Rule Changes for rosters in 2020

[clancyphile]

You have to wonder about the contracts as well... a lot of teams expected a full 162 games from players... to only get half that is a mess...

[djoctagone]

Hadn't thought about the Rule 5 thing. Wouldn't be fair to count a half season with expanded rosters as meeting the requirements.

pre-pandemic, a player had to spend at least 90 days of the season on the club's active roster in order to be retained--and the remainder could be spent on the injured list.

 

if the season does indeed start early july, it's possible that a healthy rule 5 draftee will be able to meet 90 days--but agree more easily stashed if the roster is expanded beyond the normal limit of 26 players.

[AJOHNSON104]

I'd expect lots of work needs to be done with the MLBPA over incentive based contracts. I would suspect most incentives would just be pro-rated, but there could be some complications. Examples might be pitchers with bonuses based on innings pitched or games started. With expanded rosters and a shorter spring training, you'd expect more pitchers getting in games, but starters going less innings per start. Also, if a player tests positive for COVID, and needs to be quarantined, would that time still count as active roster time? If not it might impact their ability to receive specific bonuses. I'd think players would want that counted in return for agreeing to put their safety on the line.

Also, haven't seen anything about a trade deadline.

[nodakfan17]

What does this do for Tim Tebow’s chances of playing in a MLB game?

[AJOHNSON104]

What does this do for Tim Tebow’s chances of playing in a MLB game?

 

If he's on the "50 man roster" it would be pretty good.

[jerichoholicninja]

There are just so many things to be considered with the shortened season and the possibly of never having fans in attendance and the impact of contracts, players getting COVID, expanded rosters, stadiums they can actually play in, etc. and with the things I'm reading coming out from the MLBPA I can't see anyway an agreement is reached that will allow them to play.

[djoctagone]

30-man roster proposed for first 14 days of season.

 

28-man roster proposed at day 15.

 

teams must pare down to a 26-man roster by day 29.

 

pre-pandemic, clubs had 27 days in september to carry a 28-man roster.

 

we'll see if these rules are in place once the season starts.

[djoctagone]

reportedly, the transactions freeze ends friday 26 june at 11:00 am central.

[djoctagone]

mlb announces rule changes for 2020:

 

--pitchers and two-way players must remain on the injured list for a minimum of 15 days--an increase from 10 days.

nix that for 2020. it's a 10-day injured list for pitchers and position players.

 

a separate special injured list will be created for covid-related concerns. there is no requisite stay for this injured list. any player who tests positive, has symptoms, or has confirmed exposure to another who tested positive can be placed on this special injured list.

[djoctagone]

mlb has ruled officially: 13 pitchers maximum on the 26-man roster.

 

in other words, pretty much what the brewers have done for the majority of the past two seasons.

nix that rule for 2020. the brewers can carry as many pitchers as they want to on the 30-man, 28-man and 26-man rosters.

[djoctagone]

regarding roster construction rules, this is what i believe we're waiting to hear on:

 

--60-day injured list has been replaced by a 45-day injured list. normally, the 60-day injured list removes a player from the 40-man roster and opens up a spot. unclear if the same applies here, but likely does.

 

--rules were in place for the 27th man for days when more than one game was being played or completed. will the 30-man, 28-man and 26-man rosters each be plus one for such situations?

 

--rule 5 draftees must be carried on the active roster for at least 90 days and may spend the rest of the season on the injured list in order to be kept by the claiming team. the 2020 season will be shorter than 90 days, so it's unclear how rule 5 draftee assignments will be handled.

 

--we don't know how opt-out clauses in minor league contracts will work. normally, they allow a player to declare free agency if he isn't added to the 40-man or 26-man active roster by a certain date.

 

--normally, opt-out clauses are required for veterans who finish the previous season on a club's 40-man roster or injured list and are invited to big league camp as a non-roster invitee. how does this affect a player who finishes the season on a club's 60-man roster or injured list?

 

--we don't know if or how long there will be a requisite stay for players sent down on optional assignment. normally, it'd be 15 days for pitchers, and 10 days for position players. seeing as there's no minor league club to report to on optional assignment, it seems unreasonable to expect a requisite stay--especially with a shortened season.

 

--we don't know how optional assignments will work for the 20 additional players on the 60-man roster, and for that matter, for players who were on the 40-man roster when transactions froze. if they spend more than 20 days on optional assignment, do they burn an option? will clubs be granted an extra option year for players who were not rule 5 eligible in 2019?

 

--expanding on that, the 40-man roster is a major league roster. players are signed to split contracts--they make a set amount when on the active club roster, and much less (but a negotiated amount) when on optional assignment. is the 60-man roster being defined as a major league roster?

 

--how will outright waivers and release waivers be handled--especially for a player out of minor league options? can other clubs jump in to make a claim? if so, how? this is especially important if mlb and mlbpa decide to pare the major league roster size back towards 40 players. again, we need clarification on how the 60-man roster is defined.

