If Traded, Can Halladay Request Another Trade?

by kirbir on Jul 21, 2009 1:00 PM CDT

One of the underlying topics of the Roy Halladay trade rumors is the idea he can request a trade following the season should he be dealt from Toronto. Doug Melvin first broached the topic a few weeks ago and lately it's been discussed here on the site. It's always a dry, confusing read, but baseball's 2007-2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement contains some information about who can and cannot request a trade after being traded in-season. The specific section covering guys like Halladay is Article XX(C), and I've posted the text below the jump. You can find the entire CBA at this link.

If I have read it correctly, these are the key points:

Halladay's deal covering 2009 and 2010 was signed in March 2006, so this applies.
If he requests a trade after the season and isn't dealt, he can become a free agent on March 16.
He can request a trade and then withdraw the request by March 15.
He may have forgone his ability to request such a trade by getting a no-trade clause as part of his current deal. I am unsure if his no-trade clause is part of his contract or from being a ten-and-five player.
If he requests a trade after the year and is traded, he is then unable to request another trade or elect free agency for three years. This means whatever team he is traded to has him for three years, regardless of his contract status. Put another way, if the Brewers trade for him, he requests a trade after the year, and ends up going to Boston, he will be stuck in Boston through 2012 even though his current contract ends after 2010. Boston merely has to offer him arbitration for 2011 and 2012.

This is article XX(C) of the 2007-2011 CBA:

C. Right to Require Assignment of Contract

(1) Eligibility

Any Player who has 5 or more years of Major League service at the time of the assignment of his contract and whose contract was executed prior to October 23, 2006 and covers the next succeeding season, may elect, at the conclusion of the season following the assignment, to require that his contract be assigned to another Club. If the Player, however, subsequently signs a contract with the assignee Club, the Player shall not be eligible to require that Club to assign his contract if the contract executed with the assignee Club covers the next succeeding season. A Player who requires the assignment of his contract pursuant to this Section C shall not be entitled to receive a Moving Allowance.

(2) Procedure

(a) Notice. A Player may exercise his right to require the assignment of his contract by giving notice as hereinafter provided within the 15-day period beginning on October 15 (or the day following the last game of the World Series, whichever is later). Election to require the assignment of his contract shall be communicated by telephone or any other method of communication by the Player to the Association. Written notice thereof shall then be given within the specified time limits by the Association, on behalf of the Player, to a designated representative of the LRD, and shall become effective upon receipt.

(b) Player Veto Rights. At the time notice is given as provided in subparagraph (a) above, the Player may also designate not more than 6 Clubs that he will not accept as assignee of his contract, and the Player’s Club shall be bound to assign his contract thereafter to a Club not on such list.

(c) Free Agency if Assignment Not Made. If the Player’s Club fails to assign his contract, as set forth in this Section C, on or before March 15, the Player shall become a free agent immediately eligible to negotiate a contract with any Club without any restrictions or qualifications. The Player shall not be deemed to have exercised his right to demand a trade, for purposes of paragraph (5) below, and the Club signing such a free agent shall do so without regard to the compensation and quota provisions of Section B. A Player who becomes a free agent pursuant to this subparagraph shall not be entitled to receive termination pay. Such a free agent shall receive transportation and travel expenses in the same manner as he would have if he had been unconditionally released except he shall be limited to receiving travel expenses to his new Club if he reports to it directly, provided such expenses are less than to his home city.

(3) Retraction by Player

A Player who has elected to exercise his right to require an assignment of his contract may retract such election on or before March 15, by providing, by hand or by facsimile transmission, written notice to his Club, provided that such written notice must be provided prior to the time written notice is provided, by hand or by facsimile transmission, to him (or to his certified agent and to the Association in the event facsimile transmission is used) by his Club notifying him that his contract has been assigned. If such a Player has 10 or more years of Major League service, the last 5 of which have been with one Club, he shall, upon such retraction, be deemed to relinquish his right to approve any assignment of his contract to another Major League Club which is completed within 60 days after such retraction or until March 15, whichever is later. A Player who retracts his election shall be deemed not to have exercised his right to require an assignment for purposes of paragraph (5) below.

(4) Waiver by Player

At his sole election, a Player may, at the time he signs a multiyear contract with a Club, waive the right to require the assignment of his contract under this Section C, provided that the Player’s contract with the signing Club contains a no-trade provision which limits the signing Club’s right to assign the Player’s contract to no more than sixteen (16) Clubs designated or subsequently to be designated by the Player.

(5) Repeater Rights

Any Player whose contract is assigned as a result of a trade required pursuant to this Section C, until he has completed an additional 3 years of Major League service, shall not subsequently be eligible to exercise his right to (i) require the assignment of his contract or (ii) become a free agent, subject to subparagraphs (a) through (c) below.

