So here it is September and rosters expand, at least for most teams. It works out well that rosters expand at this time of year because at the end of a long season players often have little injuries that kind of accumulate and since either teams are out of the race so it doesn't matter if everyday players get a day off or teams are going to the playoffs and they want to rest players. Either way extra players are useful.
Or would be, if we bothered to call them up. The Jays have a rash of minor injuries. So many that Kevin Millar played third base last night. So many that we had just 3 healthy bodies on the bench to fill in, in case of more injuries. The 3 were Randy Ruiz, Kyle Phillips and Raul Chavez. A DH and 2 catchers. Being fair, any of the three of them could play first if needed. So what would have happened if Jose Bautista had hurt himself in that awkward sliding catch? Or if Milar was hurt trying to make that double play. Or if Aaron Hill had been hit by the pitch instead of Adam Lind and had to come out of the game?
What about tonight? If Lind can't play after being hit in the elbow with the pitch, presumably Randy Ruiz would DH. So we would have two catchers left as backups. Yeah, i know, we'd have to move someone off the 40 man roster to make room for someone else, but we have several players on the 40 man that have no place in the teams future. Major league teams do that all the time. The Red Sox just today added a player.
Yeah I know the games don't mean anything to the team right now, but don't the players matter? If Hill got hurt tonight, he'd have to try to stay in the game. Isn't that taking a chance that something small becomes something bigger? I know it isn't likely but why should we be in a spot where it is even possible. We wouldn't let something like that happen in the middle of the season, why are we letting it happen now, when it can have any extras bodies? Is it just because we are too cheap to pay the few dollars? The pro-rated major league minimum for the last 4 games of the season wouldn't be much money. Wouldn't a major league team be more willing to spend that than take a risk?