 

--we certainly hope it doesn't come to this, but what happens if a team's 60-man roster is decimated by the actual or potential spread of covid, and there are fewer than 26 healthy players available?

 

*i removed content on postseason eligibility due to my misinterpretation.

[djoctagone]

--rules were in place for the 27th man for days when more than one game was being played or completed. will the 30-man, 28-man and 26-man rosters each be plus one for such situations?

there is no 31st or 29th man. the 27th man rule will only be allowed when the roster is at 26 players.

[djoctagone]

--how will outright waivers and release waivers be handled--especially for a player out of minor league options? can other clubs jump in to make a claim? if so, how? this is especially important if mlb and mlbpa decide to pare the major league roster size back towards 40 players. again, we need clarification on how the 60-man roster is defined.

to that point, will an outright of a player count as the first outright assignment of his career? any player can refuse any subsequent outright minor league assignment and become a free agent.

[djoctagone]

once a player is removed from the 60-man pool, he can't be used again by that club in 2020. unclear if he could be claimed by another team and added to their 60-man pool.

 

this makes me think that placing a player on the 45-day injured list will not remove him from the 60-man pool, in contrast to how the 60-day injured list removes the player from the 40-man.

[djoctagone]

--60-day injured list has been replaced by a 45-day injured list. normally, the 60-day injured list removes a player from the 40-man roster and opens up a spot. unclear if the same applies here, but likely does.

 

--how will outright waivers and release waivers be handled--especially for a player out of minor league options? can other clubs jump in to make a claim? if so, how? this is especially important if mlb and mlbpa decide to pare the major league roster size back towards 40 players. again, we need clarification on how the 60-man roster is defined.

a little more clarification but also some confusion offered in this mlb.com article:

 

--a player can be removed from the player pool (and 40-man roster) via placement on the 45-day injured list or placement on the covid-19 related injured list.

 

--regarding outright waivers, this quote states that a team does have to request release or outright waiver assignments, which implies that all other teams would have the opportunity to make a claim on the player and add him to their 60-man player pool.

 

in most cases, players with opt-out clauses can request to be released -- but any player who has been removed from a team’s player pool by way of release or outright waiver assignment may not be added back to the team’s player pool for the remainder of the 2020 season.

[djoctagone]

reportedly, the transactions freeze ends friday 26 june at 11:00 am central.

trades can only include players from the 60-man player pool. it's unclear if teams are permitted to include cash or a player to be named later in a deal.

[djoctagone]

regarding roster construction rules, this is what i believe we're waiting to hear on:

 

--we don't know if or how long there will be a requisite stay for players sent down on optional assignment. normally, it'd be 15 days for pitchers, and 10 days for position players. seeing as there's no minor league club to report to on optional assignment, it seems unreasonable to expect a requisite stay--especially with a shortened season.

 

--we don't know how optional assignments will work for the 20 additional players on the 60-man roster, and for that matter, for players who were on the 40-man roster when transactions froze. if they spend more than 20 days on optional assignment, do they burn an option? will clubs be granted an extra option year for players who were not rule 5 eligible in 2019?

 

--how will outright waivers and release waivers be handled--especially for a player out of minor league options? can other clubs jump in to make a claim? if so, how? this is especially important if mlb and mlbpa decide to pare the major league roster size back towards 40 players. again, we need clarification on how the 60-man roster is defined.

this mlbtraderumors article addresses quite a bit . . .

 

we've already established above that placement on the 45-day injured list or covid-related injured list removes a player from the 60-man pool. presumably, this also removes him from the 40-man roster.

 

mlbtraderumors reports that any player on the 30-man, 28-man or 26-man active roster must be on the 40-man. if the 40-man is full, the club must make a transaction to open up a spot in order to bring up a non-40-man roster player from the 60-man player pool. this includes requesting outright or release waivers and risking surrendering the player to another team.

 

mlbtr also reports that optioned players must meet a requisite 10-day stay (unless being recalled to serve as the 27th man or to replace an injured player).

[djoctagone]

--how will outright waivers and release waivers be handled--especially for a player out of minor league options? can other clubs jump in to make a claim? if so, how? this is especially important if mlb and mlbpa decide to pare the major league roster size back towards 40 players. again, we need clarification on how the 60-man roster is defined.

 

--we certainly hope it doesn't come to this, but what happens if a team's 60-man roster is decimated by the actual or potential spread of covid, and there are fewer than 26 healthy players available?

insight on this twitter thread:

 

the only way to remove a healthy player lacking 40-man roster status from the 60-man player pool is to release him. in order to remove a healthy 40-man roster player from the 60-man player pool, the club must expose him to outright or release waivers and risk losing him.

