The Designated For Assignment List

I realized, while running the sim, that some of the new owners may not understand how the Designated For Assignment list works in our league and how I use it when I run the sims.  Therefore, I'm going to outline the main points about the DFA list and what happens when, during a sim, a player's time on the DFA list runs out.

Players end up on the Designated For Assignment list in one of three ways:

1.  You place the player there to free up a spot on your 40 man roster.
2.  You sign a free agent with a major league contract.
3.  You acquire a player with a major league contract in a trade.

The waiver and DFA time for our league is 18 days.  Because our sims are 15-16 days each, this guarantees that no player will end up on the list and have his time expire on it during the same sim. 

Once a player's time on the list is up, he has to be assigned to a roster or released.  If he is a player that was recently signed to a major league contract, he must be added to your 40 man roster.  Therefore, it is imperative that if you sign/trade for a player to a major league contract, you MUST open a spot for him on the 40 man roster.  If not, once I run the sim, I'm going to be in a position where I cannot proceed without resolving the situation.

When I come across a situation during the season when a player is on the DFA list and runs out of time, I resolve it in the following manner:

1.  I check to see how the player ended up on the DFA list.  Was he put there to take him off the 40 man roster, or was he acquired by the team?

2.  If he was put there by the owner, I attempt to assign him to AAA.  If he refuses demotion, I release him.

3.  If he was signed/traded for, I first add him to the 40 man roster.  Then, if there is a spot on the major league roster and it seems likely that the owner wanted the player on the major league roster, I attempt to put him there.  If not, I attempt to put him in AAA. 

3a.  If there is no room on the 40 man roster, (or if there is no room on the 25 man roster and he refuses demotion to AAA), I look at the player and his contract.  If he isn't what I would deem to be a key player or a player with a large contract (where the owner will lose lots of money by his release) then I release him.  If he is a key player or the owner will lose a huge amount of money with his release, then I may hold the sim until I confirm with the owner what to do.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.

Zev