Major League Baseball rules allow its teams an opportunity that no other league or sport does. As of September 1st each year a team’s active roster can be expanded from the 25 player limit that has been effect since the season began to as many as 40.
All teams take advantage of this opportunity and bring up three, four, or five players mostly from their triple-A team to deepen their beleaguered bullpen and/or add a third catcher.
Personally my take is that expanding rosters a bit is a good thing for several reasons. The marathon nature of the six month season takes its toll and the quality of play can be maintained with some fresh bodies helping out.
It’s been said that giving a minor leaguer an early taste of the big leagues is good for his morale and provides him even more incentive to improve so as to become full time major leaguers.
Economically the move up to the bigs is huge for the minor leaguer who perhaps is making $30 to $40,000 playing at AAA and then gets to play for the big club for a month. The major league minimum salary is set at $500,000 (it might $510,000 already) so that one month of salary at that rate is in the neighborhood of $85,000. Who wouldn’t love the idea of tripling one’s yearly income for just one month of play? And in that month chances are the player is mostly just riding the pine observing, without having to actually perform all that much.
In the past four seasons with Sandy Alderson as GM the Mets have not been aggressive in promoting players in September. My recollection is that three or four players have come up. The team was not anywhere near contending so that adding a few more wins here and there just wasn’t all that important. Knowing how dollar conscious (i.e. frugal or downright cheap) the Wilpons have been post-Madoff it figures they wouldn’t be all that gung-ho to bring up a slew of players. Let’s remember that besides for paying these players the team now has to pay for their hotel rooms on the road and their flights to and from away cities. Also each player receives $100.50 meal money on the road each day.
In 2015 with the Mets in first place and looking like they will win the NL East the team has gone crazy in its roster expansion. While two of the players are injured yet still active (Dario Alvarez and Carlos Torres) the head count as of a few days ago was 38.
Certainly some might argue that there is no real downside to carrying extra guys. After all if they are not capable of helping then the manager simply won’t use them. And if you trust Terry Collins‘ judgment in such matters you would be correct.
My opinion is that this flood of players has actually served to weaken the team and upset the outstanding chemistry the club had with merely 25 players starting during trade deadline week. What turned the team from a marginal wild card contender to a legitimate division leader (aside from the woes of the Washington Nationals) were the additions of Juan Uribe, Kelly Johnson, Tyler Clippard, and a fellow named Yoenis Cespedes. The returns of David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud from the DL were also huge. Plus the feel-good buzz of not trading the sobbing Wilmer Flores was the cherry on top.
The team clicked on all cylinders.
Then September 1st came and with it the roster expansion. A third catcher was a good idea but neither Anthony Recker nor Johnny Monell are much of anything but here they both came.
The team needed a LOOGY. One came in via trade, Eric O’Flaherty, who has been just stunningly awful. The other, via the promotion route, was Dario Alvarez. As mentioned before, he’s hurt.
Some people think it great that the team brought back Eric Young Jr. hoping that Collins would use him only as a pinch runner. Frankly I don’t think a player with his limited skill set should be in the majors at all. So too Eric Campbell and probably Bobby Parnell at this point.
It is too late to do much about this now with just two weeks remaining in the season but one hopes that in future years the front office will learn a lesson that there is a reasonable number of these promotions that work. Beyond that number they could be weakening rather than strengthening the team.
Every year there is talk about changing the roster expansion rule. I would hope that finally something will get done. My preferred idea is a limit to the active roster of 28 players (29 or 30 wouldn’t be all that bad either).
The idea also has been floated to have a team name an active 25 man roster before each game. That has some merit too. But wouldn’t the team immediately deactivate the last four starting pitchers they used since there is no way the manager would be using any of them during the game?
I’d love to see that number changed to 30. Half these guys are juat taking up space. A third catcher, a few extra pitchers an extra outfielder – great. We’ll need a few extra bodies down the stretch to reat the key guys. But we don’t nees to give games away and dissapoint paying fans by playing guys like Johhny Monell and Eric Campbell.
