St. Louis Cardinals: How the 26th man will change things

Starting in 2020, the St. Louis Cardinals will be able to have a 26th man on the everyday roster. How does that change things?

There are a couple of new rules that are coming in 2020 that the St. Louis Cardinals are going to have to plan for. These changes are relatively small but still will have the chance to change how the team views its roster. The change we are discussing today has to do with a change that will create 30 new MLB jobs across the league. This is, of course, the addition of the 26th man on the active rosters.

One apparent stipulation with this change is that teams will be limited to having 13 pitchers to hopefully dampen the number of pitching changes in each game.

During the Mike Matheny era, the Cardinals regularly carried an 8th bullpen arm (or 13th pitcher) who rarely was used. While Mike Shildt has done a great job fixing that specific issue, he has had his problems getting every bench player time on the field. This was seen at times in 2019 with Lane Thomas and Randy Arozarena being banished to the bench.

But how does having an extra man on the everyday roster change things?

My first thought is that it doesn’t make things easier on Mike Shildt.

With 25 man rosters, there was always the choice between having an eight-man bullpen or a five-man bench. Most likely, now most teams will be able to do both. What we saw with Mike Shildt wasn’t an anomaly around the league as plenty of managers find it tough to get plenty of playing time for everyone on the bench and bullpen.

While the rule change will help allow another player to make MLB money and gain the experience at the highest level, that last player is going to have to be picked carefully.

Teams won’t be able to bring up a star rookie as that 26th man unless another player moves down the effective depth chart or else he won’t play. In a young player’s development, the most important thing is getting playing time regularly, and the 26th spot on the roster won’t be that place. With a rigorous schedule, reinforcements will be easier to find but harder to use.

There will definitely be an adjustment period because the only time managers get a 26th man is when there is a doubleheader. It’ll make things more difficult but will likely help teams out. More weapons on the bench and in the bullpen is never a bad thing but again, keeping those weapons sharp is going to be the issue.

All sarcasm aside, the good thing from the Cardinals’ standpoint is that they are going to be able to hide their bad contracts more easily. With more spots out there, keeping a guy like Brett Cecil or Matt Carpenter on the team, trying to get them right won’t hurt as bad as it did last year because the player who they were keeping out will no longer have to stay in the minor leagues, they can be up too.

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That is a very slim silver lining on some of the contracts the Cardinals have, but a benefit is a benefit.

How exactly this will shake out for the Cardinals will remain to be seen, but with the vast wealth of complimentary outfield prospects the Cardinals have, I wouldn’t rule out having the same 12-man bullpen and a six-man bench full of Lane Thomas, Randy Arozarena, Tyler O’Neill, Harrison Bader, or Dylan Carlson.

This may also compel the Cardinals to resign Matt Wieters and keep Andrew Knizner up to play with three catchers on the MLB roster. This would let the team pinch-hit one of the two catchers and still be protected in case of injury.

There’s a lot of flexibility that may let the Cardinals do some fun creative things. We will just have to see.

With each new change to the MLB rules, there are ways to get ahead if the rules are exploited the best way. Competitive advantages may not last long, but you use them when you can get them. More players in the MLB is good for the overall health of the sport, it’ll just be dangerous only if a 26th player is left on the bench to rot.