St. Louis Cardinals: The 26-man roster will come with a catch

The St. Louis Cardinals will be able to utilize a 26th man on the roster starting in the 2020 season but as of recent news, there is a limit on the roster.

The MLB is always trying to create more jobs for major leaguers and in 2020, 30 new jobs will be created when each team will be allowed to take on a 26th man on their everyday roster. This is a great thing for all teams but particularly for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Discussing who should fill that final spot for the Cardinals is for another article, but what it will do for teams is make them not have to choose between having a five-man bench or a 13-man pitching staff, allowing them to have both.

This is great for a team like the Cardinals who have about 10 outfielders who they need to test and see whether or not they are major leaguers. However, there will be a wrench thrown into things if teams try to get too creative with their roster construction, specifically the bullpen.

According to MLB, the number of pitchers allowed to be on a roster will be capped at 13.

More from St Louis Cardinals News

• Cardinals Rumors: 3 pros and cons of signing Carlos Rodon
• Cardinals: Here is Willson Contreras’ first message for St. Louis fans
• How do the St. Louis Cardinals stack up with Willson Contreras?
• Cardinals: The insane asking price the Athletics had for Sean Murphy
• St. Louis Cardinals: Ask me anything with Josh Jacobs – 12/8

That isn’t world breaking news, but it does restrict creativity. Why any team would want to carry more than 13 pitchers is beyond me, especially with the new three-batter minimum rule as well.

Assuming a team has five normal starters, an eight-man bullpen already restricts innings and is tough to balance. The Cardinals have kept a five-man bench the majority of the past few years but haven’t had any issues using the Memphis shuttle to add bullpen depth when it was needed. Mike Matheny would bury some bullpen arms and overuse others. We have seen a good change with Mike Shildt.

Either way, having another spot on the bench and in the bullpen will allow a team like the Cardinals to carry three catchers potentially or a player who can strictly be a pinch hitter. Or, maybe even both. There’s a limit on pitchers, but not on position players. With a 26-man roster, teams could potentially have a six-man bench.

It will take some adjustment to see how teams want to play the 26-man roster, but limiting teams to 13 pitchers doesn’t really change things much for 2020.