Two 2019 MLB Rules Changes of Note

7/5 RE-POST: I posted this about three months ago, but here it is again since we are within a month of the 2019 MLB trade deadline... 

4/9 ORIGINAL POST 


There were a couple of changes of note made to MLB Rules in 2019 (they were officially approved this week), one pertaining to Trade Assignment Waivers and the MLB Trade Deadline, and the other with regard to Outright Assignment Waiver claims. 

One change was reported (with much fanfare but without much detail) in the media, but the other one was not reported at all.

So here they both are (in somewhat greater detail).  

1. MLB TRADE DEADLINE: 

A trade involving a player signed to an MLB contract (any player on an MLB Reserve List including players on Optional Assignment to the minors, MLB 60-day Injured List, or MLB Restricted List, and/or any player who was outrighted to the minors after signing an MLB contract for that season) is prohibited beginning at 4 PM (Eastern) on July 31st (or 4 PM Eastern on Friday July 30th if July 31st falls on a Saturday, or 4 PM Eastern on Monday August 1st if July 31st falls on a Sunday) and extending until the day after the final game of the World Series.  
NOTE: Trade Assignment Waivers (which permitted the trading of players on MLB reserve lists after the July 31st deadline up until 12 PM Eastern on the 7th day prior to the originally-scheduled conclusion of the MLB regular season) have been eliminated starting with the 2019 season. 

HOWEVER: 

A trade involving a player on a minor league reserve list (excluding any player on a minor leaue reserve list who was outrighted to the minors after signing an MLB contract for that season and any player selected in the June First-Year Player Draft) are permitted after July 31 and extending up until 12 PM (Eastern) on the 7th day prior to the originally-scheduled conclusion of the MLB regular season, and then are prohibited for only about a week, through the last day of the MLB regular season (including a day in which a Game #163 and Game #164 tie-breaker game is played or a day in which a re-scheduled game is played after the originally-scheduled conclusion of the MLB regular season). However, a player on Optional Assignment to the minors - CAN - be a PTBNL in a trade made involving a player on a minor league reserve list after July 31 as long as the optioned player is not added to an MLB Active List anytime after the trade is consumated up until the PTBNL is named (which must happen within six months, but not before the conclusion of the World Series if the PTBNL is a player on an MLB 40-man roster who was on Optional Assignment when the trade was made).      

SO... 

So while trades involving MLB players (including players on Optional Assignment to the minors and minor league players who were outrighted to the minors sometime previously that year except as they might be a PTBNL) are prohibited after the July 31 deadline, most minor league players (that is, players on minor league reserve lists) can be traded up until a week prior to the scheduled conclusion of the MLB regular season (although only players acquired prior to midnight on August 31st would be post-season roster eligible).

That means that an MLB club that sustains an injury to a key player after July 31 can acquire a minor league player from another organizarion that might be able to help that club. Obviously you're not going to get a Justin Verlander or even a Daniel Murphy, but you might be able to get a useful minor league player (as the Cubs did when they acquired minor league OF Terrance Gore from KC last August) with some MLB experience that can maybe help the club at least get to the post-season.    

So it might be prudent for non-contendeing clubs to stock up on MLB-ready minor leaguers at AAA that can possibly be used in trades after July 31st. Or as Erasmus might say, "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." 

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2. OUTRIGHT ASSIGNMENT WAIVERS: 

Although there is no restriction on Outright Assignment Waiver claims after July 31 (only Trade Assignment Waivers were eliminated), there was a change made regarding Outright Assignment Waivers claims:

For a player who is claimed off Outright Assignment Waivers during the period of time beginning with the first day of Spring Training (the date pitchers & catchers report) through the final game of the MLB regular season, the player cannot be placed back onto Outright Assignment Waivers again for at least 48 hours or until he has spent at least one day on the claiming club's MLB Active List (whichever comes first), and for a player who is claimed off Outright Assignment Waivers during the off-season (the period of time beginning with the day after the conclusion of the MLB regular season up until the first day of Spring Training), the player cannot be placed back onto Outright Assignment Waivers again for at least seven days. 

Seven days isn't an eternity, but this new requirement should have at least some effect on the waiver claim carousel that goes on during the off-season, especially a waiver claim where the player is claimed and then placed back onto waivers again the next day. That can't happen anymore. A club has to wait at least seven days to place the player back on waivers. 

Also keep in mind that only Trade Assignment Waivers (and Optional Assignment Waivers before they were eliminated in 2017) gave waiver claim priority to clubs within the player's league (a player had to be essentially "waived out of his own league" before a club in the other league could win a Trade Waiver claim). But now that Outright Assignment Waivers and Outright Release Waivers are the only type of waivers left, - ALL - waiver claim priority will be based on a club's record regardless of league (and based on the previous season's standings throughout the off-season through the 30th day of the MLB regular season, and then based on the current standings as of the date the player's two-day waiver claiming period ends beginning on the 31st day of the MLB regular season through the final day of the MLB regular season).