA Luplow and then return him to the 40 and option him to the minors a couple of days later) was within the rules. It's just very odd and doesn't make a lot of sense.
So I will offer what I believe is the most logical reason the Twins did this:
The Twins DFA'd Luplow because they intended to reinstate Chris Paddack from the 60-day IL, but then Carlos Correa suddenly needed to go on the 10-day IL and they recalled Trevor Larnach to replace Correa, but then they probably decided they should keep Luplow on the 40-man roster, too (and on Optional Assignment to AAA), and didn't want to risk losing him off waivers or by him electing free-agency after being outrighted. Luplow has Article XX-D rights (he has been outrighted to the minors previously in his career, so he would had the right to elect free-agency after he was outrighted). Clearly the Twins felt they might need Luplow's RH bat after losing Correa and with Royce Lewis having left a game with a hamstring injury that led to an IL assignment. And that meant that Paddack would remain on his minor league rehab assignment a few extra days, but the Twins will need him in the post-season, not now.
Also, if Luplow was outrighted instead of being optioned, he would no longer be automatically eligible to play in the post-season (except as a possible injury replacement).
Not only did Carlos Correa go on the IL, Royce Lewis went on the IL, too, two days after Correa went on the IL and two days after Luplow was optioned to AAA, so the Twins did in fact end up needing Luplow after all, and recalled him just a couple of days after he was optioned to replace Lewis on the MLB 28-man roster. (So both Larnach and Luplow were recalled within a couple of days of each other, replacing Correa and Lewis on the Twins MLB 28-man roster).
So that's all I've got. That is the only thing that makes sense. The Twins DFA'd Luplow because they had intended to replace him on the 40 with another player (probably Paddack) and hoped that they would be able to run him through waivers and that he wouldn't get claimed and that he would accept an Outright Assignment, but then they suddenly changed their minds because of the injury to Correa and the possibility that Lewis might also have to go on the IL (which did, in fact, happen the next day). Also, with the injuries to Correa and Lewis, the Twins wanted Luplow to remain automatically post-season eligible, which would not be the case if he was outrighted.
Again, the Twins were able to return Luplow to the 40 and option him to AAA because he hadn't been replaced on the 40 by another player after he was Designated for Assignment.
crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:00 pm (view)
CIN out here blowing a 9-0 lead they built through 3 innings. 9-9 tie in the 7th.
crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:05 pm (view)
boxburger 10d IL, k.thompson back up. it's his right forearm (again).
crunch 09/23/2023 - 09:12 pm (view)
merryweather got out of it, but he loaded the bases with 1 out. of course ross got cuas up in the pen...thankfully he didn't need to come in.
looks like cuas gets the 9th.