rule changes for rosters in 2021

[djoctagone]

taking a page from this thread on last season, here's what we can expect and what we still don't know regarding roster construction in 2021 . . .

 

--rosters will be 26 players, expanding to 28 in september.

 

--there is no limit on the number of pitchers that a club can carry.

 

--clubs may carry a taxi squad of up to five players on road trips. if they carry five, one of them must be a catcher.

 

--most notably, if a covid outbreak occurs, replacement players are not subject to outright waivers to remove them from the 40-man roster.

 

--any player may appear as a pitcher.

 

unclear thus far . . .

 

--what defines an outbreak? in 2020, it was three or more players placed on the special covid-19 injured list. when that happened, they were treated just like a player put on the 60-day injured list--removed from the 40-man roster.

 

--will the requisite stay for optional assignments remain 10 days for both pitchers and position players?

 

--doubleheaders will consist of two seven-inning games. will mlb allow for a 27th man through september?

 

--mlb established a 60-man club player pool last year. will something similar be established in 2021?

[djoctagone]

the change to not require outright waivers during a covid outbreak is pretty significant. it basically allows the brewers to yo-yo any player back and forth (or possibly, only a player in the team's cpp) without having to worry about putting him on outright waivers to return him to the minor leagues.

 

for example, with a covid outbreak, the club could bring up non-roster players such as jace peterson, jordan zimmermann and payton henry to replace players on the special covid-19 injured list. they get added to the 40-man, taking up the spots vacated by the covid-19 players. when the covid-19 players are activated, the club can just return those replacements to the minor leagues and remove them from the 40-man roster without exposing them to another team to claim.

[AKCheesehead]

I'm glad to see they went back to any player can pitch. The other rule was just stupid and pointless.

[MadThinker88]

I recall seeing an earlier agreement (within the past 2 weeks when the 26 man regular season roster was announced) that a 27th man would be allowed for doubleheaders...

 

I would doubt the 27th man is during Sept as the regular roster is expanded to 28 already..

 

I would doubt there is a 60 man player pool UNLESS there is not a minor league season. The extras in the pool last season served as backups since there was no minors in 2020.

 

At the moment the AAA level is scheduled to begin play/ spring training with the MLB groups. The lower levels would start AFTER the 1st spring training camp concludes (& would run thru Sept to make up the time/ games). Having those players "playing" would remove the need for the pool group used last season.

 

Let's look at the pool groups logistically - Where did those players practice/ get housed in 2020?? At a nearby minor league site in almost every case. IF the minors are being played in 2021, where would the pool groups be at so they:

A) can practice without interfering or possibly come in constant contact with players outside the pool??

& B) can be away from the MLB groups to limit cross contamination/ exposure??

 

In short I suspect the pool idea only happens in no minor league play again.

[ThisIsMyCrew]

One of the biggest ones for me, is the use of in game video. This should benefit Hiura and Yelich who have said they relied on that a lot. Just can’t watch video with anyone in room.

[djoctagone]

I would doubt there is a 60 man player pool UNLESS there is not a minor league season. The extras in the pool last season served as backups since there was no minors in 2020.

 

In short I suspect the pool idea only happens in no minor league play again.

good points, but what if the pool exists only to limit the number of players who can be yo-yo'd back and forth without having to worry about outright waivers?

 

you have your 26-man roster, with 14 reserve players on optional assignment (assuming the 40-man is full). assuming a cpp of 60, that's up to 20 non-roster players who can be summoned and sent back with no relinquishment of club control during and after a covid-19 outbreak. or, it could be any player in the organization that is yo-yo'd. we need clarity here.

 

furthermore, unless there's some sort of player pool in place, clubs could in theory, bring up a player from the 2021 rule 4 draft, give him a taste of the bigs, and then send him back to the minors--and keep him off the 40-man for the next three to four seasons until he becomes eligible for the rule 5 draft.

[djoctagone]

clubs are limited to 75 players in spring camp.

 

with a 40-man roster (presumably full by the time camp starts), and 19 current non-roster invitees, that puts them at 59.

 

that leaves 16 spots open for players ticketed to class aaa, because class aa and class a will start their seasons later.

[JosephC]

So I thought the 26-man roster was a permanent rule? It is not? Chance they could go back to 25 in 2022?

