September 2nd: The Expansion

Teams like the Royals look to keep their playoff hopes alive,
while their opponent, the Rangers, are hoping to give their
young talent a tryout.

Major League Baseball expanded rosters yesterday, allowing all teams to take any player on their 40 man roster and immediately put him on their big-league club.

This may be great for teams like the Cubs and Astros, who are getting young teams ready to compete by bringing up a ton of prospects for their cups of coffee. For major competitors, though, like the Dodgers and Angels, it can cause a major problem, as teams are inundated with young, usually less scouted talent, which can often lead to more varied results.

How are teams looking to lock up a playoff spot supposed to compete when a cellar dweller is able to run out a new pitcher every third batter, sometimes one nobody has really been able to scout before?

While both teams have the same competitive advantage, in that both can call up as much of their 40 man roster as they desire, it does lead to challenges in managing the influx of players at the big-league level.

The cleanest solution, then, would be to do what hockey teams do. A hockey team may have 23 players on their roster, but is only allowed to dress 20 of them for the game. In much the same way, Major League teams should be able to select which 25 players are active on any given night. The starting pitchers for the night before or the next night don't need to be on that list, as they most likely won't get into the action. The guy getting a day off doesn't need to be on that list either.

What this allows is for a team to know exactly which 25 guys may be coming down the shoot at any given time. There will still be plenty of opportunities for young players to get their experience under their belts, but at the very least it allows playoff contenders to continue to get their at-bats against the proper level of competition.