Just so you all have it one place, I have posted the FA draft schedule on our website — and also below — along with a little progress report:
1. We will close the FA list on Thursday, Mar 24 (two days after MLB and arbitration players exchange offers). All FA’s identified at that point will be on the list, with their MLB contracts if those are in place. FA’s unsigned at that time will be listed at the minimum wage, except unsigned FA’s listed on the MLBTraderumors top 50 will be listed at a term and a salary set at 50% of MLBTR’s prediction.
2. For arbitration-eligible players who happen to be EFL Free Agents (because we released them, for example, or they were DFA’d or traded in deals that brought no MLBers back), but haven’t signed, we use MLBTraderumors arbitration prediction figures to set the minimum opening bid.
3. We start Round 1 of an EFLBay draft on Sunday, March 27, and let it run its full length to completion on Saturday, April 2. (Spread out so Tom can participate meaningfully even if his internet is spotty.)
4. We start Round 2 of the EFLBay draft on Sunday, April 3, and end it on Wednesday, April 6. (To let Tom participate fully in one round of EFLBay)
5. We meet at 6:45 Thursday, April 7 to complete our FA draft.
6. Roster allocations due by noon on Saturday, April 9 (to minimize exposure to results before allocating).
PROGRESS REPORT:
I have entered FAs through at least part of Sunday, plus those created by trades since the lockdown ended, plus most of those created when their contracts for EFL teams expired last fall. I have updated salaries where I can find them.
The process has not been as smooth as usual. MLB wasn’t posting transactions during the lockdown, and took the transaction records off their site. When I started working on the DFA draft in February, I had to use other sources. Once MLB came back on line, I noticed a few differences between their data and the other sources. So I have been going back carefully looking for overlooked FAs. I may not have found them all — if you suspect I’ve missed some, PLEASE let me know.
I have also double checked my list of pitchers who became FA by being on our rosters last fall but aren’t now — generally, either because we DFA’d them or their EFL contracts expired. I found a few omissions. I still need to go back and double check the Competitive Balance Expansion Draft — those draftees MAY be FA, if they were FA in MLB. But I need to be sure I didn’t add someone to the list whose only “claim” to FA was being names in the CBED.
I still have to double check hitters who became FA’s by being on our rosters. So the hitters lists are not at quite the same state as the pitchers. Still, if you spot something questionable, let me know….
I will add the new FA’s created since Sunday through Thursday evening on Thursday evening or early on Friday. Look for an announcement then that you have the final FA list.
I will also bring the list of trades up to date, and double check that I didn’t miss anything going back to September. This is important both because some of them give some of us trade possibilities (I can trade Mike Minor for Amir Garrett, if I want to!) and because trades are one way MLB creates FA for us (when a player is traded away with no MLB players coming back).
I will also generate a list of possible waiver wire claims — people we have DFA’d since September whose contracts run through at least 2022. .Remember: we do waiver wire claims in the face-to-face portion of the draft, by announcing the claim at the waived contract terms, and giving everyone with an earlier draft pick (going in draft pick order) a chance to claim the player on the same terms.
