MLB DFA trades can turn a World Series contributor into a roster casualty before spring training opens. On January 30, 2025, the Dodgers designated Ryan Brasier for assignment after adding Kirby Yates. Five days later, they traded Brasier to the Cubs. Los Angeles sent cash with him and arranged a return of a player to be named later or cash considerations.
From the outside, the sequence invites an obvious question. Why would Chicago surrender anything for a pitcher Los Angeles had just pushed off its roster? Because Chicago wanted the player, while Los Angeles needed the space. Those interests could meet at a price that worked for both clubs.
The Dodgers had already made their decision about Brasierâs place in the bullpen. His next employer still had a decision to make about his usefulness. A DFA opened the roster spot immediately and gave Los Angeles a brief window to negotiate. That distinction drives the business. Teams trade designated players to recover something, negotiate salary costs, and offer buyers a chance to secure their target before somebody else does.
Losing a roster spot does not erase a market
A full 40-man roster forces a front office to choose. Adding a free agent, promoting a prospect who needs a roster spot, or activating someone from the 60-day injured list can require a subtraction. The player leaving might have performed poorly. Another might still contribute but rank behind the available alternatives.
Designating him for assignment removes him from the 40-man roster. The club generally has seven days to resolve his status, including time for any required waiver process. His contract does not disappear when the transaction notice goes out.
Think about a right-hander who belongs in the middle innings. A team with a deep bullpen might prefer a younger pitcher with more upside. Across the division, a manager who has exhausted his reliable relievers might welcome six outs without a walk. Neither evaluation requires the other club to be wrong. Each team faces a different set of choices.
MLB DFA trades turn that difference into a negotiation. The seller knows it cannot demand a premium merely because it once valued the player highly. Its leverage comes from finding a buyer that needs him now.
The buyer pays to avoid losing its target
Waiting costs nothing until another team takes the player. If a designated player reaches outright waivers, clubs submit claims. Priority generally favors the team with the worse winning percentage. A contender near the back of that line cannot assume its preferred reliever will reach it.
Trading bypasses that uncertainty. The buyer settles directly with the selling club rather than hoping every team ahead of it passes. Waiting for a release brings a different risk. Once the player becomes a free agent, he chooses where to sign. A team can offer a contract and still lose him to a better opportunity.
For a catcher, regular starts might matter most. An experienced reliever might choose a familiar pitching coach. Geography, postseason chances, and the role available can influence the decision. MLB DFA trades let the interested club secure the existing contract, subject to any applicable trade-consent rights. That certainty can justify a modest acquisition cost.
The seller also has a reason to answer the phone. Cash or a developmental player offers a return that a completed release cannot provide. The deal does not need to produce a future All-Star to improve the clubâs position.
The contract can matter more than the scouting report
A useful pitcher with an expensive contract presents a different proposition from the same pitcher at a discounted price. An outright waiver claim transfers responsibility for the remaining contract to the claiming club. Teams cannot submit a claim with a condition that the former employer cover half the salary. A trade gives them room to negotiate that split.
The selling club can send money with the player, reducing the buyerâs cost. More salary support might also persuade the buyer to offer a better prospect. Less support might bring a smaller return but save the seller more money.
Chicago used that approach with Jameson Taillon in August 2026. After his DFA, the Cubs traded him to Toronto on August 2. They agreed to cover roughly $4.96 million of his remaining $5.39 million salary, leaving Toronto responsible for about $434,000. Chicago absorbed most of the bill but arranged a return. Toronto acquired a veteran starter at a fraction of his contractual cost.
The cost of releasing a player
Release works differently. When a player with guaranteed salary signs elsewhere after his release, the new club typically pays the prorated major league minimum. His former club remains responsible for the rest of the guaranteed amount, with those new earnings reducing its obligation. The player keeps collecting his guaranteed pay. Two teams simply divide the checks.
That explains why a club might prefer a trade even when it must include cash. The comparison concerns how much it would owe after a release, not how much salary appears on the original contract. Consider a simplified hypothetical involving $1 million in remaining guaranteed salary. A buyer agrees to cover $400,000, while the seller contributes $600,000. If a release and subsequent signing would offset only $100,000, the former club would still owe $900,000.
