KC Royals: Why Cheslor Cuthbert Will Replace Terrance Gore

1.) Cheslor Cuthbert Is On The 40-Man Roster

Certainly, Dayton Moore can juggle his 40-man roster. But, it is easier to call someone up who is already in place for a trip to Kansas City.

A player must be on the 40-man roster before he can be called up to the major-leagues. The minor league players on the 40-man roster pretty much fall into two categories 1) players that could help the big club in case of injury or 2) players the organization wants to protect because they otherwise would have been eligible to leave as a minor-league free agent.

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Thus, adding a player to the 40-man roster could force the club to expose someone to waivers before he can be assigned to a minor-league team. General managers don’t like to do that because they could lose talent.

Moore could move a player on the 40-man roster who does remain under team control (one with less than six years of minor league service). Of course, general managers don’t like to demote someone unless there’s a significant need to do so, because it could always make waves with the player or cause a young guy to lose confidence in himself.  The other way to make room on the 40-man roster is to place someone on the disabled list (which requires a legitimate injury).

So while it’s not impossible that Moore could call up someone not currently on the 40-man roster, it’s more likely he chooses someone who is already on the list.

Next: Reason No. 2