Leo: Making some transactions

The Indians filled up the 40-man roster last week with the additions of three minor league players and since then many have asked me, “What does all this roster stuff mean?”. So here’s the long and short of it.

All minor league players that are not on the team’s 40-man roster after four years of experience are eligible for the Rule 5 Draft. The draft, held during the winter meetings, allows every team to select “unprotected” players from another organization and place them on their roster. Those drafted players must stay on the major league roster (25 -man) or be offered back to their original team.

Notable players eligible for the Rule 5 draft this year are LHP Eric Berger, RHP Paolo Espino, RHP Bryce Stowell, INF Beau Mills, OF Trevor Crowe, OF Chad Huffman, OF Tim Fedroff, and OF Donnie Webb.

With the upcoming re-signing of Grady Sizemore, the Tribe will need to open a roster spot because Cleveland recently added LHP Scott Barnes, RHP Danny Salazar, and INF Juan Diaz which took the last three available.

Here is the current Indians 40-man roster.

“Why does it matter if a minor league player is on the 40-man roster?”

It matters because the team can call that player up without making a 40-man move. That player can be “recalled” (called up) and “optioned” (sent down) unlimited times during the season. This can happen for three years. If a player is taken off the 40-man roster, they are “designated for assignment” and if they’re DFA’ed twice, they must go on waivers and can be claimed by another team.

Whan the major league roster expands in September, any player on the 40-man roster can be added to the team.

It also likely means a better salary. Baseball’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement will raise the minimum salary for minor leaguers on the 40-man roster to $78,250 in 2012, $79,900 in 2013, and $81,500 in 2014.

This is, however, still well below the major league minimum salary which will go to $480,000 in 2012, $490,000 in 2013, and $500,000 in 2014.

The world off baseball transactions can be a messy business, but stay tuned and we’ll try to keep you in the loop.

Clippers single game tickets go on sale December 1st. Check out the 2012 schedule and then buy some tickets as a stocking stuffer!