So I clinched a playoff berth and there's a guy in my minor league system that I'd like to have on my playoff roster-- however, it won't let me put him on the roster unless he's on my ML roster. That's all well and good, but I am planning to delay this guy's arb clock next season and to do that, I need him to start next season in the minor leagues.

I have no problem bringing him up and starting his option clock because I have no plans to send him down once he's up for good next season. My problem is whether he will take a demotion hit if/when I send him down after the playoffs. He's got 63 patience and 47 makeup so a penalty is a distinct possibility. So my question is this: if a bring a guy up just to put him on the playoff roster, is there a time before the beginning of next season when I can send him back down to AAA without him getting a demotion penalty? And if so, is there a specific time I should call him up? (i.e. after my first playoff series, after my last regular season game, etc) to make this happen?

Thanks in advance for any responses. I know guys won't take demotion penalties if they're just brought up to replace an injured player so I'm hoping there's an exception here as well...

If you want him for the playoffs, call him up whenever you want. I would NOT chance sending him back to AAA this year. Wait til after rollover and move him back to the minors. As long as you demote him before the Rule 5 draft, he should not take a hit.

If you call him up after roster expansion, you can demote him once you're out of the playoffs. Tough luck if you win the WS because you will not be given the opportunity.

Quote: Originally Posted By MikeT23 on 1/26/2010
Tough luck if you win the WS because you will not be given the opportunity.

Winning a World Series. Yeah, I imagine that would really suck.

Have the same question - but I have been eliminated from playoff consideration - so if I have a callup after roster expansion, then I can send the guy back to AAA after I have been eliminated without a penalty or do I need to wait until the rollover?

Another question about demotion penalties. If I trade for a guy that was on the other teams ML roster but I assign him to AAA, will he incur a demotion penalty?

Send him down. It's fine.

I've done it. No penalty. But I'm not sure that you won't get one. Common sense says it's not a demotion but an assignment.

If he's on the 40 man roster before the big league roster expansion, he's eligible to play in the playoffs. Make sure he's on the 40...

He doesn't need to play in the regular season, so you can wait until the playoffs to bring him up. Playoffs don' count toward service time, so you can still bring him up early next season without incurring additional delays.

You can send him down once you are elminated, or before spring training next season without penalty

Thanks for the advice! Just brought the guy up in time for my first playoff game this afternoon. Hopefully it ends up being a good decision.

Quote: Originally Posted By ct_duck on 1/27/2010<snip>

Another question about demotion penalties. If I trade for a guy that was on the other teams ML roster but I assign him to AAA, will he incur a demotion penalty

You can never say for certain whether a player will or will not actually incur the penalty, but if you assign him to a level lower than the one he is currently at for another team, you do run the risk of one.

I learned this the hard way a while back and now it pains me every time I see someone rush a prospect I would like to deal for through the minor league levels because it curtails his value to me.

Quote: Originally Posted By tecwrg on 1/26/2010

Quote: Originally Posted By MikeT23 on 1/26/2010

Tough luck if you win the WS because you will not be given the opportunity.

Winning a World Series. Yeah, I imagine that would really suck

Not really. It was pretty much fun.