Ultimately, it means the player is cut from a team; it most commonly happens to players who are in the latter years of their career and in the middle of a contract. As MLB.com explains, “when a player’s contract is designated for assignment — often abbreviated ‘DFA’ — that player is immediately removed from his club’s 40-man roster.”
Within the next seven days, the Nationals must place Robles on waivers, trade him, release him, or send him “outright” to one of the Nationals’ farm teams. If the Nationals release him, he can sign with another team as a free agent.
If a player is claimed off waivers or acquired via trade, the team that added him would be taking on the remainder of the contract. However, if the player reaches free agency, he can sign a deal with any other team on a prorated portion of the MLB minimum, which is $720,000. The team that DFA’d would then pay that player the remaining salary owed to him on his original deal minus the prorated MLB minimum paid by the acquiring team.
In 2018, Robles was considered a top-10 prospect, listed with players such as Ohtani and Guerrero Jr. He was part of the World Series squad in 2019 and, at times, showed amazing range in the field. Robles was a Gold Glove finalist in 2022 but often seemed to be plagued by mental errors in the field and on base and was an inconsistent hitter.
On a blog of St. Louis Cardinals fans, I found something too funny not to share. “What’s the difference between being put on waivers and being DFA’d? When a player is waived the team and staff line up to wave goodbye as the player leaves the team facility. When a player is DFA’d it means he has Done Effed up Again and there is no assembly to see them off.”
While many Nats fans have been clamoring for this move, I am sorry that it came to this. The conversation between Coach Martinez and Victor had to have been difficult. Best of luck to you, Victor!
Let’s go 1-0 AGAIN today! #thenatslady #theswarm
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