Understanding Roster Expansion
Posted by Corey Seidman, Tue, August 30, 2011 08:00 AM | Comments: 6
Analysis
Justin De Fratus could get the call. But would he even pitch?
Yesterday, Pat Gallen took a look at some of the players who could be recalled from the minor leagues when rosters expand September 1.
I agree with Pat’s list but wanted to touch briefly on the deeper issues of September roster expansion. The truth is, the process that begins Thursday is one often misconceived by the common fan.
A team can call on fifteen additional players to fill out a September roster, but oftentimes will only take about a handful.
Why?
Well, for practical reasons, such as dugout and clubhouse space, playing time and need. Is it worth it to add Josh Barfield to the 40-man if he would only serve as backup to the backup to the backup to the backup? Or how about Phillippe Aumont? It would be intriguing, but would he actually pitch?In reality, the Phillies will probably call up the following players for the following reasons:
- Domonic Brown – Ibanez insurance, pinch-hitter, bench speed
- Brandon Moss – lefty power bat that Ross Gload no longer is
- Juan Perez – second bullpen lefty
- Mike Zagurski – third bullpen lefty
- Pete Orr – extra infielder
- Erik Kratz/Dane Sardinha – third catcher
Outside of that? Justin De Fratus might take the place of a Zagurski, but something tells me he doesn’t get a September callup. Of course, if anyone gets injured some of the longshots could see big league time in the regular season’s final month.
Six players is the perfect amount of guys to bring up. The traditional school of thought says anywhere from five-to-seven. More than that, you get a bunch of guys sitting around doing nothing. It’s not beneficial.
Teams like the Phillies, though, are in good shape when it comes to September callups. The Phillies have a lot of money, thus they can afford to give more month-long prorated major league minimum contracts than small-market teams.
This inequality brings out the archaic nature of the 40-man roster rule. If nobody actually adds 15 men, why not just make it a set amount, like 31, and dictate that each team bring up the same amount of extra guys?
Baseball has a lot of quirky rules. This is one that tends to fly under the radar.
Posts: 0 Don M
The way I understood the rule previously was that in order to be eligable for the Postseason roster . . . . a player must be on the 25-man roster before Midnight on August 31st ….
Meaning that Brown needs to take the place of …. ? …. If we want him to be eligable for the postseason (or instead of Brown – maybe Moss, Orr … either a better power option than Gload, or a better speed option than Martinez?)
Late in games when strategy and “by the book” matchups etc are prevalent … its nice to have a pure speed guy on the bench that can take the place of Chooch, or Ibanez, or Howard if need be …. Pete Orr is probably the fastest player i’ve seen on the Phillies all season, and that would come in handy for the postseason .. unless they just want to role the dice and “Dance with the girl that brought you” .. going with what they’ve already got
Posted: 08:48 AM on August 30, 2011
Posts: 0 moondog
Brown is on the 40 man roster and can replace anyone on the 25 man roster. A player like Moss who is not needs to be put on the Phillies roster by August 31. Matt Stairs was acquired on August 31st in 2008.
Posted: 09:31 AM on August 30, 2011
Posts: 0 Gian
How about galvis. He could get valuable time late in game for defrnse if rollins is out.
Posted: 09:09 AM on August 30, 2011
Posts: 2542 Chuck A.
Pete Orr is amazingly fast and I would definitely think he could play an important role in that regard in the Postseason. And since MiniMart doesn’t have to be on the postseason roster in order to remain the property of the Phillies (Rule 5 is only for the reg season) I would rather see Orr. He has some pop in his bat and plays pretty good defense. But Charlie seems to really be in love with Martinez so it could go that way, too.
If you’re going with a combo of defense AND offense…and experience….. I would think that Orr, Valdez and MiniMart would be your options over Galvis at this point. Galvis might be worth a “look” in September but definitely not the postseason.
Posted: 09:32 AM on August 30, 2011
Posts: 0 Don M
My bad. . . . i think i confused the situation by talking about the postseason roster- instead of just the Sept callups ..
@ Moond … I think thats where the confusion lies.. to be on the Postseason roster do you need to be on the 25-man, or just the 40-man by August 31st?
…. This is from the Daily News:
“Players who are in the organization on Aug. 31 can participate in the postseason even if they are not on the active major league roster, provided they take the place of a player who is injured. Righthander Jose Contreras, scheduled to undergo exploratory surgery on his elbow on Friday, is likely to be transferred to the 60-day disabled list at some point, which leaves at least one potential postseason roster spot for somebody who is not in the big leagues on Aug. 31.
Veteran Brandon Moss is a lefthanded-hitting outfielder who has an impressive .270/.366/.514 line with 23 home runs at Lehigh Valley. Infielders Kevin Frandsen and Pete Orr and outfielder Delwyn Young are also possibilities to join the Phillies at some point in September, although they would have to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
Reliever Justin De Fratus is already on the 40-man, as are Zagurski and Perez. Amaro said no final decisions have been made about who will join the team after rosters expand and the minor league season ends.
Veteran Scott Podsednik has been rehabbing a foot injury in Clearwater but is expected to rejoin Lehigh Valley at some point in the near future.”
Posted: 09:52 AM on August 30, 2011
Posts: 0 bacardipr05
Chuck im with you on the Orr thing. However it appears Cholly an Co dont want to use him an I bet Mini Mart remains on the roster.
Posted: 05:13 PM on August 30, 2011