Reyes, Donnelly coming up; Ginter to DL, Mastny optioned to Buffalo

Reyes is slated to start on Friday. Donnelly hasn't pitched in the majors since last June, and he had Tommy John surgery a year ago.

2 months ago millionairesrow Comment 57 comments 0 recs |

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note Reyes starting Friday;

by palcal on Aug 6, 2008 5:03 PM EDT 0 recs

Let’s Go New Tribe!

by ASP on Aug 6, 2008 5:05 PM EDT 0 recs

What version are they on? 2.17? 2.2?

by odradek on Aug 7, 2008 12:19 AM EDT up 0 recs

Tribe Vista Edition

by Toxicadam on Aug 7, 2008 9:01 AM EDT up 0 recs

Hopefully Donnelly is Howry 2.0.

by Ryan on Aug 6, 2008 5:06 PM EDT 0 recs

I’m a little confused about Donnelly’s contract status. So we signed him as a minor league FA on a one-year deal, and supposedly if he wasn’t rostered by today he could terminate the contract and sign with somebody else. Ok, got that—but do we control his rights for next year? Cot’s says he has 4.158 years of service time, which I think makes him a reserve player. But does that whole calculus go out the window once somebody’s been non-tendered (which he was, by Boston last year) and signed to a minor league deal? That is, does he then become a non-reserve player? Anybody?

by mrich on Aug 6, 2008 5:47 PM EDT up 0 recs

Castro sez: “While the Indians have no contractual claim to the 37-year-old Donnelly beyond this season, they want to get a look at him to know if he is worth pursuing for 2009.” I’m not sure if that answers my question though.

by mrich on Aug 6, 2008 5:50 PM EDT up 0 recs

That would be a very non-standard clause in a major league contract. Essentially, forbidding the club from tendering the player a contract at the end of the year.

There is nothing about being non-tendered, released, outrighted, etc. that affects a player’s reserve or arbitrations status, and it’s extremely rare for a contract to work around those things, which are so fundamental to the CBA.

by Jay on Aug 6, 2008 6:53 PM EDT up 0 recs

Actually I think the basic agreement says once a player is non-tendered, he is no longer a reserve player:

ARTICLE XX—Reserve System
A. Reservation Rights Of Clubs
Subject to the rights of Players as set forth in this Agreement, each
Club may have title to and reserve up to 40 Player contracts. A Club
shall retain title to a contract and reservation rights until one of the following
occurs:
(1) The Player becomes a free agent, as set forth in this Agreement;
(2) The Player becomes a free agent as a result of
(a) termination of the contract by the Club pursuant to paragraph
7(b) thereof,
(b) termination of the contract by the Player pursuant to paragraph
7(a) thereof,
(c) failure by the Office of the Commissioner to convey to the
Player, by Central Tender Letter submitted to the Association, the
Club’s tender of a new contract within the time period specified
in paragraph 10(a) of the contract (see Attachment 9), or
(d) failure by the Club to exercise its right to renew the contract
within the time period specified in paragraph 10(a) thereof;
or
(3) The contract is assigned outright by the Club.

by mrich on Aug 6, 2008 9:48 PM EDT up 0 recs

No, that is not the case. Players who have been non-tendered or released get signed to minor league deals all the time, and if they make it back to the majors, they remain reserve players.

A great example is Ron Belliard, who was non-tendered after the 2003 season, at which point his service time was 4.158. We signed him as a free agent for 2003 — and not even as a minor league free agent, it was a major league contract. At the end of the season, he was eligible for arbitration — not for free agency.

Blake was drafted by the Blue Jays, claimed on waivers by the Twins, claimed on waivers by the Orioles, claimed on waivers a second time by the Twins, who eventually non-tendered him. He signed a minor league deal with the Indians after 2002 with less than a year of service time. Obviously, Blake had a totally normal career after that point in terms of his eligibility for arbitration and free agency — just the same as if we had drafted him out of college at age 25 or something.

So anyway … no, that’s not it.

by Jay on Aug 7, 2008 12:38 AM EDT up 0 recs

Well then maybe Donnelly’s just old enough that his free agent status predates the current CBA. Check out his BB-Ref page—it says he was “granted free agency” in 1993(!). So I guess it must just be that even though he doesn’t have the 6 full seasons of service time, under the terms of the then-current CBA in ‘93 when he was released by the White Sox he became a free agent and couldn’t ever have reserve status after that.

