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Baltimore's blueprint for putting the O's back in October

The mystery is why MLB continues to do nothing about the farce of September baseball. General managers have talked for years about moving to a designated

Tom Verducci

Baltimore's blueprint for putting the O's back in October
Baltimore's blueprint for putting the O's back in October /
Kevin Gausman just returned to the Orioles from the minors, and he figures to play an important role down the stretch.
Kevin Gausman just returned to the Orioles from the minors, and he figures to play an important role down the stretch :: Gail Burton/AP

The mystery is why MLB continues to do nothing about the farce of September baseball. General managers have talked for years about moving to a designated daily roster of between 25-28 players. For instance, you can call up as many players as you want, but before each game you hand in an active roster. That way, at least both teams are playing with the same number of players, and nobody winds up with six left-handers in the bullpen. But for all the talk, nothing is ever done about it. I have not heard a single good argument for why it makes sense to keep the present system.

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Tom Verducci
TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.

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