The Phillies assigned their top two 2024 Draft picks to the Florida Complex League.

First round pick Dante Nori and second round pick Griffin Burkholder were assigned to the FCL Phillies today.  Both were high school outfielders before the draft.  The FCL season is over, but the FCL roster is a valid place to assign players who will then be able to participate in the Florida Bridge League if the weather ever permits

Look for the remaining DFAs and UDFAs to be assigned to rosters this week.  Draft picks have to be on a roster within 15 days of their signing being official.  Almost all of the draft picks were signed on July 23rd, so they would have to be on a roster by August 7th.  Spikerman and Mathison signed on the 24th and would then have to be on a roster by August 8th.

I’m not sure how the rules apply to the UDFAs but if they are similar then the four who signed on July 23rd will have to be on a roster by the August 7th, the one who was signed on July 26th would have to be on a roster by the August 10th, and the one who was signed on August 1st would have to be on a roster by August 15th.

I found conflicting passages in the Major League Rules regarding roster limit dates.

MLR 2(a)(3): A player who signs a first-year Minor League contract for the current season with a Major League Club shall be excluded from the Minor League under control limits of the signing Major League Club until 15 days have elapsed from the date of the contract or when the player has appeared in a championship season game, whichever occurs first. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a player who signs a Minor League contract with a Major League Club following the player’s selection at the First-Year Player Draft shall be excluded from the Minor League under control limits of the signing Major League Club until the day following the conclusion of the current year’s Major League championship season or when the player has appeared in a championship season game, whichever occurs first (see MLR 4(g)).

Two sentences but the second one seems to contradict the first.  All MLR 4(g) does is repeat the second sentence from MLR 2(a)(3).

MLR 4(g) EFFECT ON PLAYER LIMITS.
A player who signs a Minor League contract with a Major League Club following the player’s selection at the First-Year Player Draft shall be excluded from the Minor League under control limits of the signing Major League Club until the day following the conclusion of the current year’s Major League championship season or when the player has appeared in a championship season game, whichever occurs first.

However, the copy of the MLR that I have is dated 2021.  I haven’t been able to find a current version.

What we know for certain is that the in-season limit for stateside minor league players is 165, and the offseason limit is 175.

I have the Phillies at 173 minor league players on stateside rosters.  I have only 156 players counting against the 165-player limit as of today because 17 of those players are on lists that do not count against the in-season limit – the 12 players currently on the 60-day injured list, the 4 players currently on the full season injured list, and the one player currently on the suspended list.

The Phillies have assigned 6 of their drafted players leaving 13 drafted and 6 undrafted free agent players to be assigned at some point.  That’s 19 players to be assigned and 9 openings under the limit.  So, the Phillies will need at least 10 spots to place players, more if some players come off the 60-day IL.  (Note that this assumes that the first sentence in MLR 2(a)(3) is correct.)

Later, after the completion of the world series, the players on the 60-day injured list, the full season injured list, and the suspended list will have to be activated but by then there will be numerous vacancies under the 175-player limit as a couple dozen minor league players will have declared free agency by then.

Sorry.  This ran a whole lot longer than I intended.  I expected to print the first two short paragraphs.  The third paragraph led me down the rabbit hole that provided all the other words.