Atlanta Braves: rules of engagement as the trade deadline approaches

There’s a signal we might see the Atlanta Braves exercise as the deadline approaches.

This year’s trade deadline is a bit unusual for a lot of reasons, and given that we should expect the Atlanta Braves to make some kind of deal(s), it’s right and proper to take a quick look at the 2020 chances and things we might see happening as part of the process.

The first thing is this:  there is one singular deadline this year. That moment in time is 4 pm EDT on Monday, August 31.

In time’s past, that deadline would mark the end of the non-waiver period for trades and usher in an additional month in which trades could still be executed subject to possible waiver claims. That will not be happening in 2020.

The next deadline is a little odd — even considering this season’s quirks.  It’s the playoff-eligibility deadline.

Normally, this roughly coincides with the end of the waiver-trading period after the last second of the month of August. This year, though, it’s midnight (11:59pm EDT, technically) on Tuesday, September 15.

The reason this makes little sense is that between the dates of August 31 and September 15, teams can’t make waiver trades, so the only way they can change their roster in that 15 day period would be to sign a free agent.

The likelihood of that isn’t very high, excepting either an emergency situation (i.e., COVID-19 suddenly crops up in some team’s clubhouse) or somebody finally realizing that they desperately need Yasiel Puig.

MLB would note that to be playoff eligible, a player must be on the active roster (the 28-man list) prior to September 16th, but there’s also traditionally been a clause that players may be replaced for injury purposes and still eligible so long as they are in the organization by that date.

There’s no indication that this provision has been rescinded, so there’s at least one possible loophole for teams needing to add an additional warm body at the last minute.

The Signal

There’s another quirk in the trade rules for this Summer. Here’s the direct quote from an MLB.com article on the subject:

"Only the 60 players in a team’s Player Pool will be eligible to be traded, limiting the number of Minor League players who will be moved this summer."

Okay, this is the thing to watch for:  normally, we’ve seen a lot of deadline deals involving minor league prospects exchanged for established major league players. That could still happen, but those prospects still need to be on the list of 60 players eligible to be moved to the active roster.

However, this 60-man list is fluid: teams can freely add and subject players from this list at will, so long as the total number remains at 60 or below.

So in truth, anyone in the organization can still be traded, but it might be that some movement in the 60-man list is the signal that a deal is about to be made.

The trick will be whether we fans are privy to such information before a trade trigger is actually pulled.  While the league office has to be notified of all changes to rosters, such changes could be  done coincident with a trade… as in something like this:

• “Player X has been added to the 60-man roster;
• Also: Players A, B, and X has been traded to ______ in exchange for _______.”

There’s another subtlety here, too:  we could see a couple of players removed from the 60-man pool in advance of the trade deadline.  That would allow for a quick addition of tradeable players to that list since the no-more-than-60-at-a-time rule has to be maintained.

Regardless – if you’re looking for a signal that the Atlanta Braves are about to ‘do something’, look first for manipulation of the non-active 60-man roster.

A 2nd Loophole

There’s another possible way for teams to go here: that’s the Player To Be Named Later route.  There’s already a precedent for this.

"On August 5th, the Rangers traded pitcher Ariel Jurado to the Mets for “cash considerations and [a] player to be named later”."

In other words, the rules involving PTBNL seem to be in effect. These would include the stipulation that the transaction’s completion could be delayed for up to six months (or could be converted to a cash transaction).

It’s plausible, then, that the Mets and Rangers might be mulling over an exchange involving a choice of one or more non-60-man list minor leaguers, and the Rangers wanted some time before making a decision… particularly given that none of them are playing right now.

By the time that six-month transaction window expires – next February – the rules might very well revert to the ‘regular’ way of doing business and the transaction might be a bit easier to complete (though they could still exploit the 60-man list as noted above).

Regardless, the PTBNL clause could be another means of slipping non-60 list players into a trade deal.

As of this morning, only one National League club is 5+ games out of the Wild Card race (the Pirates).  In the AL, there are five such teams.  That’s potentially 24 buyers and just a half-dozen sellers — so far — which would make for some crazy dealing in the next 11 days.

But now you know about the Rule of Engagement.