Just as football season arrives and a new set of drafts strongly divert our attention away from baseball, the MLB gods mess with us further through September roster expansion.
Though everyone should know what this is, here is a very quick background primer. Starting September 1, all MLB clubs are allowed to add to their active MLB roster (which is limited to 25 players the first five months) any player currently on the 40-man roster. Some clubs act the first day, while others dribble the promotions through the first half of September (while minor league playoffs are underway).
For the fantasy manager, beyond the obvious increase in the player pool tempered by the uncertainty in playing time for the incumbents these new arrivals create, there are at least two other downstream impacts.
One is that there is often a backlog of previously-injured MLB players who had been kept by their clubs on minor league rehab stints during August, with the clear intent to activate them when rosters expand. Many arrive back on September 1, creating some tough roster management dilemmas for fantasy managers who do not have expanded rosters for their own use.
In one such example, the St. Louis Cardinals had Adam Wainwright make six minor league rehab starts during August while stalling to make a decision whether or not to return the 37-year old to their big-league rotation.
The other item I want to discuss is that the use of the 10-day disabled list becomes meaningless during the final month. In essence, in September, the 25-man and the 40-man are one and the same. Once rosters expand, there is no benefit to an MLB team to officially place an injured player on the 10-day. (A move to the 60-day, however, for those out for the year, still does free up a 40-man roster spot to potentially be used for another.)
Let’s take them one at a time.
Return of big-leaguers
In most fantasy leagues, players coming off the MLB DL must be activated – if not immediately, then very soon. This creates a roster crunch for many owners – at the same time they want to grab some of the hot September call-ups.
For example, in Tout Wars, there had been a concern about the shallow player pools and player hoarding, especially in the AL- and NL–only leagues. In addition to reducing reserve spots from six to four, the three-week grace period to activate a previously-injured player was cut to the first Sunday night after he returns to MLB action.
While LABR seemed to have a more liberal policy, holding to the three-week window, it is in fact, no better. The first Sunday night after the player is activated in MLB, his LABR owner must either activate him or move him to reserves for up to two more weeks. Of course, what that means is that other players must still be dropped to make room. So, this approach still means there is not much of a grace period at all.
Just this past weekend, I wanted to grab new Giants outfielder Chris Shaw off the waiver wire in NL LABR, but had to deal with the MLB activations of both Lewis Brinson and Martin Prado. While neither of the latter are game-changers, they have value in an NL-only format.
I ended up getting Shaw and chose to release Eric Thames, whose playing time has evaporated due to Ryan Braun’s return. It hurt, but I probably should have unloaded that .217 batting average months ago. I dropped others to make room for Brinson and Prado on my reserves and will decide their fate in two weeks. Chances are I will not be helped by other players going on the DL.
In NL-only Tout, I had outfielder Jay Bruce back and with no clear bad reserves to waive, I selected a semi-regular in Gerardo Parra to axe while protecting September call-ups such as Miami’s Sandy Alcantara.
That brings us to…
Unused DLs in September
Basically during the final month of the season, MLB 10-day DL moves are one-way – players are coming off, but with none going on.
Other than the roster crunch point already made, it forces the fantasy owner to watch his players’ at-bats and innings-pitched counts, as well as player news, more closely than ever. I know I am asking you to do this during a period in which you want to focus on football news. I get it.
However, without explicit DL moves being made by teams, if you are not careful, you could leave a player on your active roster who is injured but not formally declared so. A secondary risk is erosion of playing time that quietly sucks the remaining value from a player, such as in the cases of Thames and Parra mentioned above.
Bottom line, like it or not, this is not the time to lose focus on your fantasy baseball roster if you remain in contention. These kinds of seemingly-minor issues could be the “gotcha” that ruins your prior five months of hard work. Don’t be “that” guy/gal!
Brian Walton was the 2009 National League Tout Wars champion, scoring the most points in the league’s 19-year history. He also holds the all-time NL Tout single-season records for wins and saves. His work can also be found daily at TheCardinalNation.com. Follow Brian on Twitter.
