I think your understanding is the correct one with one exception...He can refuse the assignement, but he forfeits his contract. That being the case, unless some team were to make the very questionable decision to claim him at $3.2 mil, it looks like it'll almost certainly be AAA or outright release. I aould assume the waiver period will be up some time this weekend. Turnbow can definitely refuse the assignment. Turnbow has 4 years of service. After 3 years of service a player can refuse assignment, but loses his salary, at 5+ years, the player can tell the team to pound sand, and refuse his assignment and get his entire salary. If the Brewers try to send Turnbow to AAA, here is what would happen. 1.) Turnbow would have to accept the assignment. 2.) Turnbow would be placed on irrevocable waivers, which means that the Brewers can't pull him off the table. 3.) If a team claims Turnbow, they will NOT pay his $3.2 -- they will pay the league minimum which is either $390K or $400K. -- The Brewers would be on the hook for the $2.8M (roughly). If the Brewers release Tbow and he signs with another team -- I think the team that signs Tbow can do so for the league minimum, and the Brewers are on the hook for the balance of his salary -- this I am not as sure about. The best case scenario is that there are 2-3 (or more) teams interested in Tbow, and Melvin can trade him to a team for some sort of Max St. Pierre, with the idea that the new team picks up some or all of Tbow's contract. If there is only one team interested in Tbow, they'd be best suited to wait until Tbow goes on irrevocable waivers and only pay him $400K, and let the Brewers cough up the rest of the $2.8M of his contract.