Unless somebody else has an explanation.

by mrich on Aug 7, 2008 12:45 AM EDT up 0 recs

No. Those clauses have not changed in quite a while, and whatever changes refers back to the prior CBA.

It is not the case that just because a player was “granted free agency” at some point, he doesn’t become a reserve player again. Every player is a reserve player if, at the end of the season, he’s on a 40-man roster and has less than six years of service time. There are literally no exceptions to this.

by Jay on Aug 7, 2008 1:22 AM EDT up 0 recs

I don’t have an explanation, but I seem to recall that Donnelly was a replacement player in 1994. If he’s still being stiffed by the union, would that have any effect on his status? Then again, my memory is selective and notoriously fallible.

by ken from alexandria on Aug 7, 2008 8:22 AM EDT up 0 recs

Oh, I’ll bet that’s it. I see that he was at least for a while banned from the MLBPA because he was a replacement player, and in a couple minutes on google I couldn’t find any evidence that he was ever allowed back in.

by mrich on Aug 7, 2008 10:53 AM EDT up 0 recs

No … the CBA covers non-union members as well, they just can’t vote.

I’m telling you, there is no question that he is not a free agent at the end of the year under the rules.

The only way he can be a free agent is if the Indians release him.

by Jay on Aug 7, 2008 11:26 AM EDT up 0 recs

Castrovince wrote me back:

I was told Donnelly had his free agent eligibility after this year negotiated into his contract, which seems odd… and rare.

So… there you go, I guess.

by mrich on Aug 7, 2008 1:55 PM EDT up 1 recs

Yeah, he and I had some back and forth about this yesterday, and he asked the front office directly to clarify it.

by Jay on Aug 7, 2008 7:15 PM EDT up 0 recs

So then the Indians have to release him after the season? Because I don’t think he has enough service time to be eligible.

by Ryan on Aug 8, 2008 10:12 AM EDT up 0 recs

That’s been the whole discussion. I asked Castrovince about this, and he asked the question to the front office directly.

The answer, straight from the front office: The Indians agreed to put a special and highly unusual clause into Donnelly’s contract, in which they agree to DFA and release him outright at the end of the season.

The only other player I can think of where a contract had a clause like this was Hideki Matsui, whose first contract with the Yankees stipulated that they had to release him by Nov. 11 after the final year of the contract, unless they had signed him to an extension first.

I personally think these clauses simply should not be allowed by the commissioner, as they have the potential to undercut the entire basis of the reserve system. What’s to stop Boras from starting to ask for a clause like this for every draft pick, or for every international signing?

by Jay on Aug 8, 2008 12:37 PM EDT up 0 recs

I’ll ask him about it.

by Jay on Aug 6, 2008 6:58 PM EDT up 0 recs

I’m fairly certain the Indians control him through next season, barring a weird clause in his contract (ie, they have to release him after the season).

by Ryan on Aug 6, 2008 10:27 PM EDT up 0 recs

Better link. Jay’s going to come punch you in the ear.

by FredOx on Aug 6, 2008 5:10 PM EDT 0 recs

Especially considering millionairesrow is, like, the king of headline news linking around here.

Shape up, or I’m telling Marte to grab a bat!

by Jay on Aug 6, 2008 5:37 PM EDT up 0 recs

My head is on a swivel…

by millionairesrow on Aug 7, 2008 8:19 AM EDT up 0 recs

Donnelly’s not on the 40-man is he? Who gets the boot? Bullington?

by CBusSteve on Aug 6, 2008 5:25 PM EDT 0 recs

Byrd. To the Yankees for their top 4 prospects.

Travis Hafner is overrated. Clarity is underrated. David Dellucci is David Dellucci.

by westbrook on Aug 6, 2008 5:28 PM EDT up 0 recs

Miller to 60-day DL?

by peter m on Aug 7, 2008 9:32 AM EDT up 0 recs

Miller isn’t on any major league DL, so I doubt they’d do that. I think its more likely that Victor goes to the 60-day DL, considering he’s at 55 days right now.

by Fundamentals on Aug 7, 2008 9:44 AM EDT up 0 recs

Sounds reasonable.

by peter m on Aug 7, 2008 9:48 AM EDT up 0 recs

Yay?

