John Smoltz Refuses Minors Option

by Eli Greenspan on Aug 12, 2009 6:12 PM EDT Comment 1 comment

ESPN's Peter Gammons is reporting that a source told him John Smoltz has refused an option to the minor leagues. That leaves the Red Sox with two options-trade him or release him. Gammon's colleague at ESPN, Buster Olney has reported in recent days that several teams have interest in Smoltz. However, it's hard to imagine that any team wanting to claim him wouldn't also expect financial consideration from Boston. If he is cut, any team that signs him would only have to pay the prorated league minimum and Boston would have to pick up the $5 million+ remaining on his contract.

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Minor quibble...

…but he didn’t refuse an “option” to the minors, he refused an outright assignment.

The difference being that any player who is DFA’ed, regardless of their MLB service time, is placed on waivers and must clear them before either being released or sent to the minors. Because they must pass through waivers after being removed from the 40-man roster, it’s an outright assignment.

(If they are sent to the minors this way, they obviously remain with the organization, but their contract is assigned to whatever minor league affiliate that they are assigned to. If the organization wishes to bring them back to the 25-man roster, they must purchase that players’ contract from that minor league affiliate in order to add them to the 40-man roster.)

Conversely, an optional assignment is for players on their teams’ 40-man roster who are sent to a minor league team without first having to pass through waivers. Each MLB player has 3 options(or option years, to make it more clear) during their MLB career.

by jimolson3 on Aug 14, 2009 3:03 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs