Designated For Assignment meaning baseball is the provision to expel a player from the 40 man team roster. DFA rule has been a part of MLB since 1985.
This contractual jargon allows teams to remove a player from their log and open up a spot for another player while leaving the DFA'd player with several options to continue playing with the same team or another.
After that, the team will have a maximum of seven days to decide what to do with the player: trade, release or transfer to the Minor League.
Before 2017, a time restraint of 10 days was enforced as the norm 2012-16 Collective Bargaining Agreement instead of 7 days.
In April 2023, Arizona Diamondbacks triggered the DFA on the club's pitcher Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner, who signed a sumptuous $85 million, 5-year agreement with Arizona in 2019, saw himself dropped on waivers.
What Does It Mean To Be Designated For Assignment?
Designated For Assignment is a baseball term used in MLB which means the process of removing a player from the team roster.
When a baseball player is designated for assignment, he becomes ineligible to play on the Major League team for at least seven days until his team makes a judgment on what to do with the player.
To reach a definitive decision regarding the player in question and simultaneously open up their 40-man roster spot for another player, the club must ensure the complete expulsion of the player within the allocated 7-day timeframe.
When a player is designated for assignment, the team has to perform one of the following moves within the next seven days.
- Put the player on Waiver wire
- Trade the player to another team
- Release the player from their contract
- Option the player to the minor leagues
Milwaukee Brewers DFA Lorenzo Cain
Let's look at the example of former MLB center fielder Lorenzo Cain. The Milwaukee Brewers picked Cain in the 2010 draft but was immediately sold to the Kansas City Royals after a year in 2011.
In 2018, Milwaukee re-signed Cain and struck a substantial deal with Cain, sealing his presence in the club until January 2023 with a significant five-year contract worth $80 million.
However, in June 2022, six months before his contract expired, the Brewers designated Cain for assignment following a series of lackluster performances.
He was placed on waivers within seven days of action, but Cain subsequently cleared the waivers and was released by the club, ultimately becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Lorenzo brought an end to his blazing MLB career on March 7, 2023. He was included in the MLB All-Star two times and won the World Series championship in 2015
Designated For Assignment MLB
Designated For Assignment meaning in MLB describes the contractual agreement. In baseball, it means to dismiss a player from the team's 40-man roster.
An MLB team possesses the full authority to designate for assignment any player from their roster, provided the club deems the player's services unnecessary or for various other reasons.
When a baseball player is designated for assignment (DFA), the team has seven days to either bring the player back to the 40-man roster, put the player on waivers, trade, release, or outright the player to the Minor Leagues.
If the team chooses to outright the player, he will be withdrawn from the 40-man roster and sent to the Minor Leagues. However, if the player clears waivers, he may either be sent outright to the Minor Leagues or released.
After the player clears waivers, the club has to release him from the contract, and he becomes a free agent and can sign with any team, even the team that just released him.
Madison Bumgarner Designated For Assignment
The 33-year-old MLB pitcher Madison Bumgarner has been placed on DFA by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The club released a statement on Thursday, April 20, 2023, stating that Madison, who joined the club in 2020, was designated for assignment.
The Diamondbacks are preparing to put the baseball pitcher through the waiver wire. Since Bumgarner has more than five-year experience of playing in the MLB, he has to agree to be sent to the minor leagues. In other words, Madison has to give their consent to be assigned to a minor league team.
Bumgarner agreed to join Arizona in December 2019 for five years and $85 million. He still has $34 million left to be paid until the end of next season.
DFA Is Used While Adding Newly Acquired Player To Roster
DFA comes into play for various reasons, one being when a team intends to add a newly acquired player to their roster.
A Major League Baseball team employs the DFA mechanism for several motives, which include injury, poor performance, or when they plan to incorporate a recently acquired player into the team register.
Reasons Why A Team DFA A Player
- To make room for new players
- A player is injured
- A string of poor performances
- To maintain roster flexibility
- Rule 5 Draft
If a player is not performing up to expectations or is injured and is expected to miss an entire season, or to shield a minor league player from being selected in the Rule 5 Draft, or to add new players, a team may activate the DFA.
Though the precise inaugural inception of The Designated for Assignment (DFA) rule is not clear, some reports claim it was first implemented by MLB in 1985.
The use of this terminology can be traced back to the 1970s, a time when the media first started incorporating this phrase into their vernacular.
The Official Professional Baseball Rules Book oversees the MLB player trades and mentions the DFA rule in its pages.
