djoctagone

something else to consider as the brewers conduct spring training . . . consider if they sign a free agent to a major league contract, or if they acquire major league talent in a trade and need to bump someone else from the 40-man to make room. typically, if the bumped player clears outright waivers, as a courtesy, he remains in major league camp, but as a non-roster invitee. does the bumped player remain part of the 75? or does someone else get the boot? if so, where does he go as he prepares for his minor league season? again, the brewers don't have to worry about losing control of a player if they remove him from the 75-man pool. but it does limit his access to maryvale facilities.

don't forget that scheduling has changed. three off days in every month, and april and september have four off days (and september rosters will be 28 players). no cap on the number of pitchers on a roster, and position players can pitch if needed. the requisite stay for a pitcher on optional assignment or on the injured list is still 10 days--not 15. and, class aaa teams are off every monday--after a sunday day game. all of this should help every mlb club's pitching staff and minimize wear and tear.

eight days ago, david stearns was projecting this: 57 or 58 in big league camp (we now know it's actually 21 non-roster invitees plus a full 40-man roster = 61) 12 or 13 "early camp guys"--which would correspond with the list of minor leaguers above (we now know it's actually 15) approximately five rehabbers (not sure who on the list of 76 players counts as a rehabber)

2021 spring training is going to be a bit different than any previous years. if you've been to the facilities in the maryvale neighborhood, you know that there are many fields that minor league prospects work out on, and that there are hundreds of players on the grounds. clubs are now limited to 75 players on site at one time. creating this thread to keep track of this player pool, because it may or may not determine eligibility of activation at the major league level if a covid outbreak occurs. fans should know that there is no penalty for removing players from this 75-man pool (unlike last year), but for now, i'm going on the assumption that in order to be activated for the big leagues, you have to be in this 75-man pool. what we know thus far: the 40-man roster is full. the brewers have 21 non-roster invitees in major league camp. that puts the club at 61 players. this article lists 15 players with early invitations, which puts the total at 76 players. not sure how they get to be one over, but they may be excluding jacob nottingham, who’s currently out with an injury. rhp luke barker lhp leo crawford rhp bowden francis lhp antoine kelly rhp max lazar rhp reese olson rhp zach vennaro of micah bello 3b lucas erceg c/of cooper hummel c nick kahle of/1b dustin peterson of hedbert perez inf/of jamie westbrook ss freddy zamora it's likely that a couple non-roster invitees will opt out. that may prompt the club to add additional guys to the 75-man pool. let's keep track of them in this thread. if you see a guy appear in a box score that's not on the 40-man, not a non-roster invitee, or not on the list above, then it's worth reporting here, and we'll try to make sense of it.

this deal is official.

brett anderson deal is official. he has three minor league options, but has enough service time to refuse any optional assignment. the 40-man roster is at capacity.

something i hadn't considered until today . . . if the brewers have a covid outbreak, they can activate any player in the organization (or perhaps any player in their 75-man collective player pool), without having to concern themselves with 40-man roster status of the replacement player. it should be noted that the 75-man cpp can be fluid, without ramifications of losing control of the player. could ryan braun emerge as such a replacement? perhaps he signs a deal with the brewers as a consultant, but finds a way to stay in playing shape. i realize that such an outcome with braun is unlikely, and it's dependent on a club outbreak . . . but it certainly adds an angle that normally wouldn't be available . . .

the brewers have officially announced this signing.

vogelbach is now #20.

the injury that shut down corbin burnes last year was minor. was throwing again less than a month later.

it's going to boil down to whether or not the brewers carry 13 or 14 pitchers on the 26-man (and also whether or not there's a universal dh), but before kolten wong signed, i thought nottingham had a shot at making the club as a late-inning replacement at catcher or first base as the 26th man.

The 2021 MiLB season was destined to be shortened, first due to the setup changes and then due to covid & precautions being taken as a result. You might recall there was talk about having a staggered spring training where MLB & invites would go first (& go thru completion) before the minor league camp would even start. In the past the minor league camp would get underway during the 1st week of March (so during MLB spring training) and some milb players would shuttle back n forth between the camps/ games being played IF the MLB season gets pushed back, the MiLB season is sure to follow. seeing that mlb rosters no longer expand to 40 in september, wouldn't it make sense to have minor league seasons go a little bit deeper into september--or at least for class aaa teams? how do reserve players stay in shape while the major league season is still continuing. . . lifting fedex parcels? the sounds' last game in 2021 is 19 september. that's not counting the postseason. problem solved.

not exactly. 10 opponents, including four from the midwest division. 2021 opponents are: charlotte (white sox) columbus (indians) durham (rays) gwinnett county (braves) indianapolis (pirates) jacksonville (marlins) louisville (reds) memphis (cardinals) norfolk (orioles) toledo (tigers)

this deal was officially announced by the club today.

i keep thinking about how advantageous this is to the parent club. allows the club to bring up the most-rested pitchers, regardless of their 40-man roster status. if a 40-man guy is struggling, a player lacking a major league contract could come up instead. thus, we could see quite a few players making their 2021 debuts this year . . . especially if an outbreak is defined by having had close contact with another team who had a bunch of players test positive (i.e. the clubs who had played the marlins and the cardinals right before their massive outbreaks). i hope that an outbreak doesn't happen to any team . . . but if it does, expect to see some surprise player activations.

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.

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".

mark your calendars for 15 march. that's the reported opt-out date for shaw if he isn't added to the 40-man roster. that's quite early in camp. shaw does have a minor league option remaining, but has enough service time to refuse the optional assignment. there are 21 non-roster invitees in big league camp.

when this move is official, the 40-man will be at capacity. brett anderson still has three minor league options, but enough service time to refuse any optional assignment.

derek fisher has been acquired from the blue jays for cash and a player to be named. fisher is out of options, but has yet to accept an outright assignment to the minor leagues. the roster is at 39 players.

david freitas was released last week. the roster is at 38 players.

derek fisher is out of options. he has not been outrighted to the minor leagues.

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.

brad boxberger has burned all of his options. there are 20 non-roster invitees coming to spring camp.

more significant, the nashville sounds will be part of triple-a east, meaning they will play 19 other affiliates--all assigned to major league central and east clubs.