Jose Bautista Not Eligible For Free Agent Pickup This Week

[Greg Ambrosius]

Just a heads up that Jose Bautista will not be eligible for pickup this week in free agency if he wasn't already drafted and cut in your NFBC league. Bautista is wrapped up in our unique Free Agent rules that won't allow him to be eligible for pickup until he reaches the major leagues. This is something we will address for 2019.

Here's the rules:

Free Agents
Free agent pickups during the season will include players who are on major-league rosters at the time or players who were selected on Draft Day and later dropped. Even players who were originally selected on Draft Day, cut and then sent to the minors are eligible during the regular season FAAB bidding period as once they are a part of that league they continue to be part of the free agent listing. If the players were good enough to be selected on Draft Day, they are then good enough to remain in that league's free agent pool.

Any player who is not on a team roster within your league and is on a major league roster or once was on an NFBC team in your league is considered a free agent for that league. Even players on the MLB disabled list are eligible to be picked up during the FAAB bidding process. The player pool is deemed closed of new free agents each Sunday at 7 AM ET before the FAAB bidding deadline and a player must have played at least 1 MLB game to be added to the pool at that time. Once a minor-leaguer plays his first game in the majors, he remains in every NFBC FAAB pool whether he returns to the minors or not. Once in the majors, he remains in all FAAB pools. Participants should also note that MLB unsigned veteran free agents at the time of Draft Day are eligible to be picked up or bid on in all NFBC leagues.

So this line is the bugaboo: "Participants should also note that MLB unsigned veteran free agents at the time of Draft Day are eligible to be picked up or bid on in all NFBC leagues."


We have allowed unsigned free agents to be in the free agent pool through the years because rarely are well-known players still unsigned into the season. But this is not a normal year. Guys like Jose Bautista and Melky Cabrera were unsigned as we headed into the fourth week of the season, along with other former MLB players.

Once they are signed -- like Bautista was on Tuesday -- then they must be on a major-league roster to stay in the free agent pool. Bautista was later sent to the minors by the Braves and now must be manually removed from the pool. We did not program for in-season removals like this and we still have to do this manually with Bautista. Plan accordingly as all bids will be removed once Bautista is removed this weekend before FAAB runs on Sunday night.

This is a rule that likely needs to be adjusted. Either we keep a player like Bautista in the pool, or more easily we just remove all unsigned free agents from the Free Agent pool after Opening Day. That seems to be the more logical move. They are then allowed to be picked up after they reach the majors, just like any other minor-leaguer.

Both players were drafted in more than half of all NFBC leagues, so it's possible they aren't even available in many FAAB leagues. But if they are then please plan accordingly. We didn't remove Bautista right away, but will this weekend. Thanks and we'll adjust this rule in 2019.

[Edwards Kings]

Greg, would you call the Braves and tell them he cannot play third either?

[Gb2715]

Huh? This completely contradicts the written rule?

[Philippe27]

Yeah I don't understand the rule the same way either. It's not clear but it doesn't say anywhere that they need to be removed.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Jose Bautista was signed by Atlanta and is in the minor leagues. He's not part of the Braves' 25-man roster, which is the qualification to be in the FAAB pool if he wasn't originally drafted in an NFBC league. He's no different right now than Victor Robles or any other minor-leaguer. Once he is called up to the majors he becomes available in free agency.

I'll take the blame for a written rule that is confusing and not ideal for today's game, where more and more veterans will remain unsigned into the regular season. The easy solution is to not allow them to be picked up after Opening Day until they reach the majors. That will be done in 2019.

[DOUGHBOYS]

Will players like Jake Peavy, Huston Street, Melky Cabrera, and Rickie Weeks be removed from availability on free agent lists?

[Greg Ambrosius]

Will players like Jake Peavy, Huston Street, Melky Cabrera, and Rickie Weeks be removed from availability on free agent lists?

They are in the same boat as Bautista. They are available now because they are unsigned free agents, per our rules. Once they sign they will remain in the pool if they are called up to the majors right away. But if they go to the minors, they are no different than any other player in the minors who aren't on the MLB 25-man roster.

Again, we've never seen so many veteran unsigned free agents this late in the year who "could" get signed during the regular season. But it's a programming nightmare to have them available in free agency now, remove them once they sign and then put them back in when they reach the majors. I think either they should be in the pool after Opening Day completely or not at all. I don't remember ever having this happen before, but I could be wrong. We'll get it right for next year because I have a feeling these "older" veterans may be begging for jobs more often going forward.

[Philippe27]

I think you're complicating things. The rule says that unsigned free agents at the time of the draft are available in all leagues.

Yes the rule slso says that Free agent pickups during the season will include players who are on major-league rosters at the time. However the keyword there is includes. It doesn't specify that anyone else is excluded.

By making Bautista available this week you wouldnt be breaking any rules.

By removing him this week you're contradicting the rule that says unsigned free agents at the time of the draft are available in all leagues.

[Money]

I show him still available to be picked up in all of my leagues. In reality he is only available if drafted into the league and dropped during a previous faab period? It is up to us to go back and determine if he was drafted into the league? I'm a bit slow so I still need a little clarification. Thanks.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Melky Cabrera will be handled the same way this week. He was signed to a minor-league contract by the Cleveland Indians and is no longer an unsigned free agent. He is a minor-leaguer who will be added to free agent pools once he reaches the majors. If he wasn't drafted in your league originally, then he joins the FAAB pool at the time of his major league callup.

Again, this is a rule we will adjust to make it clearer in the future. We understand there are different interpretations of this rule. Good luck all.