[adambr2]

I find it hilarious that:

 

1) MLB wants the DH

2) The MLBPA wants the DH

3) We aren't going to have the DH, because both sides want to use it as a bargaining chip.

 

Clearly, so much has been learned from last year.

[djoctagone]

So I thought the 26-man roster was a permanent rule? It is not? Chance they could go back to 25 in 2022?

with a collective bargaining agreement set to expire after this year, anything is possible.

 

and as we saw last year, it was negotiated to start with a 30-man, then a 28-man, and then whittle down to a 26-man. mlb and the players union renegotiated in-season to stick with 28 players, including the postseason, and increased the taxi squad limit from three to five.

 

it's a pandemic. nothing can be permanent.

[MadThinker88]

So I thought the 26-man roster was a permanent rule? It is not? Chance they could go back to 25 in 2022?

with a collective bargaining agreement set to expire after this year, anything is possible.

 

and as we saw last year, it was negotiated to start with a 30-man, then a 28-man, and then whittle down to a 26-man. mlb and the players union renegotiated in-season to stick with 28 players, including the postseason, and increased the taxi squad limit from three to five.

 

it's a pandemic. nothing can be permanent.

 

The 26 player roster with limit of 13 pitchers was agreed to before the start of spring training 2020. Those were not pandemic related changes.

[jerichoholicninja]

I don't see it mentioned here but the runner in extra innings rule is staying too.

[djoctagone]

I don't see it mentioned here but the runner in extra innings rule is staying too.

yes, but that's an on-field playing rule, not a rule regarding roster construction.

 

again, the most significant change for 2021 roster management is eliminating outright waivers to return replacement players to the minors, provided those players were activated during a covid-19 outbreak. no other team can claim them in this instance.

[djoctagone]

--will the requisite stay for optional assignments remain 10 days for both pitchers and position players?

yes, and the requirement for pitchers' requisite stay on the injured list will not increase from 10 to 15 days, as was planned prior to the start of the 2020 season. 10 days minimum for the injured list for all players, and 10 days minimum requisite stay for all players on optional assignment.

[djoctagone]

clubs are limited to 75 players in spring camp.

 

with a 40-man roster (presumably full by the time camp starts), and 19 current non-roster invitees, that puts them at 59.

 

that leaves 16 spots open for players ticketed to class aaa, because class aa and class a will start their seasons later.

once the brett anderson signing is official, it's a full 40-man. and the reported number of non-roster invitees is now at 21.

 

that leaves 14 spots open for players in the maryvale facility.

 

it should be noted that not every player in the 75-man pool will be considered a non-roster invitee with the benefits afforded a non-roster invitee (which i believe include clubhouse access for meals and/or a per diem for meals and a per diem for lodging). david stearns is referring to these players as "early camp guys".

[DR28]

So I thought the 26-man roster was a permanent rule? It is not? Chance they could go back to 25 in 2022?

with a collective bargaining agreement set to expire after this year, anything is possible.

 

and as we saw last year, it was negotiated to start with a 30-man, then a 28-man, and then whittle down to a 26-man. mlb and the players union renegotiated in-season to stick with 28 players, including the postseason, and increased the taxi squad limit from three to five.

 

it's a pandemic. nothing can be permanent.

 

The 26 player roster with limit of 13 pitchers was agreed to before the start of spring training 2020. Those were not pandemic related changes.

 

I dont think this is the case for 2021 tho, I saw that teams can carry 14 pitchers if they want.

[djoctagone]

I dont [sic] think this is the case for 2021 tho, I saw that teams can carry 14 pitchers if they want.

as mentioned in the initial post of this thread, there will be no limit to the number of pitchers that a club can carry on its 2021 roster.

[DR28]

I dont [sic] think this is the case for 2021 tho, I saw that teams can carry 14 pitchers if they want.

as mentioned in the initial post of this thread, there will be no limit to the number of pitchers that a club can carry on its 2021 roster.

 

Shoot sorry, I see that now.

[djoctagone]

as outlined in this excellent article, in the month of april, clubs may only promote players from their alternate training site--which is essentially their class aaa club in an extended exhibition season. they cannot promote from class aa or lower. the alternate training site roster is set at 28 players.

