Explaining MLB Rookie Eligibility, PPI Callup Target Date And September Roster Rules
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Each year, major league teams circle a date in August that falls exactly 45 days before the final game of the season.
This year, that date was Aug. 16. Players called up to make their MLB debuts on that date or later will retain rookie eligibility in 2025, provided that they do not exceed 130 at-bats or 50 innings this summer.
This is a key consideration for players who are expected to be in play for a Rookie of the Year award, because eligible ROY winners can earn their club a Prospect Promotion Incentive draft pick.
This was a factor in the Nationals’ decision to wait until after Aug. 16 to call up outfielder Dylan Crews from Triple-A Rochester. His callup date was Aug. 26.
Crews will gain valuable MLB experience this summer, while remaining rookie eligible next season. If he makes Washington’s 2025 Opening Day roster—all but a certainty—and wins National League ROY—not at all a certainty—then he would earn the Nationals a draft pick after the first round in 2026.
PPI picks in the 2023 and 2024 drafts have fallen around No. 30 overall and came attached with a bonus pool amount nearing $3 million.
Conversely, the Rays called up third baseman Junior Caminero from Triple-A on Aug. 13, just three days shy of the target date. But his case is more complicated because he accrued 10 days of MLB service in 2023.
To keep Caminero under 45 career service days, the Rays would have had to push his callup date back to about Aug. 26.
Tampa Bay had been waiting all season to plug Caminero’s bat into their lineup, but injuries at Triple-A had thwarted those plans and he played in just 53 games. In the end, the Rays went against type by calling up Caminero, thus foregoing PPI considerations, as they chase wins in 2024 and help get their roster ready to compete in 2025.
For The Prospect Promotion Incentive, The Past Is Precedent
The Prospect Promotion Incentive was introduced with the 2022 Collective Bargaining Agreement, an initiative designed to curb service time manipulation when teams create Opening Day rosters.
But PPI has implications beyond Opening Day.
In order to keep the following season’s rookies eligible for PPI—and thus potential draft pick compensation—teams need to know the date on the calendar at which they can safely call up top prospects. Knowing this date helps them thread the needle by helping their top prospects gain MLB experience while also retaining rookie eligibility for the following season.
The callup target date in 2022 was Aug. 22, a week later than it was this year because the season started a week later following the lockout. The D-backs called up Corbin Carroll on Aug. 29 and the Orioles called up Gunnar Henderson on Aug. 31.
That duo gained a month of valuable MLB experience while retaining rookie eligibility for 2023.
In fact, the dynamic duo of Carroll and Henderson went on to win Rookie of the Year honors in each league to net the D-backs and Orioles the 31st and 32nd overall picks in the 2024 draft.
The callup target date in 2023 was Aug. 18. On that day, the Cardinals called up Masyn Winn and the Angels called up Nolan Schanuel. And while those players are not Rookie of the Year favorites this year, their callup dates last year were not coincidence.
Those players add PPI eligibility this year that attaches for the 2025 and 2026 seasons as well. Should Winn or Schanuel finish top three in MVP voting in either season, then his club gains a PPI draft pick. The same is true for every player listed here, except Jasson Dominguez and Curtis Mead, for whom PPI eligibility did not attach this season because they didn’t spend the season in the big leagues.
MLB Rookie Standards
A player is considered a rookie so long as he does not exceed the following thresholds:
• 130 career at-bats
• 50 career innings
• 45 career days on an active MLB roster
Note that players can go right up to those thresholds and still qualify as a rookie. They must not exceed them.
Time spent on the major league injured list does not count against rookie eligibility. However, more than 60 days of service—active or inactive—removes the potential for PPI eligibility.
Past September Roster Rules
Once upon a time, rookie qualification rules were murkier.
Prior to 2020, MLB teams could expand their September rosters from 25 players all the way to 40, i.e. every player on the 40-man roster.
Today, rosters number 26 players from April through August. In September, teams expand their rosters to 28 players.
All service time accrued on the active roster is created equal today, but that was not always the case.
Prior to 2020, big league time accrued in September did not count against rookie eligibility. So for example, the Rays called up second baseman Brandon Lowe on Aug. 5, 2018. He played semi-regularly for nearly two months but accrued just 129 at-bats.
He had nearly 60 days of MLB service—well over the 45-day rookie limit—but because his September time did not count against rookie eligibility, he was classified as a rookie in 2019 and finished third in the American League ROY voting.
