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What is the 40-man and 26-man roster?

Overview

Major league baseball teams have roster size limits. At any given time during the season, only 26 players are allowed on the active MLB roster. 

Players on this 26-man roster are eligible to play in games. For a player to be selected for the 26-man roster, they must already be placed on the 40-man roster.

40-Man Roster

The 40-man roster includes all players that are active on the 26-man roster, injured list players, bereavement/family medical emergency list players, paternity leave list players, and some minor league players. 

For a club to add a player to their active 26-man roster and have that player be eligible to play in MLB games, they must first add that player to the 40-man roster. If the 40-man roster is full, the club must remove a player in any one of a number of ways. Clubs can open a 40-man roster spot by trading players, designating a player for assignment, releasing a player, or transferring a player to the 60-day injured list. 

Players that are on the 40-man roster but are not selected for the 26-man roster for Opening Day, must be optioned to the minor leagues. Players have three “option” years (in some rare cases players can be granted a fourth option year) in which they can be transferred between the major and minor leagues without much say in the matter. 

Once a player has been optioned during three separate seasons, they can decline to accept the minor league assignment and become a free agent. Such position players that have been optioned must spend a minimum of 10 days in the minor leagues before they are eligible to be recalled to the MLB 26-man roster. For pitchers, the number of days is 15 before they are eligible to be recalled. 

A key component of the 40-man roster is that players on the 40-man roster are not eligible to be selected during the Rule 5 Draft. MLB clubs will put highly ranked prospects on the 40-man roster once they are eligible for the Rule 5 Draft in order to protect those players from being selected by other organizations. 

26-Man Roster

The 26-man roster is comprised of active players during the MLB season. MLB rosters are set at this 26-player maximum from Opening Day until August 31st. From September 1st to the end of the regular season clubs are permitted to have 28 players on their roster. 

The composition of these roster sizes is fairly flexible with the only stipulation being that from Opening Day to August 31st when roster size is 26, the maximum number of pitchers allowed on the roster is 13. From September 1st to the end of the regular season the maximum number of pitchers is 14.

During the regular season, before September 1st, when a club is playing a doubleheader or finishing a previously suspended game and playing a regularly scheduled game on the same day, they are permitted to call up a 27th player for that day only. 

In the case of doubleheaders, that player is eligible to play in both games. In the game of a suspended game, followed by a regularly scheduled game, the 27th player can only participate in the regularly scheduled game.

Summary

The 40-man and 26-man rosters are the working rosters for MLB clubs during the MLB season and off-season. The easiest way to think about these two rosters is that the 26-man roster are the players that are eligible to play any given night during the regular season. 

While the 40-man roster is composed of active players that the team plays with on a nightly basis plus supplemental players ready to be called up from the minor leagues if needed and players that are injured or away from the MLB club for personal reasons. 

Related Links:

https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/26-man-roster

https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/minor-league-options

https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/40-man-roster


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