Pablo Pujols. Ortiz, David. Hey, Alex Rodriguez. Joey Ramirez. Cruz, Nelson. Robinson Caño. A. Justin Upton.

Ortiz is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Pujols is a sure thing for the Hall. Cruz could run for Cooperstown in the future. They had all been All-Stars in the big leagues before.

During their time in Major League Baseball, all of them have been DFA.

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In the end, it means the person is no longer on the team. It’s one of many things that can happen to an MLB player. However, this happens more often when a person is nearing the end of their career and in the middle of a contract.

In baseball, what does DFA stand for?

Set aside for task.

It’s one of the more unusual types of trades in baseball, because instead of being traded, the player is either sent to the minor leagues or taken off the list.

What does it mean to be assigned something?

Teams can have up to 40 players on their roster, but only 26 of them can play in the big leagues. Teams change their rosters during the season, and sometimes that means cutting a player. People must be marked for assignment before they can be taken off the 40-man list.

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MLB.com breaks down the steps: “A player is quickly taken off his team’s 40-man roster when his contract is designated for assignment, which is often written as “DFA.” After the deal, the player has seven days to be moved or put on an irrevocable outright waiver. Under the 2012–16 Collective Bargaining Agreement, they had ten days.

Can a player who has been DFA be claimed by another team?

Any team can pick up a player off waivers. That team would have to add the player to their 40-man list, though, if they claim the player.