Being that it's a slow week and we've not reached our requisite number of new OOTP threads for the month on this dead NCAA Football vidya game site, jd have requested we take a vote on whether to allow additional pitching roles.
Some background for those new to the game, particularly our friend(s) across the pond:
A Major League Baseball roster is a roster of players allowed, by league agreement, to play for their respective Major League Baseball(MLB) team. As of the 2019 MLB season, there were generally two types of rosters, the "active roster" of 25 players and the "expanded roster" of 40 players. The active roster size is expected to expand to 26 players beginning in the 2020 season.
Since 1910, when teams were first allowed to carry players under contract in excess of those allowed to participate in regular season games, the latter has been called the "active roster." With exceptions through the years for varying economic conditions (primarily during
World War I, the
Great Depression, post-
World War II, and from 1986 to 1989 when the limit was set at 24 because of rising player salaries), the active roster has allowed up to 25 players to participate for a Major League team within specified dates, currently
Opening Day to September 1. In 1968, the 25-player maximum for active rosters was made a part of the first
collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the major leagues and the
Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA). Since 1977, teams have been required to carry a minimum of 24 players on their active rosters as well.
Active rosters include the starting eight (
National League) or nine (
American League) position players, pitchers, and reserve players on the team. Players on the active roster are also on the 40-man roster. These players are generally the only ones who dress in uniform and are the only ones who may take the field in a game at any time.
Typically, in modern-day play, an active roster will consist of five starting pitchers, seven relief pitchers, two catchers, six infielders, and five outfielders. Teams can vary this somewhat according to preference and circumstance, and indeed the "typical" roster makeup has changed somewhat over the years. (Starting rotations used to consist of four pitchers, not five, well into the 1970s; third-string catchers used to be much more common; many other minor variations exist.) In the American League, a full-time
designated hitter (DH) is usually classified as either an infielder or an outfielder, not a DH, because most DHs do play defensive positions from time to time.
Since the
2012 season, teams have been allowed 26-player active rosters for "day-night"
doubleheaders—two games scheduled on the same day, but with the stadium cleared between games, and separate tickets sold for each game—as long as the doubleheaders have been scheduled with at least 48-hours advanced notice.
[1] Teams are also allowed a 26th player for games played at neutral sites, such as the
MLB Little League Classic.
[2]
Changes effective 2020Edit
On March 14, 2019, MLB and the MLBPA reached an agreement on midterm changes to the then-current CBA that will affect future roster sizes. Effective with the
2020 season, teams will be allowed 26-man active rosters from the start of the season through August 31. A joint MLB/MLBPA committee will make recommendations on limits to the sizes of pitching staffs that, if adopted, will also take effect in 2020. MLB has proposed a limit of 13 pitchers through August 31 and 14 from September 1 to the end of the regular season. The agreement also calls for the introduction of a playing rule that places severe limits on pitching by position players.
Each team must designate players as either "position players" or "pitchers" before the start of the season, and that designation cannot be changed during the season. Only players who are designated as "pitchers" will be allowed to pitch in any regular-season or postseason game, with the following exceptions:
[3][4][5]
- One team is ahead by at least 7 runs when the player has assumed a pitching role.
- The game is in extra innings.
- The player serving as pitcher has earned the status of "two-way player".
A player earns two-way status by satisfying both of the following criteria, in either the current season or the immediately preceding season:
[3][5]
- Pitching at least 20 MLB innings.
- Playing in at least 20 MLB games as a position player or designated hitter, with at least three plate appearances in each of the 20 games.
If this rule had been in effect in 2019, no MLB player would have qualified for two-way status that season. The most obvious candidate for this status,
Shohei Ohtani, did not pitch in the 2019 season during his recovery from
Tommy John surgery, meaning he must re-qualify for two-way status when he returns to pitching in 2020. As
MLB.com writer David Adler put it,
[3]
Essentially, if the Angels plan on Ohtani hitting and pitching in the 2020 season, they'll have to designate him as a pitcher. There's no restriction on players who've been designated pitchers as far as letting them bat -- it's only players carrying a position player designation who cannot also pitch. . . . Once he reaches the 20 innings pitched and 20 batting games thresholds, he'll immediately qualify as a two-way player under the rule for the rest of '20 and all of '21. At that point, the Angels would potentially gain an extra “pitcher” spot on their roster.
. Literally just adds 16 guys to the WBL...but we need to up the player pool!
