This was discussed relatively recently, and it looks like they have fixed the "loophole." Players who are on the 40-man but have no options now cannot be removed from the 40-man without first clearing waivers.

i didn't think they could

i think the loophole is that they can be in the minors year in year out without options and without clearing waivers

so a 4 year pro with no major league experience and no options can stay in AAA through the season and into the next without having to clear waivers, and that is the major difference here

i could be wrong though, anyone else?

They couldn't.

I could've sworn I'd done it before, but perhaps I am just remembering incorrectly.

You are. It's the precursor to one of my complaints. I demote BL players w/multi-year deals who still have options to AAA and remove them from the 40. I do this because I can leave players on the 40 with no options forever.

I submitted my suggestion (again) for making players without options in the minors eligible for the Rule V and they said they'd take it into consideration (hopefully soon).

I didn't mention the part about first having to waive players before taking them off the 40, but that's a pretty logical step.

Found this by searching....so guys with no options can still be on the 40 in the minors forever?

Quote: Originally Posted By gman981981 on 1/21/2010Found this by searching....so guys with no options can still be on the 40 in the minors forever

Yup.

Infrequent, but effective way to clear someone without options from the 40-man roster: Play them until they get a minor injury (might even be for one day), and jam them onto the 60-day Disabled List.

Quote: Originally Posted By toddcommish on 1/21/2010
Infrequent, but effective way to clear someone without options from the 40-man roster: Play them until they get a minor injury (might even be for one day), and jam them onto the 60-day Disabled List.

Of course thats when the player you are hoping gets hurt with that 37 health rating never does and hits .224 while youre waiting...

Quote: Originally Posted By toddcommish on 1/21/2010Infrequent, but effective way to clear someone without options from the 40-man roster: Play them until they get a minor injury (might even be for one day), and jam them onto the 60-day Disabled List

You have a strange definition of "effective."