Under those assumptions, trading saves the seller $300,000 compared with releasing the player. Any negotiated return adds another potential benefit. MLB DFA trades can preserve value through several routes. Salary relief, cash received, and a minor league player each belong in the calculation. No single arrangement explains every deal.
Brasier gave Chicago something Los Angeles could spare
Brasierâs move shows how those interests can align without either team pretending it has acquired a star. He finished the 2024 regular season with a 3.54 ERA in 29 appearances. A calf injury cost him substantial time, but he returned and pitched during the Dodgersâ championship run. Los Angeles then added bullpen help during the offseason, and Brasier lost his roster spot.
Chicago could consider the same pitcher against its own relief options. The Cubs did not need to prove that the Dodgers had misjudged him. They needed to decide whether he could help their bullpen at the cost they would actually pay.
Brasier had $4.5 million due in 2025. The Dodgers included cash covering part of that salary, making the contract a different proposition for Chicago. MLB DFA trades operate in that gap between a playerâs full contractual cost and the price another team will accept.
For Brasier, the move still hurt. He described leaving Los Angeles as âa little gut punch.â That reaction belongs alongside the accounting. A front office can make a defensible roster decision that leaves a player shaken. Chicago offered a new job, but the transaction first required him to lose the old one.
The deadline and roster rules still close doors
A DFA creates time to decide what comes next. It does not create an exception to the trade deadline. After the in-season deadline, clubs cannot trade these players until the market reopens following the season. A contender that loses its catcher in late August must explore permitted alternatives, such as a waiver claim or free-agent signing.
The acquiring team also needs a place for its addition. Moving a player between organizations does not reset his minor league options or cancel his contractual protections. If a club cannot use an ordinary option to send him down, keeping him as minor league depth may require outright waivers. Qualifying players can reject an outright assignment, so clearing waivers does not always guarantee that the organization retains him.
Release involves unconditional release waivers before the player reaches free agency. These limits help explain why some DFA situations end without a trade. The player might cost too much, offer too little, or require a roster spot no interested club can spare. An outright assignment might suit the original team better. MLB DFA trades need a willing buyer with a workable plan. Without one, the seller cannot manufacture a market.
What a small return can tell you
The next deal for cash considerations deserves a closer look than its transaction line provides. Start with the playerâs expected role and the salary each club accepts. Those details reveal more than the size of the return alone.
A seller paying most of a contract might still reduce an unavoidable bill. The buyer might gain an affordable reliever without risking its place in the waiver order. Both clubs can benefit even if the prospect changing hands never reaches the majors.
Success still requires judgment. Saving money means little if a team trades away useful depth and spends more replacing it weeks later. Paying for certainty also loses its appeal if the incoming player cannot handle the job.
That makes MLB DFA trades a test of evaluation under pressure. Front offices must decide which skills remain useful, what those skills should cost, and whether their own roster has room for them.
Brasierâs departure captured the uncomfortable middle of that calculation. Los Angeles could move forward with its bullpen additions while Chicago could offer him another opportunity. The deal settled the immediate roster problem; performance would determine what followed.
For fans, the revealing question comes after the announcement. When another team pays for a player who just lost his spot, what does it believe it can still get from him?
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FAQs
Q1. What does designated for assignment mean in MLB?
A. A DFA removes a player from the 40-man roster. The club generally has seven days to resolve his status.
Q2. Why do MLB teams trade DFA players instead of releasing them?
A. Trading can recover cash or a player and let teams negotiate salary costs. Releasing the player provides no negotiated return.
Q3. Why would a team trade for a player who might become available anyway?
A. A trade secures the player without relying on waiver priority or competing for his signature after a release.
Q4. Who pays a released MLB playerâs salary?
A. The original club generally owes the remaining guaranteed pay. A new club typically pays the prorated minimum, reducing the original clubâs obligation.
Q5. Can teams trade DFA players after the trade deadline?
A. A DFA does not bypass the deadline. Teams cannot trade these players until trading reopens following the season.
