It’s
Time
The signs are all there. We’ve just got to
face up to them.
We have pitch counts. We have innings limits.
We have starters, long relievers, 6th inning guys, 7th
inning guys, 8th inning guys, closers, mop-up guys. We have a whole
variety of pitchers who trot out for a single, designated purpose, are then
encased in bubble wrap for a mandatory rest period, while other guys come out
of their bubble wrap to perform their duties.
You no longer have Tom Seaver going nine
innings. You no longer have Tug McGraw coming in to throw the last three
innings. You no longer have guys doing 300 innings in a year. In the American
League you have a tenth player in the game, the designated hitter. There are
more and more players needing Tommy John Surgery. (I think that’s because a lot
more guys are throwing fastballs in excess of 95 MPH.) The Mets completed the 4th
frigging game of the season, without any new injury, and NEEDED TO CALL A GUY UP
FROM THE MINORS.
We have reached the point where we have to
abandon an age-old tradition in this game. We have to lose something that’s
been going on for about a hundred years.
We have to increase the size of the roster
from twenty-five.
It needs to go up to something like twenty-eight
or thirty.
The next sound you will hear is the owners,
in a group, rising up and groaning like a Greek Chorus in Brooks Brothers suits.
They’ll whine that they can’t possibly come up with all of that extra money to
pay three or five guys the minimum salary. They’ve forgotten they’ve got a
billion-dollar business. But corporations are always that way. The only thing
they want to see on their profit and loss statements are the income figures.
They want to get rid of all of those nasty expense things that cost them money.
And you can’t argue with them that they will be improving the product.
We’ve got to start seriously talking about
increasing the roster size, and do it soon. Sooner! The game is deteriorating
in its current shape.
Whenever Richard Herr isn’t solving all the
Mets’ problems, he spends his time writing humorous science fiction novels.
You can see his books at https://www.amazon.com/Richard-Herr/e/B00J5XBKX4.
5 comments:
I would be in favor of something similar to what hockey does, in which baseball teams would have a 25-man active roster every night but could "scratch" a certain number of players who wouldn't be available to play. If the roster size was increased to 30 players, but five players were scratched before every game, teams could carry more relievers and bench options to suit that particular contest.
I agree....27 guys would be much better. Guys like TJ Rivera would get to the bits much sooner. A 3rd catcher could become possible again. Etc.
Not being a hockey fan, how exactly would that work? For example, every starting pitcher other than the one going that day would be on the "reserve" squad, so there's 4 of 5 extra spots taken up already.
If I were building a "taxi squad," it would have an extra starter/long reliever, an extra reliever, an extra catcher, an extra infielder and an extra outfielder. If I had a really good utility player, I might carry only two position players and three pitchers. I would scratch the previous night's starter every game, as well as any reliever who needs a rest. Other than that, you'd mix and match rosters every day to match the opponent.
I think Reese's plan is what most clubs would adopt--not dress the 4 non-starting starters in favor of some extra RP's & position players (including a 3rd catcher). The whole idea of having a 3rd catcher (active) is to allow either of the first two to PH.
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