The system automatically places the IR (Injured Reserve) tag on a player once ESPN receives the status report from the WNBA. Only players with the Injured (IR) tag, day limit does not matter, are eligible.
At its most basic and simple level, when you place an eligible player into the IL slot, you gain an open roster slot. As long as the IR player is eligible for the IL slot, basic waiver offers and free-agent pickups will remain unchanged.
Where it can get tricky is when you attempt to pick up via waiver claim or free agency and the status of the player in the IR slot changes. The system will always ensure that you do not exceed the roster size limit for your league.
Some scenarios to consider when making a claim while you have a player in an IR slot:
- If you have a healthy player in an IL slot, you cannot add any new players to your roster.
- When you attempt to acquire a free agent with a healthy player in an IL slot, you will receive a message to clear your IR before you can make a claim.
- If you have a player on your IR who becomes healthy in between when you made the waiver claim and when the claim processes, the claim will go through as normal.
- You will still need to free up a roster slot before you can move the now healthy player out of the IL slot.
- If you have an open bench slot when you make a waiver claim but then activate an IL player before the claim processes, your claim will fail.