{"id":4444,"date":"2012-11-02T11:11:04","date_gmt":"2012-11-02T15:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=4444"},"modified":"2013-10-06T10:35:11","modified_gmt":"2013-10-06T14:35:11","slug":"september-callups-and-the-pending-nats-roster-crunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=4444","title":{"rendered":"September callups and the pending Nats Roster crunch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cole Kimball (remember him?) could be a victim of a roster crunch this off-season. Photo Rob Carr\/Getty Images via zimbio.com<\/p><\/div>\n

I took this discussion out of the comments section of the Giolito post in August<\/a> and made it a separate discussion item, since the situation only got more “dire” with the 9\/3\/12 call-ups of both Christian Garcia<\/strong><\/a> and Zach Duke<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Before getting into the below analysis, let me say this: I’m absolutely supported all of the 40-man additions or the 9\/1 call-ups; they were all required, important moves and, especially with the early-season catcher crunch, were vital to ensuring the continued success of the team through the September push.\u00a0 Adding these two latest arms to a well-used bullpen, plus the 9\/1\/12 call-ups of of eventual 5th starter John Lannan<\/strong>, catcher depth in Sandy Leon<\/strong> and defensive replacement\/pinch runner Eury Perez<\/strong> signal that this team used every avenue in its arsenal to win down the stretch and secure not only a playoff entry, but the #1 seed.<\/p>\n

Garcia and Duke were new 40-man additions<\/a>; to make room at the time the club put Henry Rodriguez<\/strong> on the 60-day dl (apropos since he just had season-ending elbow surgery).\u00a0 The 40-man roster was filled to a full 40 active players, with an additional three on 60-day DL (Kimball<\/strong> and Ramos<\/strong> joining H-Rod on the 60-day list).<\/p>\n

So, why am I worried about a future 40-man roster crunch? \u00a0Because with all these additions, we’re going to have to make some tough choices once it comes time to protect guys from the rule-5 draft. \u00a0Some have said that the expected Free Agents and Non-Tenders will immediately ease the roster crunch, but I’d counter that these players will have to immediately be filled through free-agency and aren’t going to offer the relief one may expect.<\/p>\n

Lets do some analysis for the 43 guys (40 on 40-man plus 3 60-day DL) we\u2019re talking about. \u00a0 Here’s how these 43 guys are categorized in terms of contract status for next year:<\/p>\n