 

if there is an instance where three or more players at the alternate training site are placed on the special covid-19 injured list, clubs can add replacement players to their 60-man pool. when a club decides their services are no longer needed (i.e. the players placed on the special injured list are cleared to return), those replacement players do not have to be exposed to waivers in order to be removed from the 60-man player pool.

--post edited to clarify "outbreak clause" only affects players at the alternate training site.

[djoctagone]

--rule 5 draftees must be carried on the active roster for at least 90 days and may spend the rest of the season on the injured list in order to be kept by the claiming team. the 2020 season will be shorter than 90 days, so it's unclear how rule 5 draftee assignments will be handled.

reported here and here that a player has to meet at least 50 days on the active roster in order to be kept by the claiming team.

[djoctagone]

if you have the answers to any of these remaining questions, please chime in and provide a source.

 

--we don't know how opt-out clauses in minor league contracts will work. normally, they allow a player to declare free agency if he isn't added to the 40-man or 26-man active roster by a certain date.

 

--normally, opt-out clauses are required for players with six-plus years of service who finish the previous season on a club's 40-man roster or injured list and are invited to big league camp as a non-roster invitee. how does this affect a player in 2021 who finishes the season in a club's 60-man player pool but not on the 40-man or major league injured list?

 

--we don't know if there will be a requisite stay for players sent down on optional assignment. normally, it'd be 15 days for pitchers (implemented this year), and 10 days for position players. seeing as there's no minor league club to report to on optional assignment (other than the alternate summer camp site) in a shortened season, it seems unreasonable to require 15 days down for pitchers.

 

--we don't know how optional assignments will work for players on the 40-man roster. if they spend more than 20 days on optional assignment, do they still burn an option? does the clock start ticking on opening day (meaning a player optioned in spring training still hasn't burned his option)? will clubs be granted an extra option year for players who were not rule 5 eligible in 2019 and who were part of the 60-man player pool because of the inability to effectively develop them in official minor league games?

[CheezWizHed]

I'm going to guess that most of those rules will work the same as before as they relate to being on the MLB active roster (be it 26, 28, or 30-man) or not. Where the "not" would apply if you are included with the other 30 of 60 or left off it.

 

Since everyone is in the same boat for Rule 5 players, I'd assume this year will count...developed or not. If they aren't developed, they are less likely to be taken in the draft anyway.

 

But, no references, just intuition and assumption.

[djoctagone]

insight on this twitter thread:

 

the only way to remove a healthy player lacking 40-man roster status from the 60-man player pool is to release him. in order to remove a healthy 40-man roster player from the 60-man player pool, the club must expose him to outright or release waivers and risk losing him.

 

if there is an instance where three or more players are placed on the special covid-19 injured list, clubs can add replacement players to their 60-man pool and add them to the active roster. when a club decides their services are no longer needed (i.e. the players placed on the special injured list are cleared to return), those replacement players do not have to be exposed to outright or release waivers in order to be removed from the 60-man player pool.

looks like the phillies were the first team to take advantage of the potential transaction exemptions by apparently putting four players on the special covid-19 injured list, and then adding others to their player pool. the media is referring to this as "an outbreak".

 

when a player is placed on the injured list, it's common for fans to know what the injury is. with the covid-19 injured list, we may not formally know because of privacy laws, but astute persons will be able to draw reasonable conclusions--especially after the fact (i.e. a replacement player isn't subjected to normal outright waivers when removed from the 40-man roster and returned to the player pool, and/or a player is activated from the injured list before the minimum 10 days has passed).

 

this may be an advantage for players not on the 40-man roster with major league experience when there is "an outbreak", because they can be added to the 40-man roster and then returned to the player pool without outright waivers once the "outbreak" player returns to the active roster.

 

again, a player doesn't have to test positive to be placed on the covid-19 list. if he has confirmed exposure to someone who tests positive, he can be placed on the covid-19 list.

 

will clubs be able to abuse this rule by placing two or three underperforming players with no symptoms who were playing alongside or against a player who tested positive, and then activate keon broxton, shelby miller and drew rasmussen--knowing full well that none of them would have to be exposed to waivers to return them to the player pool? (i am assuming that a player previously outrighted to the minor leagues would not be able to refuse any subsequent outright assignment and become a free agent.)

 

i expect grievances to be filed by players--especially those who happen to have played alongside or against a player who tests positive. what was the frequency and duration of contact? does that constitute placement on the covid-19 injured list?

 

this could get ugly . . . and give lots of power to clubs regarding roster flexibility.

[jerichoholicninja]

I thought you only need to have symptoms to be placed on the list too? If so, the list has gotten so long and contains so many things that even healthy people deal with everyday that it doesn't seem that hard to find a reason to put someone on the COVID DL. A player coughing or clearing his throat seems like it could be reason enough.

[djoctagone]

yes, symptoms are also cause to be placed on the covid-19 injured list.

 

i tried to dig up the thread concerned about prince fielder's consistent coughing . . .

[brewmann04]

this is going to be a mess IMO.