[JohnBriggs12]

What's the deal with out of option players on the 40 man? Can they be kept on the 40 man until the minor league season starts at the alternate facilities or at least on the 5 man taxi squad?

[djoctagone]

What's the deal with out of option players on the 40 man? Can they be kept on the 40 man until the minor league season starts at the alternate facilities or at least on the 5 man taxi squad?

only if they clear waivers and accept the minor league assignment. from there, it's a little muddy.

 

as mentioned above, if the outrighted player is assigned to the alternate training site, he's fair game to be included on the five-man taxi squad for road trips, regardless of his 40-man roster status. but bear in mind that unless a 40-man spot is opened up, that non-roster taxi squad player can't be added to the major league roster. a covid outbreak allows for a non-roster player to be added, because the special covid-19 injured list removes the player from the 40-man, just like placement on the 60-day injured list.

 

the brewers did carry non-roster shelby miller on their first taxi squad of 2020, but then he later opted out for the season. i don't recall if the 40-man was full at that point or not. the brewers were secretive about their taxi squad makeup, and i don't believe that another non-roster player was on the taxi squad until zack brown and possibly keon broxton.

 

but, if the outrighted player isn't assigned to the alternate training site in april, that's where it gets muddy.

 

yes, a second wave of spring training is set to open in april, but that's for players expected to fill the biloxi (28 players), wisconsin (30) and carolina (30) rosters. that's at least 88 guys in maryvale. and some of them will likely be guys who are currently in maryvale who don't make the big league roster or the ats roster.

 

in the first wave of spring training, they're capped at 75 players.

 

we don't know yet what the cap will be for the second wave of spring training.

[djoctagone]

also unknown by this writer for 2021: as the brewers are likely to open camp with more than one player on the injured list, how are minor league rehab appearances defined?

 

it had been 20 days for position players, and 30 days for pitchers--but that was within the framework of championship minor league play. we now know that there won't be any official minor league games until may, at the earliest.

[djoctagone]

--clubs may carry a taxi squad of up to five players on road trips. if they carry five, one of them must be a catcher.

neglected to mention that the taxi squad catcher may also serve as a bullpen catcher. we don't know how things will shake out at the alternate training site yet, but it's possible that either nestor corredor or adam weisenburger would travel up to grand chute if a catcher is pulled away for the taxi squad on road trips--especially with jacob nottingham coming back slowly from his injury.

[djoctagone]

the change to not require outright waivers during a covid outbreak is pretty significant. it basically allows the brewers to yo-yo any player back and forth (or possibly, only a player in the team's cpp) without having to worry about putting him on outright waivers to return him to the minor leagues.

further clarification on removing replacement players from the 40-man roster after original active roster players placed on the special covid-19 related injured list during an outbreak are cleared to return to the 40-man: it's my understanding that in bypassing outright waivers, it does not become an outright assignment. thus, service time of five years or more and/or having already accepted an outright assignment previously should have no bearing on that player's ability to refuse being reassigned to the minor leagues again.

 

and, because it's not an outright assignment, it will not count as having already accepted an outright assignment in a player's career. remember, when a player clears outright waivers for the first time in his career to be assigned to the minor leagues, he cannot refuse the assignment. but any subsequent attempt to outright a player who clears waivers allows the player to become a free agent if he so chooses.

 

i'm drawing these conclusions because mlb has specifically stated that outright waivers are not required to return a covid-19 replacement player to the minor leagues. by making it a point to not call it an outright assignment, they're clearly stating that the rules are different. i'll be paying attention to the roster status of the washington nationals replacement players to see if i'm wrong on this.

[djoctagone]

also unknown by this writer for 2021: are trades limited to players in the 70-man collective player pool only? such restrictions were in place last year, after the transactions freeze was lifted.

 

i'm sensing no, because there were no restrictions on trades during the off-season and during spring training, and you'd think that such a barrier would've been widely reported.

 

clubs haven't seen many of their minor league players play since the 2019 season, and scouts from other clubs were barred in 2020, so it's difficult to evaluate trading chips. as minor league spring training gets underway, and the hopeful timely start of the minor league seasons in may, expect to see some minor trades of prospects as we inch closer and closer to the major league trading deadline (which presumably, will be end of july).