Travis Hafner is overrated. Clarity is underrated. David Dellucci is David Dellucci.

by westbrook on Aug 6, 2008 5:28 PM EDT 0 recs

And Donnelly does not have enough service time to be free agent eligible after this season? He’s in his last year of arbitration eligibility?

by cheech99 on Aug 6, 2008 6:16 PM EDT 0 recs

Well considering I was excited for Reyes to be part of next year’s rotation, I guess it’s fitting that I be there for his first start as an Indian.

by supermarioelia on Aug 6, 2008 6:52 PM EDT 0 recs

I demand a complete review.

by mjschaefer on Aug 6, 2008 10:43 PM EDT up 0 recs

Championship!

by SuddenSam on Aug 6, 2008 6:53 PM EDT 0 recs

jesus, i better get ginter out of my starting line-up on my fantasy team and move him to the DL.

by Brick. on Aug 6, 2008 8:42 PM EDT 2 recs

you really picked up Ginter? You must be joking. I was considering picking up Sowers and then smacked myself in the face.

"I think people should be allowed to do anything they want. We haven't tried that for a while. Maybe this time it'll work." -George Carlin

by RD74 on Aug 6, 2008 10:16 PM EDT up 0 recs

One of my closers was just sent to AAA to become the next Justin Chamberlain, so I refuse to pass judgment on anyone’s fantasy choices.

by FredOx on Aug 6, 2008 10:42 PM EDT up 0 recs

I had Brandon Morrow in 2 leagues as well. Those Mariners never cease to amaze me.

However, I hear is Morrow’s idea … he really wants to start.

by emd2k3 on Aug 7, 2008 10:05 AM EDT up 0 recs

i’ve had sowers here and there in different AL leagues – and now reyes, but no, not ginter

by Brick. on Aug 6, 2008 10:43 PM EDT up 0 recs

suzuki, v.—to hit oneself in the face.

by odradek on Aug 7, 2008 12:22 AM EDT up 0 recs

Anyone else really hoping one of our fliers on Reyes or Bullington or Zach Jackson (or any other #1 picks we grabbed) turns into a Jeremy Guthrie situation, only for our benefit this time?

by APV on Aug 6, 2008 10:33 PM EDT 0 recs

I’m hoping so. Jackson seems to be doing okay in AAA. (Completely guessing.)

by mjschaefer on Aug 6, 2008 10:44 PM EDT up 0 recs

Brandon Phillips is an example of this

by Brick. on Aug 6, 2008 10:44 PM EDT up 0 recs

Is Ryan Ludwick the new Brandon Phillips?

29 HR? Are you kidding me?

by emd2k3 on Aug 7, 2008 10:05 AM EDT up 0 recs

How often do pigs fly in Cleveland?

by odradek on Aug 7, 2008 12:23 AM EDT up 0 recs

Every time Pink Floyd has toured since 1977.

--
In Cliff we trust.

by vbc3 on Aug 12, 2008 5:55 PM EDT up 0 recs

Um, I’m hoping that any player we have becomes a good major league player, anyone, any time, regardless of the circumstance.

Do I care if it’s J.D. Martin or Bryan Bullington? Not one bit.

by Jay on Aug 7, 2008 12:40 AM EDT up 0 recs

Andy Marte is a good example of this.

by Brick. on Aug 7, 2008 10:17 AM EDT up 0 recs

Casey Blake was very much this type of player for us.

by KevinV on Aug 7, 2008 10:29 AM EDT up 0 recs

Shapiro: “Mmmmmm…. yeeeahhhh…. Tom… listen, we’re going to need you… ahhh …. to move your desk… ALLLL the way to the back of this locker…. we’ve got some retread and flameouts we need to put in here…. yeeeeeeeeeahh… grreeeaaaaat….”

If you need me, I'll be senselessly rooting for Sizemore 40/40 for the remainder of 2008.

by gte619n on Aug 7, 2008 8:43 AM EDT 0 recs

Did you..mmmm..get the memo?

You have no idea the physical toll that three vasectomies have on a person

by jakesinger777 on Aug 7, 2008 9:24 AM EDT up 0 recs

Who’s Tom?

I would think it would be Brian (Slocum) or Jason (Stanford).

by Jay on Aug 7, 2008 11:29 AM EDT up 0 recs

I’m also assuming Reyes gets at least 3, probably 4 starts minimum now?

by APV on Aug 7, 2008 11:33 AM EDT 0 recs

He’s going to finish the season with a perfect record. Next year’s Cliff Lee.

by mjschaefer on Aug 7, 2008 11:48 AM EDT 0 recs

Let’s be honest, if this guy got through April with a 4.50 ERA, we’d be virtual high-fiving all around every time he took the hill. “It’s Anthony Reyes, the miracle baby!”

by Jay on Aug 7, 2008 12:09 PM EDT up 0 recs