September roster expansion should be limited to 25 players named each day so as not to diminish the integrity of the game being played that day. That allows teams that are out of it the ability to look at their farm hands if they desire while reducing the constant switches of an open unlimited roster. These games become too long and lose their entertainment appeal.
I agree that the Mets overdid this and should have brought up players with a chance of playoff roster hopes but at least 3-5 because the rules allow it.
in any other year I would agree that 38 was to many players, preferring no more than 30 but this year I think circumstance conspired to create this situation. the article touches on the additions of O’flarity and Young nether was a bad idea as the team was looking for a lefty and EY gives you something you did not have on the bench which is speed. As covered in last night’s game by Gary and Kieth several ws bound teams have had that pinch runner on the bench so he serves a purpose and in september needed to be evaluated for that roll. the vast majority of these call ups were guys that have played a roll this year Pelwecki and reker both served a big part of the year as starter or backup catcher so they deserved to get a recall. Campbell struggled this year but at times contributed and with David needing extra rest I saw no reason not to recall him all of the young pitchers like Goodell and Alvarez needed to be looked at and Verrett was a surveyable spot starter. You called up Stauffer after Torres was injured as an extra arm he is the one guy that absent the injury you would not have seen you don’t DL guys in september because if there is a chance at all they will be available before the 15 days there is no reason limit yourself. Ok maybe with the depth at 2nd base you don’t call up Herrera but he is your 2nd sacker of the future so whats gained by not recalling him after the triple A season is over? Monell at times played for you this year so why not recall him? at worst he is an extra lefty bat off your bench or an emergancy 4th catcher on days you want to stay away from TAD or Plawecki. As for Parnell this is a veteran whom is returning from tJ surgery you wanted to get an extended look at him because if he found it he would be a 4th closer in your pen. Once he did not find it there was no need to DFA him he will be a free agent you won’t resign him but you don’t DFA a vet who literally has given you his arm just to get down to 37. You put him at the back of your pen maybe give him some junk innings then wish him well at season’s end. The injuries are the thing that gave you cause for so many recalls here’s hoping it never happens again
The Mets are carrying one player too many and this individual joined the club in early August, not as a September callup.
The Mets get all the grief for carrying so many guys but according to mlb.com, the Yankees have 39 active players.
I’m pretty sure the per diem is a lot better at the ML level too. 30 sounds reasonable Larry and doesn’t effect your line up too much. Can rest players and still have enough left on the bench in case of extra inning games.
Rosters are 40 players in September so teams that are out if it can see how some of their minor leaguers do against MLB competition. If I were Alderson, I would have brought up all 40. I wouldn’t let my team be short handed in any situation when they are trying to win a division. Even if they don’t play, just getting a per diem is better than they would have gotten sitting on their couch.
Ironically, two years ago when the Mets were out of it, Terry Collins felt the need to play Mike Baxter everyday the last two weeks over a youngster named Matt den Dekker, who had a nice September until that point and that wasn’t an isolated case. Now, you may say they are both gone, but when you see the need to play a AAAA veteran over a then-25 year old that had a good September up to that point, you aren’t helping your team.
I understand that some may say, ‘well, if Alderson knows that Collins can’t manage a roster well and makes questionable managerial moves, why complicate the process by bringing up this many players?’ Because Alderson did his job well. If Collins cannot handle his job, that’s the owner’s fault who goes out of his way to crow about his manager at every turn.
I’m with Gus. So long as the rule allows 40, there is really no harm in having all 40, if for no other reason to protect against burning out a key player in a meaningless situation.
I agree with those that thing the rule needs to be changed, as key baseball games in Sept. should be played with a squad closer to the size of that used throughout the season. But, I am also one that thinks baseball has aged out of the 25 man roster as well. So, for my 2 cents, how about this – give the MLBPA 2 more “jobs” for each team as a trade off for eliminating the DH from baseball. Then, cap the number of pitchers at 13 out of those 27. Lastly, allow the rosters to expand to an “active” 30 in Sept, meaning the team can declare any 15 pitchers and 15 non-pitchers for each game, so long as the player is on the 40 man roster.
I like your thinking on the DH. Too bad it will never happen.