Playoff Roster - 2018

[notin]

In the playoffs, defensive replacements and pinch hitting are more important than the 11th and 12th guy in the pen.

And getting key stolen bases. At least that's what Dave Roberts told me...

[Kimmi]

After reading this article, I'm 100% on board the Phillips hype train:

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/r...etting_call_to

He strikes me as a really good guy who just wants to play baseball. I was hoping that he'd be able to get some meaningful at bats with the team, and not just some fluff playing time. Good for him!

[illinoisredsox]

However, I think MLB teams have stayed with 12 pitchers during the regular season for decades. That's still a lot because it leaves just 13 position players--9 for the lineup plus a spare catcher, outfielder, and usually 2 infielders. Those 4 subs have to cover 9 positions plus pinch hit, etc.

The other point to remember is that you don't just want 12 arms--if you do--in the postseason. You want 12 quality arms. And that's pretty hard to find on any MLB team.

With 11 you have a little more assurance of quality and you know for a fact that no way, no how will you have to inflict Pom on this team or this fan base.

Decades? Maybe a decade. Seems to me the 12 man staff began about 10 years ago. Before that, it was typically an 11 man staff. When I was a kid half a century ago, 10 man staffs (and 4 man rotations) were the norm.

[sk7326]

He strikes me as a really good guy who just wants to play baseball. I was hoping that he'd be able to get some meaningful at bats with the team, and not just some fluff playing time. Good for him!

So was Phillips' homerun the 2018 Boston Red Sox Bat-Flip of the year? I have not seen a better one.

[Fan_since_Boggs]

Agreed: Pomeranz can't be on the postseason roster.

B.Phillips is interesting. I wonder if Phillips might be the Red Sox best starting option at 3b in the playoffs? That is, he might give you better defense than the error prone Devers, along with more professional at bats, and Phillips might be a better offensive player than Nunez.

[oldtimer]

Agreed: Pomeranz can't be on the postseason roster.

B.Phillips is interesting. I wonder if Phillips might be the Red Sox best starting option at 3b in the playoffs? That is, he might give you better defense than the error prone Devers, along with more professional at bats, and Phillips might be a better offensive player than Nunez.

It makes sense to raise the subject. Phillips has multiple gold gloves I believe. Having Kinsler and Phillips would improve the defense. Phillips is a professional hitter as is Nunez. Clearly Phillips is better defensively than Devers and is a smart player who runs the bases well. I think the FO will need to watch the performance of these three, especially if there is a possibility of including Phillips on the PO roster.

[moonslav59]

However, I think MLB teams have stayed with 12 pitchers during the regular season for decades. That's still a lot because it leaves just 13 position players--9 for the lineup plus a spare catcher, outfielder, and usually 2 infielders. Those 4 subs have to cover 9 positions plus pinch hit, etc.

The other point to remember is that you don't just want 12 arms--if you do--in the postseason. You want 12 quality arms. And that's pretty hard to find on any MLB team.

With 11 you have a little more assurance of quality and you know for a fact that no way, no how will you have to inflict Pom on this team or this fan base.

We are talking playoffs not regular season.

We have 5 days off, play 2, have another day off, play 2, have another day off, play 1 and have another day off. That does not happen in the regular season.

11 pitchers has happened in the playoffs several times in the last decade for precisely the schedule shown above. For God's sake, the Sox went with 11 last year vs Houston. Not 2 decades ago. Last year! Not only did we go with 14 positional players, we left Chris Young off the roster!

Guess what? We weren't the only team to go with 11 in last year's playoffs: the Cubs did, too.

I think the Mets went with 11 in 2015. I'm sure there were more.

The playoffs are different. There is no 5th starter needed and more days off than at any time during a regular season stretch. It's a 12 man staff without your 5th starter available.

[moonslav59]

BTW, we used 15 positional players today.

[a700hitter]

Agreed: Pomeranz can't be on the postseason roster.

B.Phillips is interesting. I wonder if Phillips might be the Red Sox best starting option at 3b in the playoffs? That is, he might give you better defense than the error prone Devers, along with more professional at bats, and Phillips might be a better offensive player than Nunez.

Offensively, they are probably very equal, but Phillips has more power. Defensively, Phillips is the better glove man.

[moonslav59]

Phillips was not on the 40 man roster by September 1st. He cannot be eligible for the playoffs.

Makes you wonder why they didn't add him a few days earlier. It's not like Renda has a long future with the Sox.

[a700hitter]

Phillips was not on the 40 man roster by September 1st. He cannot be eligible for the playoffs.

Makes you wonder why they didn't add him a few days earlier. It's not like Renda has a long future with the Sox.

Is there an injury loophole?

[Station 13]

Phillips was not on the 40 man roster by September 1st. He cannot be eligible for the playoffs.

Makes you wonder why they didn't add him a few days earlier. It's not like Renda has a long future with the Sox.

Phillips is eligible via being with the organization on September 1st.

[moonslav59]

Postseason Eligibility
Definition
Per Major League Baseball's collective bargaining agreement, players must meet certain criteria in order to be eligible for postseason play.

Players must be on the 40-man roster, the 60-day disabled list or the bereavement/family medical emergency list as of midnight ET on Aug. 31 to be eligible for their respective clubs' postseason rosters. Consequently, players that are acquired via September trades or signed as free agents in September are ineligible for postseason play.

Clubs can petition the Commissioner's Office to add any player that was not on the 40-man roster as of Aug. 31 -- provided the player was in the organization on Aug. 31 and is replacing a player who has spent at least 60 days on the 60-day disabled list. The Royals were able to use this tactic to add Brandon Finnegan to their roster during the 2014 postseason, despite the fact that Finnegan was not on the 40-man roster as of Aug. 31.

Additionally, all players who have served part of a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs in a given season are ineligible for postseason play that year.

Does this mean Phillips could be added because of Pedroia?

[a700hitter]

Postseason Eligibility
Definition
Per Major League Baseball's collective bargaining agreement, players must meet certain criteria in order to be eligible for postseason play.

Players must be on the 40-man roster, the 60-day disabled list or the bereavement/family medical emergency list as of midnight ET on Aug. 31 to be eligible for their respective clubs' postseason rosters. Consequently, players that are acquired via September trades or signed as free agents in September are ineligible for postseason play.

Clubs can petition the Commissioner's Office to add any player that was not on the 40-man roster as of Aug. 31 -- provided the player was in the organization on Aug. 31 and is replacing a player who has spent at least 60 days on the 60-day disabled list. The Royals were able to use this tactic to add Brandon Finnegan to their roster during the 2014 postseason, despite the fact that Finnegan was not on the 40-man roster as of Aug. 31.

Additionally, all players who have served part of a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs in a given season are ineligible for postseason play that year.

Does this mean Phillips could be added because of Pedroia?

It seems that the Red Sox would have to petition the Commissioner, and there is precedent for adding a player in this manner.

[notin]

BTW, we used 15 positional players today.

But only because Cora started the game with the "B" lineup. If he plans on giving Betts, Bogaerts and Martinez days off in the playoffs, the entire question of who gets the 25th roster spot is completely moot...