IBC

Nate is asking whether Trevor Richards should have a 16 designation or a 0 designation. Richards played Indy ball in 15 and organized ball in 16. Tullar created him in December of some year (not sure by his transaction page). Question: is the player's designation based on when he first plays as well as when he's drafted?

I don't believe that our rules speak to players who play in domestic indy leagues and have never been affiliated. I haven't searched for any precedent that wasn't captured in the rules, but unless a different precedent has been set, I would vote to consider the player added when he joins affiliated baseball.

Tullar created him in December 2017. I agree with Brett that the designation should be based on when he joins affiliated baseball. When you think about it, we follow similar guidance for draftees who don't sign after being first drafted.

For the record, I agree. Just wanted to get other thoughts. I think for a guy not drafted, it's when he first plays MLB affiliated ball. To me, similar to TJ Friedl. He was undrafted, but was part of the 16 draft class and first played in the Reds system in 2016. Slightly different in that he was actually drafted in IBC, but if he weren't, I would argue he's a 16 guy, too.

I don't think we can base it on "plays" because if a guy is hurt, he could be signed but not playing initially. Contractual ties seems more relevant.

Dodgers wrote:I don't think we can base it on "plays" because if a guy is hurt, he could be signed but not playing initially. Contractual ties seems more relevant.

That's a fair point. Unless there are opposing positions, I'll get back to Nate on his inquiry.