Player To Be Named Later

In Major League Baseball, a "player to be named later" (PTBNL) is a player who, at the time a trade is made, has not been designated by the other team. It may be due to a desired player not being able to clear waivers during the season (but after the season), or a team choosing from an agreed-to list of players at a later time.

MLB rules allow six months from the date of the original trade for it to be finalized. If the teams cannot agree on the PTBNL, then the deal is closed for cash. However, in four instances the original player was the PTBNL as he was traded back to his old team.

Usually a PTBNL is a journeyman; however, some players have turned out to be productive, such as Boston Red Sox DH David "Big Papi" Ortiz.

An interesting PTBNL situation occurred with Hall of Famer Dave Winfield late in his career: he was traded on August 31, 1994 from the Minnesota Twins to the Cleveland Indians, with the terms and conditions dependent on the number of games Winfield played for the Indians (AA-level player if 16 or more games, A-level player if between 1-15 games). However, the MLB players were on strike and the following day the remainder of the season was cancelled: the deal was settled with Cleveland paying a token sum of $100 plus the Cleveland GM taking the Minnesota GM out to dinner and picking up the tab.

This rule is not applicable in any of the other major sports.