(a) Any Club that retains reservation rights to a Player for a succeeding championship season by virtue of the provisions of this paragraph (5) shall notify such Player, at any time within the first five (5) days of the free agency election period described in Section B(2) of this Article XX, whether the Club offers to proceed with the Player to salary arbitration for the succeeding season. The Club’s offer shall be communicated to the LRD, which shall notify the Association in writing. Said offer shall be effective upon receipt by the Association and the Club will not be permitted to retract the offer.

(b) In the event the Club notifies the Player of such a salary arbitration offer, the Club shall be required to tender a contract to the Player for the succeeding season and the Player may elect salary arbitration in the same manner and at the same time as other Players, as provided in Article VI(F). If a Player who is offered salary arbitration is released pursuant to paragraph 7(b)(2) of the Uniform Player’s Contract prior to the date he is actually tendered a Contract, he shall receive termination pay in accordance with the provisions of Article IX(A), computed at a rate not less than his previous year’s salary.

(c) In the event the Club fails to notify the Player in writing of a salary arbitration offer within the first five (5) days of the free agency election period described in Section B(2) of this Article XX, the Player thereafter may elect free agency pursuant to Section B of this Article XX without any restrictions or qualifications. The Club signing the Player shall do so without regard to the compensation and quota provisions of Section B of this Article XX.

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Comments

Is it bad when the bullet points alone put me to sleep?

by Mykenk on Jul 21, 2009 1:07 PM CDT reply actions

I Somehow Doubt...

His agent would ever allow the last bullet point to happen.

by TheBurningRom on Jul 21, 2009 1:13 PM CDT reply actions

Yes – because if he is a douche about it, he will end up pitching for the Nationals – or you could really mess with him and send him to Colorado, Texas or some other hitters park

by Saberilliterate on Jul 21, 2009 1:36 PM CDT up reply actions

I agree

In all likelihood, the first trade is done per Halladay’s 10/5 approval, and he goes to a team where the “trade me at the end of the season” scenario wont even apply.

I wonder if he has a list like Peavy did. It has been reported that he wants to go to a perennial contender. I wonder if that knocks the Brewers out right away, since there is a shorter window of success, and the window may be closing fast without a ton of pitching coming up through the ranks.

Its probably something like Dodgers, Angels, Red Sox, Yankees, Cardinals, Cubs, Phillies, Tigers…

by backtocali on Jul 21, 2009 2:02 PM CDT up reply actions

Yankees

If he goes to the Yankees that is a very scary rotation

by Saberilliterate on Jul 21, 2009 2:08 PM CDT up reply actions

He's 32, it's not like his window is all that long either.

by Mykenk on Jul 21, 2009 2:29 PM CDT up reply actions

I think even under the most pessimistic of projections

the Brewers will be considered “contenders” for at least this year and next year, and that’s how long Halladay’s current contract is.

by warwick5s on Jul 21, 2009 4:19 PM CDT up reply actions

Did you not see any of the preseason projections that had us finishing 4th or worse?

The sad fact is that you can’t be the king until you kill the king. So until Milwaukee wins the division against some non-injury depleted Cubs staffs or a Cardinal lineup that features someone batting behind Pujols, no one south of Hwy 50 or East of Lake Michigan will consider the Brewers a perennial contender. And the Brewers have not been helping themselves much lately in this regard.

by Saberilliterate on Jul 21, 2009 5:16 PM CDT up reply actions

True enough, but...

“…until Milwaukee wins the division against some non-injury depleted Cubs staffs or a Cardinal lineup that features someone batting behind Pujols…”

There will always be injuries to blame a Brewers division win on.

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Jul 21, 2009 5:29 PM CDT up reply actions

You're wasting your time.

From backtocali’s perspective, the Brewers have never done anything good that can’t be attributed to luck and there’s never any reason to assume the Brewers will improve in the future. No amount of logic will ever change his perspective, so don’t bother trying.

by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Jul 22, 2009 5:25 PM CDT up reply actions

According to Cot's

He has a no trade clause as part of his contract. Remember that his first few years were split between the majors and minors, so he wasn’t accruing major league service time for the full seasons. Assuming that Cot’s is correct his first year of arb was 2004 which would make 2009 his ninth season of ML service time, so he isn’t even eligible for 10/5 protection.

Why are we able to piece this sh!t together, but the professional sports writers are fricking clueless.

by Getting Yosted on Jul 21, 2009 2:32 PM CDT reply actions

For the same reasons that pitchers are still evaluated (and paid for) Wins & ERA

by Saberilliterate on Jul 21, 2009 2:52 PM CDT up reply actions

I suspect it's more like Tom H's response to that A ball trade rumor

Along the lines of people can’t actually be interested in this stuff, can they?

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Jul 21, 2009 5:30 PM CDT up reply actions

also as per Cot's

Halladay’s ML service time was 9 years 47 days at the end of 2008, putting him over 10 years at the end of this season

by CheezeconQueso on Jul 21, 2009 3:03 PM CDT up reply actions

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