ESPN's fantasy baseball game has a new set of rules for determining player position eligibility for 2024, designed to provide greater flexibility as well as a more intuitive method of assigning positions to recently injured players.
As originally announced in April 2023, beginning this season, and using the most recent season's games played, a player will need to meet the following criteria in order to gain eligibility at a position to begin a new season:
1. For hitters, playing at least 20 games there the previous season OR
2. Playing at least 25% of their games at the position the previous season (minimum of five games at that position).
3. For starting pitchers, making at least five starts the previous season
4. For relief pitchers, making at least eight relief appearances the previous season
For the purpose of determining eligibility, designated hitter (DH) does count as a position, and it is possible for a player to qualify at DH only based on the above criteria.
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Mookie Betts is sure to be one of 2024's most asked-about players, as far as position eligibility is concerned. Using the new criteria, Betts begins the season eligible at outfield, specifically right field if your league designates specific positions, and second base, but not shortstop. Of his 152 total games played, 107 were in right field and 70 at second base, both meeting the minimum of 20 to qualify, but only 16 at shortstop, which fell short of 20 and represented only 11%, (below 25%) of his total games.
That's not to say that Betts can't regain SS eligibility during the 2024 season, which he had by the conclusion of last year. The following in-season rule remains in effect:
Hitters add new eligibility at a position once they appear there in at least 10 games, while pitchers gain new eligibility with five starts (starting pitchers) or eight relief appearances (relief pitchers).
Pittsburgh Pirates sophomore Henry Davis, the No. 1 pick in the 2021 amateur draft, is one player to watch in this regard. He'll begin 2024 eligible only in the outfield, and right field specifically, after playing only two of his 62 games at catcher during his rookie season. As Davis projects to be the starting catcher to begin the season, he'll gain eligibility there once he catches 10 games.
Speaking of youngsters, fantasy managers will be abuzz about Jackson Chourio of the Milwaukee Brewers, a top Rookie of the Year candidate after he signed a multiyear contract during the offseason. He's one of the most prominent players who failed to meet the five-game minimum in the majors.
If a player played exclusively in the minor leagues, such as Chourio, or played in the major leagues but failed to meet one of the above criteria, such as Tampa Bay Rays rookie Junior Caminero, then combined minor league and major league games played by position are used, following the same criteria: at least five games, and either 20 games played or 25% of all games played at the position for hitters, and either five starts for starting pitchers or eight relief appearances for relief pitchers.
Chourio played 108 of his 128 minor league games in center field, earning him eligibility there alone (outfield in leagues that don't differentiate). Caminero, meanwhile, played 124 total games between the majors and minors. He'll begin 2024 eligible at third base, as he made 94 combined appearances there, and shortstop, where he appeared 31 times. Caminero's one game at second base, however, fell short of both the 20-game and 25% thresholds for eligibility.
The final category of players pertains to injured and foreign players, such as free agent Rhys Hoskins and Chicago White Sox pitcher Erick Fedde.
If a player does not play in either the major leagues or minor leagues during a season, such as a player who misses the entire season because of injury or plays only in a nonaffiliated league, then the previous season in which he had at least five games played at one position in the minor league or major league level will be used to determine his eligibility. If a player has only appeared in a non-affiliated league, then he'll be eligible at the position he played the most in his most recent season.
This is designed to specifically grant logical positions to potentially significant players, such as Fernando Tatis Jr. entering last season, or this season, Hoskins, Fedde or Dodgers free agent signee Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Tatis, for example, was universally regarded as a top-25 overall draft pick entering 2023, but he hadn't made a single appearance the season before because of injuries and a suspension. His eligibility therefore went to the previous season.
Hoskins is 1B eligible, having appeared there in 151 of his 156 games in 2022. Fedde is SP eligible, as all 27 of his pitching appearances in 2022 were starts.
Yamamoto, just like Shota Imanaga of the Chicago Cubs, was a starting pitcher during his time in Japan, so both he and Imanaga begin their U.S. careers eligible only there.