Warning, Too Many DL Spots Filled

Players are getting injured at a record pace this season. Based on Baseball Injury Report numbers, baseball is on track to set the record for most DL stints for the second consecutive year. 180 players have already been added to the disabled list, and the estimated end-of-season number is 416 (from 2002-07 an average of 367 players landed on the DL). There are so many players getting injured that Behind the Plate has to dedicate entire articles just to injury updates. It's probably too late to change your league settings, so if your in a league with only one or two DL spots (hopefully not zero) you must learn to get creative with roster management.

Every situation is league-setting dependant and player dependant so I can't give you definite rules, however I can give you some tips to consider. Remember to have patience, and therefore do not drop valuable players who are only going to be on the DL for 15-30 days. If a pitcher goes on the DL and you have no DL spots available, its fine for the pitcher to sit on your bench. If the same thing happens with a hitter though, you have a tough decision to make. If the hitter is one of your worse ones, consider dropping him and adding a free agent hitter hopefully of comparable talent. If the unfortunate situation occurs where one of your best hitter goes down for a good month or so, decide if your least needed player or any players currently on your disabled list are expendable. One other option you have is to try and make a quick 2-for-1 trade, which will free up a roster spot (the injured player will then remain on your bench). Don't rip yourself off though. In H2H leagues when a hitter gets injured and you have no DL spots remaining, its not the worst thing to not have a shortstop in your lineup for 15-30 days. In roto leagues however, you cannot afford to keep a starting position empty.

If your lucky enough to be in a league with over 3 DL spots and you have DL positions to spare, stash a player like Mike Gonzalez on your disabled list, who you can keep for free while he's injured and later may become a valuable closer.

Hopefully you never have to deal with this.