Roster size at the end of spring training

[goalieump413]

During spring training, when my roster is near or at the 40 man limit to get in the minors some playing time, I have to move them back to the minors prior to opening day (obviously). The question is: How do I move guys on my 40 man back to the minors who are out of options? When does the option year trigger?

I ask because I want to know if putting a player (or keeping a player) on the 40 man results in him using one of his option years just because he's playing in spring training games. I had to trade one of my utility outfielders on my 40 man away due to being out of options. Now it may have been a timing issue, meaning when would his option year expire. I don't recall reading when that occurs.

[Le Grande Orange]

If he has no options remaining then the only way you can assign him to the minors is by removing him from the 40-man roster and waiving him. Another club may or may not claim the player (if no club puts in a claim, then the player will be assigned to your minor league team).

[RchW]

This is why you keep the guy who hit 0.125 in ST over the phenom who hit 0.389 but is not really ready.

[goalieump413]

Thanks, and I understand the roster rules as it applies during the season, but is there a difference, moving guys around during the offseason or spring training?

I may be misunderstanding how the game works, but I thought you only had to have your 25 man and 40 man rosters set before the regular season began (1st game). Before opening day, I thought you could move guys around without affecting their option year usage. Could be wrong, so is there something in the manual about this?

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by goalieump413

Before opening day, I thought you could move guys around without affecting their option year usage.

Options are based on time spent in the minors during the regular season. You should be able to option a player to the minors during spring training and then recall him before the regular season starts and, as long as he stays on the active roster for the regular season, an option should not be used.

[olivertheorem]

I could be wrong, but I think OOTP charges the option year even if you send a guy down during spring training and then call him back up.

[SunDevil]

Originally Posted by olivertheorem

I could be wrong, but I think OOTP charges the option year even if you send a guy down during spring training and then call him back up.

I noticed this as well. Can some of the experts weigh in on this? To me this makes no sense whatsoever. Why would an option be used during spring training, when the game automatically takes players out of AAA and moves them onto the major league roster when spring training starts?

I have also noticed good young players having to go on the waiver wire because they have been called up for a spring training for a few years, run out of options and have to be waived and are easily picked up. I think that this prevents the AI for a subset of talent that they draft from grooming players long term when they run out of option years so quickly just because the computer automatically tries to populate the 40 man roster for Spring Training from the players in AAA.

And I found this link:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/print.jsp?ym...ey=affililiate

A player does not get options until he is placed on his team's 40-man roster. That's why when a non-roster invitee to Spring Training gets sent to the Minor League side, he's "reassigned" and not optioned.

Once a player is put on the 40-man roster, the option countdown begins. A player is assigned three options as a rostered player. Each year, when a player who is on the roster gets sent to the Minor Leagues for a stint of more than 20 days, it counts as an option.

For instance, when the Nationals optioned No. 1 overall Draft pick Bryce Harper, who is on the 40-man roster because of the Major League contract he signed on the Draft signing deadline last August, that counted as his first option. More on Harper in a bit.

A player can go up and down several times in one season, but it would only count as one option for the year. In other words, a player can ride the proverbial shuttle up and down numerous times over the course of one season and it will still only count as one option.

If a player hits the magic number and the third option is up, that's when the term "out of options" comes up. Once the three options are used up, the Major League team cannot send the player down without trying to put him through waivers. That, in turn, exposes the player to the other 29 teams, who are all given an opportunity to claim him.

So the game is working correctly, just another area of player management that I did not fully understand until seeing a prized prospect started having his options years count down and I incorrectly blamed Spring Training roster management.

[Le Grande Orange]

A small correction to that article: it's not more than 20 days to count as an option, it's 19. The confusion is probably due to the way the rule is written, which says 20 days or more will count as an option. So 19 days or less in the minors and no option is charged; 20 days or more and one is charged. Some players are eligible for a fourth option year. Also, even with options remaining a player may have to clear waivers to be sent down, depending on how long it's been since the player was first brought to the 25-man roster. These waivers are revokable, however, so the club won't lose the player if a claim is put in. (OOTP doesn't model these various aspects of the real rules so you don't have to worry about them.)

I think there's a real-life rule which says a player optioned to the minors during spring training cannot be recalled until 10 days into the regular season (with the usual exception if the recall is to replace an injured player, presumably).

[SurfRat61]

I, too, had several questions about how OOTP handles Spring Training and, unless I am missing something, found that you do not have the "reassign" option that SunDevil mentioned in a previous post. Although the manual states you can move a player who is on your 40 man roster to Spring Training and off without counting towards major league service, it states nothing about his option clock starting. A little thought to this told me of course it wouldn't count towards major league service, it's spring training!!
I had a couple of young minor league prospects that I wanted a look-see at without putting them on the 40 man, but since the game won't allow invitees, I just left them down in the minors.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by SurfRat61

Although the manual states you can move a player who is on your 40 man roster to Spring Training and off without counting towards major league service, it states nothing about his option clock starting.

If you remove him from the 40-man you'd have to expose him to waivers in any case.

[SurfRat61]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

If you remove him from the 40-man you'd have to expose him to waivers in any case.

That's correct. The only thing I was doing was concurring with what SunDevil said in that in the MLB, a team can invite a player to camp who is NOT on the 40 man roster and doesn't have to be on the 40 man roster to play Spring ball. No different than free agents trying out in the NFL.
The game requires the player to be placed on the 40 man to participate in Spring training which is not really a big deal except you really need to manage your young prospects carefully as far as options are concerned.