The team can trade the player to another club unless the trade deadline has passed and the new offseason has not yet started. The team can also place the player on outright waivers or clear waivers. This limbo period can last up to seven days. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the team has up to five days to work out a transaction.
Or at least that’s the case most of the year. Things are different around the holidays, with several times in recent years players have found themselves in DFA limbo for more than two weeks. Catcher, for example Sam Huff was designated for assignment by the Rangers on December 23, 2024. He remained in DFA limbo until he was claimed off waivers by the Giants on January 8, 2025, 16 days later.
No official announcement has ever been made as to what the rules are, but it is clear that there is some sort of freeze on the DFA clock around the holidays in late December and early January.
In this morning’s edition of The Opener, MLBTR named two players assigned for assignment on December 17 and expected those situations to be resolved today. There have been no updates since this post was published. It is possible that the situations have been resolved but not yet publicly reported due to media/communications people taking time off for the holidays. It’s also possible that these players’ DFA clocks are frozen and remain in limbo until January.
Below is a list of players designated for assignment without resolution in the past week, presented chronologically.
December 17
December 19
December 20
December 22
December 23
Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images
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