Our APBA baseball league is entering into discussions that might change it quite drastically. We’re talking about (drum roll) roster expansion.
A little background… The Illowa APBA League is a 10-team continuous ownership league which uses the APBA Basic Game. For as long as I can remember, the IAL has had a simple 26-man roster with no expanded roster or “farm team”. In addition, we have a strict (I’m told) player usage policy which generally limits players to their actual at-bats and games and pitchers to actual innings, games started and game relieved (Grade D pitchers have their actual innings and games doubled).
The idea of roster expansion has been brought up in the past. It has been nay-sayed mostly because it might make teams too strong. The point is well taken since in the past we’ve had little parity in our league. Nowadays, the IAL is a little more evened out (my team not so much).
This time, the idea of roster expansion came from our commissioner, Mike Bunch. Maybe I’m exaggerating but Mike’s kind of like E.F. Hutton. When Mike talks, [cue silence] we listen. Some of you might get that reference.
So when he brought it up this time, it’s generated some good discussion. Mike’s point is that pitchers are pitching less innings each year in the majors plus there are more transactions between the minors and the majors. This all results in less playing time for the core players in our league making it difficult for our league managers to keep up with limits needs. When it comes draft time, we spend the bulk of our draft picks covering our immediate needs instead of taking a chance on a prospect player. Nothing is set in stone and won’t be until we vote on it in our 2013 Draft Weekend League Meeting. But we’ve already batted around some ideas and questions.
Here are some of the key ideas brought up:
Do we want to expand our rosters and if so, by how many players?
Shall we increase our roster size in one fell swoop or a player or two each season?
If we do expand the rosters, do we want to limit the number of players available for each series?
Should we have the expanded roster only available after a certain date in the season (like a mid-season call-up)?
With the expanded roster, will our double D pitcher rule be necessary any more? As far as I know, the IAL is the only league that does this though I could be wrong.
Even the idea of somehow restricting outfielders to playing their actual positions (LF, CF, RF) has been brought up. That has an odd appeal to me. Do other leagues employ this in any fashion?
Note: not all these quasi-amendments are friendly to our commissioner aka “Mr Roberts Rules of Order”. But I do like how it has got us talking.
Honestly, this is all new to the IAL. I would love to hear from other leagues who have gone through this process. Does your league have an expanded roster or has your league increased roster size? What was the process you went through and the ultimate outcome?
Our league is 15 teams and we have 36 man rosters. We restrict all players to games played and if pitchers then it’s innings pitched (at either relief/start) and starters are restricted to actual starts.
This gives you not only your “core” regulars but another eleven to help you get the season done and/or speculation.
I’d like to lower it a bit to say 33 but haven’t found any support from others.
Hi John,
Thanks for the input. Do you limit the number of players that can play in one particular series or time frame?
We have 38 man rosters and we play about 80 games. Our usage is that you can only use the players for half their AB’s and half their IP from the previous major league season.
You can only bring 25 players to each “series” which is 4 games. After the first 60 games, the roster is expanded to 28 players.
Side note – rosters go back down to 25 once the playoffs start.