Mods feel free to move this elsewhere if there's a better fit on this board.
With trade deadline season fully heated up and all the assumptions of the Dodgers landing any and every impact player if they want to despite already having dramatic payroll and roster advantages over the rest of MLB, I decided to take a closer look at their 40 man roster. They currently have a surprising amount of minor league guys and role player type arms on it, and the reason is so many of their best arms and players currently sit on the 60 day IL. Snell, Glasnow, and Will Smith are obviously key cogs in the Dodgers' plans to try and 3 peat as World Series Champs this October - the timing of them all curiously going on the 60 day IL with various minor/nagging injury issues has to be questioned, given the fact all are appearing to readily ramp up their rehabs and will likely be back in Dodger blue in early to mid-August - just enough time to shake the rust off and be rested/primed for another playoff run. Add in Treinan on the 15-day IL also progressing back on schedule for a similar return date.
Current rules allow for players to be placed on the 60 day IL and be removed from the 40 man roster in order to give guys with legitimate moderate but not season-ending injuries the opportunity to get back to MLB. I do think there's value in preserving that option, but I also think teams are gaming that system, the Dodgers in particular, to preserve health/wear and tear on their veteran players so they're fresh for the postseason. They've essentially created a 45 man roster with using the 60 day IL, and have been able to protect losing some of their developed prospects by timing the return of their veteran studs after the trade deadline. It's yet another advantage that organization has over essentially everyone else in MLB. Knowing the only reason the Dodgers could be in the mix for an impact starter like Skubal is because they're stowing 3-5 of an already stellar rotation (including Ohtani with the weird "two way player" roster exemption they get) in their back pocket until the calendar gets to mid-August is particularly sickening.
I don't want to completely do away with a 60-day IL option, but I think MLB needs to strongly consider placing limits on how long that list can be before forcing teams/players onto a season ending IL where their year (regular and postseason) is done. The Dodgers currently have 8 players on their 60-day IL who could in theory return to the 26-man MLB gameday roster, while the Brewers have 6. That seems reasonably close in comparison until you see that the only Brewer currently on the list with any shot at returning to Milwaukee this year is Lockridge - the rest are pitchers who have underwent season ending surgery this league year, the lone exception being Zastrysny - whose shoulder probably needs the knife, too.