Player to be named later

In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the season.

Postponing a trade's final conditions or terms is often done for several reasons. First, the team receiving the PTBNL might not be certain which position they want to fill, so this type of deal gives them more time to figure it out. Second, this type of arrangement gives the team receiving the PTBNL more time to evaluate the available talent on the other team. Also, when a trade takes place during August, a player must clear waivers before he can be traded; the PTBNL concept allows the player's original team to make an attempt to have him clear waivers then finalize the deal, or (if the player cannot clear waivers) wait until the end of the season to trade him.

Before 2015, newly-drafted players could not be traded until one year after being drafted. Some players who were ineligible to be traded were instead listed as players to be named later, and were only named once eligible to be traded, such as Trea Turner, who played in the San Diego Padres organization for months even as it was considered an "open secret" that he would be the player to be named later in a trade with the Washington Nationals. In 2015, the rules were changed to allow for players to be traded after the conclusion of the World Series following the draft in which they were selected and a restriction was added to prohibit a player not eligible to be traded at the time of the transaction from being the player to be named later.[1]

When a PTBNL transaction occurs, the negotiating teams usually agree on a list of five to ten players that the PTBNL will ultimately be chosen from.

The deal must close within six months of the conclusion of the rest of the trade. If the teams can't agree on who the player will be, then they will agree on a price to be paid instead of a player. It is possible that a player could end up being traded for himself, as has happened four times in MLB history.[2]

The PTBNL is generally a minor league player or a journeyman major leaguer. Very few PTBNLs are of known star quality at the time of the trade; however, some minor league PTBNLs have gone on to be productive in the majors, including Michael Brantley,[3] Jeremy Bonderman,[4] Scott Podsednik,[5] Coco Crisp,[6] Marco Scutaro,[7] Moisés Alou,[8] Jason Schmidt,[9] Gio González,[9] David Ortiz,[10] and Trea Turner.[11]