A Major League Baseball roster is a roster of players able to play for their respective Major League team. There are two types of rosters, the 25-man roster and the 40-man roster.
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Also called the active roster, the 25-man is composed of 25 players who are playing for their Major League team. They are the starting eight position players, pitchers, and reserve players on the team. Players on the active roster are also on the 40-man roster. These players are generally the only ones who dress in uniform and are the only ones who may take the field in a game at any time. Typically, only players on the 25-man roster, and players who are on the disabled list but were on the 25-man roster, travel on road trips with the Major League team.
Beginning in the 2012 season, teams will be allowed 26-man rosters for scheduled "day-night" doubleheaders—two games scheduled on the same day, but with the stadium cleared between games, and separate tickets sold for each game.[1]
Also called the expanded roster, the 40-man is composed of all the players in a Major League club's organization who are signed to a major-league contract. These are the players who are able to be called up to the 25-man roster at any given time. Also on the 40-man are any players on the 15-day disabled list and minor league players who are signed to a major-league contract but are on an "optional assignment" to the minors. (Each player has three "options" to be sent to the minors once on the 40-man before they must be placed on waivers to be sent there.) Players who were on the 40-man but are placed on the 60-day disabled list are taken off the 40-man until the time on the DL is over. The same applies to players who are suspended. Because players on the 60-day DL are taken off the 40-man with no risk of losing the player, MLB teams often transfer injured players from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL so that they can add another player to the 40-man without having to designate a player for assignment. Designating for assignment is the removal of a player from the 40-man, whereby the team has 10 days to trade, release, or send the player to the minors.
A "September call-up" is a player who is on the expanded roster before September 1, but not the 25-man. On September 1, the Major League team's roster expands from the 25-man active roster to the entire 40-man roster. At this point, any player on the 40-man can play for the Major League team. September call-ups are players from the minors who are played in September to get Major League experience and, especially for teams in contention, to provide reinforcements down the stretch.
All other professional players affiliated with Major League Baseball are signed to minor-league contracts. They can receive an invitation to spring training with their organization's Major League team without being on the 40-man roster. Two types of players generally receive a non-roster invitation: prospect players who are there to gain experience and face tougher competition as well as receive instruction from the Major League team's coaching staff; and veteran players who were not offered any major league contract by a club. The veteran player is usually signed to a "two-way" salary option—one for their time in the minors and another if they are placed on the 40-man during the season. All spring training invitees are under some sort of contract, to avoid liability if an injury were to occur to the player.
| American League | |||||||||||||||||||
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| East Division
Baltimore Orioles |
Central Division
Chicago White Sox |
West Division
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim |
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| National League | |||||||||||||||||||
| East Division
Atlanta Braves |
Central Division
Chicago Cubs |
West Division
Arizona Diamondbacks |
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