The Baseball Cube

Transactions Data

Transactions Data

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Transactions Data
TBC considers Transactions to be any change in a player`s roster status or change in contract. TBC has been capturing transactions information since 2012 for all MLB-affiliated players. This includes the Minor Leagues. Here is a list of the different transaction types and related concepts you may find throughout the site. View FAQ on the transactions data:

Promotions: Players recalled from the minor league affiliate to the Major League parent team. These transactions begin with "Recalled from (team name)" and will refer to players already on the 40-man roster being recalled to the majors.

Contracts Purchased: These are players being promoted to the 40-man roster. If during the season, these players are typically added to the active roster. If during the off-season, players having their contract purchased are normally added to 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft.

Assignments: Transactions expressed with "Assigned to ... " refer to players changing teams within an organization, whether promoted or demoted. A Major Leaguer moving from the MLB team to the minors without leaving the 40-man roster is technically "optioned" but the word "assigned" is used. An optioned player is allowed to move back and forth between the Majors in 3 separate years. Otherwise, these players will need to clear waivers. Other assignments listed on the site will be for minor leaguers changing teams.

Signed... There are 2 types of signing transacions. (1) Players signed to Major League Contracts where their contract duration and $value will be listed alongside some other relevant contract info such as option years or bonuses. Within each contract signed, the context of the signing will also be included. This could be "Free Agent","Extension","Arbitration","Intl Free Agent" or "Renewed". All MLB contracts include a spot on the 40-man roster. (2) Signed to minor league contract will be written for all other signings. These are players who are joining the organization but not on the 40-man roster.

Injuries: Visits to the Injured List (Formerly known as the Disabled List) are captured for both Minor Leaguers and Major Leaguers. For players on the active MLB roster, the description will include, if available, the injury as well as the cause. Most minor league injured list transactions will not include the reason or the cause. Day-to-day injuries that don't involve a trip to the IL will not be included. There are also different IL designations. IL-60 means a player is on the long-term IL and unavailable to the active roster for at least 60 days and is thus safely removed from the 40-man roster. The 10-day IL is used for short-term injuries. The injury dates are as of the reporting of the injury. Many injuries are retroactively started as of the date of their last appearance in a game. Minor league has the IL-7 list and the IL-60 list as well though TBC captures them all with the status of IL-7. The transaction description will include the IL-7 or IL-60 designation. Just not the status.

Designated for Assignment When a player is removed from the 40-man roster, it is called being DFA'd. The status DFA refers to the state of limbo where a player's future will be decided where he will either be traded, released, claimed on waivers or outrighted to the minors.

Outrighted Similar to assigned. Outright means the player is assigned while also being removed from the 40-man roster. It will mean he cleared waivers. It will often occur after a DFA transaction.

Waiver Claims: When a player is DFA'd, he becomes available to other teams to be claimed. Teams have some time to submit a claim and the team with the lowest waiver ranking (based on standings) will claim that player. When the player is claimed, they will likely have to remove another player from their own roster. A team may orchestrate a trade with a team lower down the waiver ranking to at the least, get a player in return. The claiming team must place the player on their 40-man roster though not necessarily in the Majors.

Trades: Player trades are the most interesting of players changing teams. All trades are captured in each player's transaction list. The transaction is described from his perspective and includes all players involved (if not too complicated) and does not include the selected player's name. In a transaction list, for trades of 5 players, you will see 5 records for the trade. There is no single trade record. The database was designed for the player's perspective.

Rule 5 Draft MLB and Minor League Rule 5 draft transactions are captured including their possible return to their original team. ("Returned to x"). Rule 5 picks are unprotected minor leaguers who are selected by a different organization to put on their active roster for the upcoming season. Minor league rule 5 picks do not affect active or 40-man rosters. They provide an opportunity for another team to promote them above their place in their current organization.

Free Agency: Players being granted free agency (or electing free agency) are free to sign with another team. The act of becoming a free agent is captured as a record whether it is at the conclusion of a contract or as a result of a release or non-tendering.

Releases: Players who are released are mostly done so at the choice of an organization. These transactions are captured and players will become free agents similarly to when they are granted free agency.

Retired: Not all players officially announce their retirement. Many attempt to keep playing and never declare their careers officially over. Only declared/published retirements are incldued. Therefore, you may see many former players with a perpeptual status of "FA". Who are we to decide that they are done. Eventually, we will display that player's status as "inactive" on his player page. The retired status is often added later.

Restricted List: Players who are suspended or having other difficulties are often placed on the restricted list. This will remove them from the 40-man roster and keep them in the organization. Common reasons are drug suspensions, trouble with the law, VISA issues or ongoing family issues. Gameplay suspensions are listed in the Transactions database but are not given a "Restricted" status. These players normally don't leave the 40-man roster.

Bereavement: Players with a death in the family are given time off and removed from the Active Roster.

Paternity Leave: On a brighter note, players becoming a parent get a few days off to spend time with their family and are removed from the active roster.

Draft Records: Many players have a transaction record included for their draft signing date (or UDFA signing date) that includes the school from where they were signed. TBC doesn't put a lot of effort into this data element since the draft database includes this information and displays it on the player page.

Assigned to minors: No particular minor league as part of the assignment. Could be extended spring training, an alternative training location or the player is simply without a team.

FAQ
How complete/accurate is the data? Honestly, decent. Player movement for thousands of players is very difficult to capture accurately but for change of team and injuries, we're pretty close. For the assignments, there could be issues here and there in the form of duplicates, omissions or wrong dates. Overall, I would say its a 7.5 on 10. However, if you are looking for an official transactions list, always best to refer to MLB.com or MILB.com.

How often are the transactions updated? For Major League rosters are updated daily. For non-40man players (minor leaguers), every week during the season and once a month during the off-season.

Do you correct historical issues? Yes. When an issue is found it is immediately fixed.

What if I find an error? You can tell us if you want to make the effort. All corrections are always appreciated. Just be polite. Every correction makes the site a little bit better.

Can I search through historical transactions? Absolutely. You can see all player's transactions on their player page. Or, if you sign up to PREMIUM, you can use a research application to filter only for the transactions you want to see based on many different options.

Is the data available for purchase? Yes. Please visit our Data Store


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