[USML Announce] Rookie Eligibility

[springkerb at aol.com]

I noticed that MLB slightly modified the definition of "rookie" for last year's short season.  The primary change seems to be that September service time will count for purposes of the 45-day service time criterion.  So it's now either 45 days of service time, regardless of when it occurred, or the usual 130 AB or 50 IP.  The following explanation is from Baseball America:
The shortened 60-game schedule created a unique dynamic for rookies in 2020.Most notably, the short season meant a rookie could play in more than half of his team's games, but as long as he did not exceed 50 innings or 130 at-bats, he would still be eligible for the Rookie of the Year award in 2021.In a typical season, players also could exhaust rookie eligibility by spending 45 days on a team's active roster, though days spent on the active roster after Sept. 1 did not count toward that total.Major League Baseball is doing away with the September service time provision for 2020 rookies, meaning that 2020 debuts with more than 45 days of service will not carry rookie eligibility into 2021."Given that we were without September callups this season, days of service on the major league roster will include September 2020," MLB said in a statement. "Thus, any player who accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a major league club or clubs during the 2020 regular season or during previous seasons prior to Sept. 1 will no longer be considered a rookie in 2021."This change to rookie eligibility rules will not affect players who debuted on Aug. 14 or later, and who remained in the majors continuously, because they would not have been able to accumulate more than 45 days of service.


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