Expanding Rosters - Yuk

[BMW]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

For a player already on the 40-man roster it would. But if the player was not on the 40-man roster, and was added to it in September and added to the 25-man active roster at the same time, and remained on the active roster through the end of the season, then the player wouldn't use an option since he spent no time in the minors after being added to the 40-man roster. (Assuming such a player had options remaining, that is.)

Yep. Only sending someone down to the minors while they are on the 40 man roster uses an option year. Except LGO is a little off, for a player on the 40-man roster, you've already used up an option year by the time September rolls around.

So come September:

1. If you have a player on the 40-man roster at that moment and he's in the minors, you've already used up that option year. So it's impossible to use up another one that year.
2. If a player is not on the 40-man roster, if you bring him up to the majors, you don't use up an option year unless you send him to the minors that season. Which, of course, you have no reason to do with expanded rosters.

I've been doing this in my online league since OOTP9.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by BMW

If you have a player on the 40-man roster at that moment and he's in the minors, you've already used up that option year.

I don't think the date matters; all that matters is the total number of days spent in the minors while on the 40-man roster. Spend 19 days or less, no option charged. Spend 20 days or more in the minors, an option is charged. At least, there's no reference to a Sept. 1st deadline in any of the (admittedly older) copies of the Major League Rules I have onhand.

I don't think OOTP recreates this particular option rule, however.

Originally Posted by BMW

If a player is not on the 40-man roster, if you bring him up to the majors, you don't use up an option year unless you send him to the minors that season.

Of course, there is a real-world restriction which kicks in with any player added to the 40-man roster after Aug. 15: he cannot be sent back to the minors, either optionally or outright, until early in the spring training period for the next season. The only way to remove such players ('draft-excluded' is the technical term, since by being placed on the 40-man roster they are excluded from that year's Rule 5 draft) prior to that guaranteed spring training trial is either by releasing or non-tendering them.

I don't think OOTP doesn't recreate this particular rule either, which leaves a loophole OOTP users can exploit.

[gnomez]

Originally Posted by BMW

I like using it to stave off injuries.

Plus, I think the flavor of baseball is enhanced by the failed prospects and career minor leaguers that get their cup of coffee at the end of the year. Sometimes their names would be lost to history to the average fan. With a Mets fan, I can reminisce about the existence of former pitching prospect Blaine Beatty, just as much as Dwight Gooden. Sure, there's not that much to say about Beatty, but the fact that he got up to the majors puts him into a class shared by only several thousand other people in sports history. Phil Lombardi, Lou Thorton, Doug Simons, Kelvin Torve. I never forget them.

About the only time that it isn't useful is in a highly contested pennant race, unless your organization is so deep that you have very effective major leaguers stashed in the minors. In general, unless that is the case, everybody comes up to the majors for me.

Another thing to note, and OOTP does do this correctly, if you put a guy on the 40 Man and on the Active Roster at the end of the season, it doesn't use up an option year. I will sometimes do this with players who are Rule 5 eligible the following season.

Mike Coolbaugh was a replacement for one of J.D. Drew's uncountable injuries, but I remember seeing a great catch he made. I also remember becoming an inexplicably big fan of Kevin Ohme and Matt Duff.

[HerbD]

In OOTP I bring up every guy that has a major league contract. If I'm paying him he might as well be on the roster come September.

[The Oz]

I look forward to September call-ups every year. I love seeing how the kids do & like being able to micro-manage for a little while with the added bench and bullpen depth.