Player granted free agency after coming off IL

rink23 · 11-13-2023, 03:51 AM

Playing the 2030 season of the St. Louis Cardinals, in the offseason I signed a highly-regarded shortstop from Taiwan Jiu-Ling Chua.
For some reason, he agreed to a minor-league contract which escalated to the majors if he made the big club.
Well, he had a great spring and made the team heading north.
Unfortunately, he suffered an ankle injury in the season opener which put him on the IL for four weeks.
When it came for him to come available again on May 4, I was going to send him to AAA for a short rehab, the game released him from the contract.
I know how to do a work around -- right now he is refusing to re-sign with me -- in that I will force a trade for him for a no-nothing minor leaguer once he signs.
But I want to know why this happened in the first place.

Dutch Alexander · 11-13-2023, 07:21 AM

Was he released on exactly day 30 of the season? If so, he opted out which he can do if not promoted by then. Now since he was on the roster for opening day this shouldn't happen. But it could be that the game doesn't recognize him being on the MLB roster until day 1 is complete. If you put him on the DL before the end of day 1 he may never have officially been on the MLB roster as far as the game is concerned.

Just a wild guess. I do notice that for players on a Minor League deal with Majors option who are on the opening day roster their salary is not part of the total player expenses until day 1 is completed. So perhaps one full day needs to be completed before it becomes official in the game.

Bos8 · 11-13-2023, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutch Alexander

Was he released on exactly day 30 of the season? If so, he opted out which he can do if not promoted by then. Now since he was on the roster for opening day this shouldn't happen. But it could be that the game doesn't recognize him being on the MLB roster until day 1 is complete. If you put him on the DL before the end of day 1 he may never have officially been on the MLB roster as far as the game is concerned.

Just a wild guess. I do notice that for players on a Minor League deal with Majors option who are on the opening day roster their salary is not part of the total player expenses until day 1 is completed. So perhaps one full day needs to be completed before it becomes official in the game.

I had a situation where I signed an international free agent at the start of free agency to a minor league deal with the 30 day opt out. He got hurt and spring training and spent a few weeks on the DL. I then sent him to AAA to rehab. At the 30 day mark, he opted for free agency. I could have sworn I had him on the 40 man, but I may be wrong. I was surprised to see him gone when I went to activate him.

rink23 · 11-13-2023, 03:14 PM

I am pretty sure I placed the player on the IL before it advanced to the next day.
So it must not have recognized him as part of the Opening Day roster.
He re-signed with me to a minor league deal and I will go into the edit function to put his contract back to what it should be so all he really missed was one day of rehab at AAA.

11-13-2023, 03:51 AM	#1
rink23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 24,582	Player granted free agency after coming off IL Playing the 2030 season of the St. Louis Cardinals, in the offseason I signed a highly-regarded shortstop from Taiwan Jiu-Ling Chua. For some reason, he agreed to a minor-league contract which escalated to the majors if he made the big club. Well, he had a great spring and made the team heading north. Unfortunately, he suffered an ankle injury in the season opener which put him on the IL for four weeks. When it came for him to come available again on May 4, I was going to send him to AAA for a short rehab, the game released him from the contract. I know how to do a work around -- right now he is refusing to re-sign with me -- in that I will force a trade for him for a no-nothing minor leaguer once he signs. But I want to know why this happened in the first place. Attached Images

11-13-2023, 07:21 AM	#2
Dutch Alexander All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Amsterdam Posts: 729	Was he released on exactly day 30 of the season? If so, he opted out which he can do if not promoted by then. Now since he was on the roster for opening day this shouldn't happen. But it could be that the game doesn't recognize him being on the MLB roster until day 1 is complete. If you put him on the DL before the end of day 1 he may never have officially been on the MLB roster as far as the game is concerned. Just a wild guess. I do notice that for players on a Minor League deal with Majors option who are on the opening day roster their salary is not part of the total player expenses until day 1 is completed. So perhaps one full day needs to be completed before it becomes official in the game. Last edited by Dutch Alexander; 11-13-2023 at 07:22 AM.

11-13-2023, 03:14 PM	#4
rink23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 24,582	I am pretty sure I placed the player on the IL before it advanced to the next day. So it must not have recognized him as part of the Opening Day roster. He re-signed with me to a minor league deal and I will go into the edit function to put his contract back to what it should be so all he really missed was one day of rehab at AAA.