Active rosters in Major League Baseball have been set at 25 players since the end of the Wilson administration (Woodrow, not Willie). But with the collective bargaining agreement set to expire on Dec. 1, there have been talks about potentially adding a 26th player to the active roster.
Is this a good idea? What would be a good way to use the new extra spot? Would there be any drawbacks?
We asked three of our writers these questions about adding a 26th player, and they answered.
1. Do you think adding a 26th roster spot is a good idea?
Bradford Doolittle: I love it, though I have to admit that the knee-jerk source of that feeling is the idea that the switch will be tied to stricter September roster limits in the CBA talks. But even if you remove that factor, the 26th spot should help improve strategic options and offense off the bench. Sure, some teams will simply add another situational reliever. Some teams aren't very imaginative.
Sam Miller: In April 2003, a few months after David Ortiz was released by the Minnesota Twins and picked up by the Boston Red Sox, he went 0-for-6 in his first game of the season. Playing only part-time, he went hitless in four of his first five starts, and through six weeks of the season he was hitting .208/.310/.347. As a DH. In a hitter's park, on a big-market team, while fighting for playing time, at age 27. Maybe the Boston front office was absolutely in love with him and would have let him slump for months until he figured it out, but knowing just those details -- a not-very-young DH who wasn't hitting and had just been released by another team -- it's easy to speculate that we came just that close to David Ortiz not having any sort of career with the Red Sox, or with anybody else. Baseball would be far worse off if that had happened.
There are 750 players on active major league rosters every day, and about 6,000 playing in affiliated ball broadly, and yet there's still a permanent roster crunch across the sport. Players who are good enough to play in the majors get overlooked, buried, go undrafted, end up in independent leagues. We know the near-misses, because they didn't, ultimately, miss. David Ortiz was a near-miss. But surely there are players who we've never heard of who missed entirely, and not because they were capable of any less than Ortiz was.
What we know a 26th man will definitely do is add 30 opportunities to play in the majors. Minor league rules tend to follow the majors' lead, so it seems likely -- at least possible -- that immediately, or in time, the minors will add 26th spots, too, which would add hundreds of other opportunities. I consider baseball to be almost a public utility, a vehicle for every child to dream of and aspire toward, and adding more opportunities is as much a public good as nationwide broadband access or the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line. I, therefore, love it.
David Schoenfield: I definitely love it more than that canned cranberry sauce everyone serves on Thanksgiving, though maybe not quite as much leftover turkey sandwiches on Friday. With the way teams constantly shuffle the back end of their rosters -- go check out the transactions file this past season for the Dodgers or Mariners -- it makes sense to add another guy since teams are essentially playing with 26-man rosters anyway. I've actually advocated for a 28-man taxi squad, which is a system used in Japan, where you activate 25 guys each game. I like the idea of spreading the wealth around and seeing more pinch-hitters and pinch-runners.
2. How do you want to see the 26th roster spot used?
Doolittle: I would be surprised if there is any blanket trend for how the spot is filled. It's entirely dependent on the rest of your roster. American League teams should be able to plug platoon holes in their everyday lineups, and we should have more viable designated hitters through the league. National League managers can also stash better offensive options on the bench, players who can also play platoon roles. And in a time when pitching roles seem to again be evolving, a clever manager might pinpoint swing-man types who can soak up two to three innings of relief at a time while taking an occasional turn in the rotation to give the regular five an extra day of rest. And AL managers might also seek out pinch-running specialists like the Royals' Terrence Gore. It really depends on how the rest of your roster is set up.
Miller: I doubt this is what any of the game's stakeholders would prioritize, but I'd like to see it used for a third catcher's spot. It's bittersweet watching most of our favorite catchers break down from overuse, to see them so regularly injured or worn down by September and to see their careers fade fast after 30. If a manager had three on the roster, he could be far less risk-averse and pull his regular catcher from games when the lead starts to get comfortable and when a defensive replacement would make sense. Fewer reps would mean more years of Buster Posey at his peak, and it would otherwise have little effect on the style or pace of play that we see.
Schoenfield: I wouldn't use it on another reliever, but I suspect some teams would love the idea of adding an eighth or ninth relief pitcher. I don't think another reliever would add much strategic value -- it's hard enough to give all your relievers consistent work as is -- but adding bench depth would help counteract all those relief moves, or provide a speedster off the bench, or allow a team to carry a third catcher if desired, or add another platoon player. The thin benches in today's game serve to limit managerial options, especially in the NL where you have to keep guys available to hit for pitchers. Let's bring the bench back!
3. What would be the immediate benefit of adding a 26th roster spot?
Doolittle: I suspect that we'll see different choices made at the end of spring training when the last one or two roster spots are decided. Now you might see more mono-skilled hitters retained instead of going with a non-productive guy who plays a lot of positions. Once we get into the season, hopefully the extra guy will allow managers to be proactive with resting players and, just maybe, we'll see a downturn in disabled list transactions.
Miller: Every team would carry 13 pitchers, some 14, and we'd see a quickening of the trend toward early hooks for starting pitchers. This would probably be most notable for allowing managers to pull pitchers early from games in which they're getting hit hard. As is, pitchers who are cruising are pulled earlier than ever, but pitchers who get crushed are left out to "wear it," as few teams have the sort of long man (or overall bullpen depth) to handle eight innings of relief. I'm sure some teams would choose to carry an extra platoon bat, instead, but judging by their managing it seems most dugouts see more value in an extra arm than an extra bat, almost without limit. And if some teams did carry an extra platoon bat on the bench, it would only increase the incentives for their opponents to go deeper with their bullpen to keep playing matchups -- necessitating, ultimately, more relievers.
Schoenfield: One side effect is it could eliminate some of the relief pitching changes we see now. Because teams carry so few bench players, starters are rarely pinch-hit for. But if you have an extra bat on the bench, maybe the manager doesn't bring in that lefty reliever. And fewer pitching changes is something we can all agree would be a good thing.
4. What could be the unexpected consequences of the new spot: A guy making the minimum, a 14th pitcher, stashing a Rule 5 pick, etc. ...
Doolittle: There could be a couple of competition issues that come into play. One relates to Rule 5: Would AL teams that have a set everyday lineup be more apt to identify and retain the top Rule 5 draftees? That's a minor concern. The bigger one goes back to payroll. I'd guess at least half the teams would give the last spot to a player under team control, probably making league minimum or thereabouts. But the Yankees and Red Sox might be willing to throw a couple of million at a part-time DH just because the utility of that slot outweighs their marginal financial investment.
Miller: Games would get longer. September games last year lasted about four minutes longer than August games, and while some of that might be due to scrubby September call-ups pitching poorly, I'd guess a good share is the increased number of pitching changes and other game-slowing roster strategies. Whether managers carry more relievers or more pinch-hitters, the result will be more mid-inning pitching changes in the seventh and eighth.
Schoenfield: The worst unintended consequence would be more relief pitchers and more pitching changes. That would stink.