*Designated For Assignment FAQ*
 

[Updated for patch 6.11]

- What is Designated For Assignment? What's good about it?

"Designated For Assignment" (DFA) is a new feature introduced in OOTP 6.10. It has two major benefits:

(1) It allows managers to make roster changes immediately while waiting to secure waivers. Previously, a manager would have to wait for a player to clear waivers before removing him from a roster.

(2) It ensures that acquired players (via waivers, trade or free agency) do not end up in the minors when they would normally not accept such an assignment. Previously, all acquired players were placed on the AAA roster, even if they had no options remaining or would have rejected a minor league assignment.

- How does a player get into the DFA area?

Mostly in one of three ways:

(1) If you attempt to demote (move from majors to minors) a player who has no option years remaining and has not previously cleared waivers, he will be placed in DFA (and on irrevocable waivers).

(2) If you attempt to remove a player from the 40-man roster who has not previously cleared waivers, he will be placed in DFA (and on revocable waivers).

(3) All newly acquired players with major league contracts are placed in DFA. (Acquired players with minor league contracts are now placed on the AAA roster directly.)

- Once a player is in DFA, what can I do with him?

(1) You can assign him to your major league roster (active roster).
--- You must put the player on the 40-man roster before you assign him to the majors.

(2) You can assign him to a minor league roster.
--- Players with five or more years of MLB service can refuse assignment to the minors.
--- If the player is on a major league contract, he must be placed on the 40-man roster before being assigned to the minors.
--- If the player has no option years remaining, he must clear irrevocable waivers before being assigned to the minors.

(3) You can attempt to negotiate a trade involving the player.

(4) You can release the player.

You have a limited time (default: 10 days) to decide what to do with any given player in DFA. If the time period runs out, the game will not let you continue without assigning the player.

- Are there any problems or issues related to DFA?

A few. [Some of these get a bit complicated, so if you don't follow them, don't worry about it.]


(Credit: O-Man)
You can get revocable waivers for a player you are attempting to demote from the majors, by removing his irrevocable waivers (dragging from waivers to white box), putting him back on the 40-man (from DFA to 40-man) and removing him from the 40-man (from 40-man to white box). You can even continue to play him in the majors while you wait for waivers (drag from DFA to 40-man, then from DFA to majors). (Possible solutions: Make all waivers (other than those for post-deadline trades) irrevocable.)

You cannot use revocable waivers to remove a player from the 40-man roster unless he is also DFAed. (Possible solutions: Make all waivers (other than those for post-deadline trades) irrevocable; or when a player is dragged from the 40-man to the white box, bring up a dialog that say "This transaction requires the player clear waivers. Do you also wish to 'designate for assignment', removing the player from the 40-man roster immediately?" Yes would remove the player from the 40-man, move him from his current roster to the DFA box and place him on revocable waivers. No would only place him on revocable waivers.)

(Credit: Zweiblumen)
You can remove a player from the 40-man roster who has option years remaining and is on a minor league contract without having him clear waivers, by dragging him from the 40-man to the white box (removing him from the 40-man and his minor league roster), dragging him from DFA to his minor league roster, and dragging him from waivers to the white box (removing the waivers). [Or you can drag him from his minor league roster to DFA (removing him from the 40-man), then from DFA back to his minor league roster.] (Possible solutions: Probably none. The only possible fix is to not allow players being removed from the 40-man to be DFAed at all, but I'd say that's worse than the original problem.)

When you sign/acquire a player with a major league contract, you must put him on the 40-man roster. However, if you want to assign him to a minor league roster, he probably has to clear waivers and once he does, you can also remove him from the 40-man. (Possible solutions: Probably none. It doesn't apply to acquisitions that have option years left, plus the player can refuse assignment off the 40-man, so it's not a foolproof loophole either.)

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Though you now cannot use DFA as a "10-day DL", you can still use it to illegally expand your roster. For example, you could put your all starting pitchers on DFA, rotating them to the active roster when needed. (Possible solutions: Do not allow players to be dragged directly to the DFA box. Instead, bring up a dialog that says "Invalid transaction. Please attempt to make the actual transaction you desire. (from majors to minors, from 40-man to white box, etc.)" This would not completely remove this loophole, but you would have to be looking to circumvent the rules to do it.)

(Credit: jbmagic)
If you drag a player directly to the DFA box, you can get "stuck" with no other option than immediate release if you let the 10-day clock run out without putting the player on waivers. (Possible solutions: Do not allow players to be dragged directly to the DFA box.)

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(Credit: dburden and Sandman)
You can send a player with a major league contract to the minors without waivers (even if he would refuse the assignment) if you put him on the 40-man and then click Auto-Manage Minors. (Possible solutions: Correct the Auto-Manage Minors routine to conform to the new transaction rules.)

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(Credit: ctorg)
If a player who is out of options goes onto waivers that two (or more) teams want but do not want to put in the majors, he could get stuck in various teams' DFA lists while each team, in turn, puts the guy on waivers, sees him claimed by another team but put on waivers, claims him on waivers, puts him on waivers, and so on. (Possible solutions: If a player is claimed by a team with a worse record than his original team, also record him as having cleared waivers.)

(Credit: nestajones)
If the AI wants to remove a player from the 40-man but does not want to lose him, they'll keep waiving the same player, revoking the waivers after a claim, then waiving the player again the next day, until his "DFA clock" runs out and the AI releases him. (Possible solutions: Make all waivers (other than those for post-deadline trades) irrevocable and/or implement the MLB rule that players whose waivers are revoked must go on irrevocable waivers the second time they are waived by the same team.)


Questions, comments and criticisms are welcomed.