Yankees’ Eduardo Nuñez In Limbo: Designated For Assignment. What Does It Mean For Him?

New York, El Barrio - Eduardo Nuñez has possibly lost his opportunity to play for the Yankees. What does the term designated for assignment mean? Sometimes my intent in writing baseball is to educate the would be fan on terms and plays in the game.

Last season, Eduardo could have cemented his role as an everyday player in 2013 when Derek Jeter missed most of the season playing less than 20 games. He was once coveted as Derek Jeter’s replacement at short and prior to trade talks other teams wanted Eduardo in the mix, but the Yankees had him virtually in a ‘no-trade’ list.

While he passed the grade with his offensive ability to some extent, it was always questionable if he was a good defensive infielder.
In a year that promises to be a second in a row celebratory departure for a future hall of famer, last year Mariano Rivera and this year Derek Jeter, Eduardo Nuñez had been bypassed by infielder Yangervis Solarte in the opening season roster.

Now the Yankees have signed Solarte to a Major League contract and selected him to the 25-man roster. And while infielder Brendan Ryan was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a cervical spine nerve injury (retroactive to 3/22), Eduardo was designated for assignment.

So, Wikipedia (I know it has its pros and cons) will tell you that “Designated For Assingment is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball. A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team’s 40-man roster, after which the team must either:

• return the player to the 40-man roster within 10 days from the date of designation, or
• make one of the following contractual moves:

1. Place the player on waivers (which can only be done within the first 7 days of the 10-day period)
2. Trade the player
3. Release the player
4. Outright the player from the 40-man roster into the Minor Leagues.

With that much said, Eduardo Nuñez can possibly be placed back on the 40-man roster within 10 days, or navigate through waivers. What is that? Well, maybe that will be part 2 of this story as we keep an eye open on Nuñez’s fate within that 10-day period. Those who have gotten to know Nuñez hope that he can move forward to a solid major league career — if not with the Yankees, then with some other team. In the meantime we welcome comments and any clarifications or questions from the reader.

This article was written for Latino Sports and was posted on April 2, 2014