Designate for Assignment

[Guanyuzhizi]

Another question, what function does "Designate for Assignment" have? What does it do?

[jarmenia]

You can put a player there while waiting for them to clear wavers thus freeing up a roster spot.

[1998 Yankees]

From the manual:

19.8. Designated for Assignment (DFA)

Designated for assignment is a classification within baseball with two purposes.

1. It allows managers to make roster changes immediately while waiting for a player to clear 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 (whether by 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 Triple A roster, even if they had no options remaining or would have rejected a minor league assignment.

DFA is actually pretty simple—it’s a sort of “limbo” where a player goes when he’s taken off the secondary roster. When you take a player off the secondary roster, he has to go through waivers. But when you’re taking him off the secondary roster, it’s usually because you need that spot for another player. You wouldn’t want to wait for a number of days (the waiver period) before clearing him from your roster. Luckily, when the player is designated for assignment, he doesn’t count toward any roster limits, such as the active or secondary roster limits. So as soon as your first player is DFA, you are free to add your new player to the secondary or active roster.

Essentially, the DFA rule allows a club to open up a roster spot while it figures out what it’s going to do with a player. As we’ll see below, there are certain situations in which a team needs a player’s permission to either trade him or send him to the minors. So rather than forcing the player to make a quick decision, the team can designate him for assignment while he decides.

More commonly, a player is designated for assignment so the club can open up his roster spot while it is waiting for him to clear waivers. Occasionally, a club will designate a player for assignment while it is trying to trade him.

[Guanyuzhizi]

Thanks. =)
I think I understand now.