The 40-Man Roster, the 26-Man Roster and the Injured List Explained
How a major-league club's rosters fit together: who sits on the 40-man and 26-man lists, how optioning works, how long each injured-list stay lasts, and how to decode a transactions line.
A major-league club does not have one roster; it has several lists that overlap, and the transaction notes you read every day are the sound of players moving between them. The 40-man roster is the pool of players a club controls at the major-league level. The 26-man roster, called the active roster, is the group that can play tonight. The injured list is a holding place for players who are hurt and, depending on its length, may or may not use up one of the 40 spots. Once you know how those three fit together, nearly every transaction headline becomes readable.
This guide states the rules as they stood around the 2023 season. Roster rules have changed several times in the past decade, and they can change again when the labor agreement is renegotiated, so treat the details as a snapshot and check the league's official site for the current wording. Where a figure is one the article cannot confirm, it says so rather than guess.
Three lists, three jobs
The simplest way to keep the lists apart is to ask what each one is for.
| List | Size | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| 40-man roster | Up to 40 players | Everyone the club has under a major-league contract: the active players, those on the injured list, and those optioned to the minors |
| Active roster | 26 players (28 in September) | The players available for a game on a given day |
| Injured list | No fixed size | Players unable to play; they stay on the 40-man unless moved to the 60-day list |
A player who is not on the 40-man roster is, with a few exceptions, on a minor-league contract with the club. Such a player cannot appear in a major-league game until the club adds him to the 40-man, a step announced as "selecting his contract." That step requires an open spot, which is why a club sometimes removes one player the same day it adds another.
The three lists are nested. Everyone on the active roster is on the 40-man. Everyone on the injured list is also on the 40-man, except for players on the 60-day list, who are removed from the 40-man count for the duration. A player on the 40-man who is neither active nor injured is typically in the minor leagues on an optional assignment.
The 40-man roster
The 40-man roster is the club's major-league inventory. The players on it have major-league contracts, which come with the minimum salary and benefits, service time and the protections of the players' union. The roster also matters because it controls the Rule 5 draft: a young minor leaguer who is not on his club's 40-man roster by the deadline in the fall can be taken by another club, so clubs must decide each November which prospects are worth a spot. The Rule 5 draft explained covers that process.
Spots on the 40-man are scarce, and clubs spend a lot of effort managing them. A club with a full 40-man must clear a spot before it can add anyone, and the usual ways to clear one are:
- Trading a player to another club.
- Releasing him, in which case the club owes him the remainder of his contract.
- Designating him for assignment, which removes him from the 40-man at once and starts a clock for the club to trade, release or outright him. Designated for assignment, waivers and outright assignments explains the process.
- Transferring him to the 60-day injured list, if he is injured badly enough.
Because the 40-man holds players who are not in the majors at the moment, the number 40 is not the number of players a club uses. A club might have 26 active, a handful on the injured list and the rest in Triple-A or Double-A on optional assignment.
The 26-man active roster
The active roster is the group of players eligible to appear in a game. For years it was 25 players. Beginning with the 2020 season it was raised to 26, and the cap on how many of those may be pitchers (13) has been in effect since the 2022 season. In September, when the 40-man used to expand to everyone, the active roster instead grows to 28, of whom no more than 14 may be pitchers.
The 13-pitcher cap is the rule that shapes day-to-day roster building. It forces a club to carry at least 13 position players, and it limits how many relievers a manager can keep available. The cap pushes clubs to carry more position players and limits the size of a bullpen. A related change, the three-batter minimum for relievers, which began in 2020, also reduces how often a manager can use a pitcher for one hitter.
A plausible 26-man roster, shown here as an illustration and not a description of any real club, might look like this.
| Group | Players |
|---|---|
| Starting pitchers | 5 |
| Relief pitchers | 8 |
| Catchers | 2 |
| Infielders | 6 |
| Outfielders | 5 |
That adds to 26, with 13 pitchers and 13 position players. The mix varies by club and by week, and injuries often force awkward combinations, such as seven relievers and an extra utility player.
The two-way player exception
Two related exceptions were added in 2022 for players who both hit and pitch. A player who qualifies as a two-way player is not counted against the 13-pitcher cap, and the qualification depends on a minimum amount of both hitting and pitching in the current or previous season. Separately, the so-called Ohtani rule lets a starting pitcher who is also in the lineup as designated hitter stay in the game as a hitter after he leaves the mound. Both rules were written with one player in mind, though others can qualify in principle.
Doubleheaders and September
For doubleheaders the rules allow a club to add an extra player, so the active roster can briefly be larger than 26; doubleheaders, seven-inning games and suspended games has the details. In September, the expanded 28-player roster gives clubs room to bring up prospects and rest regulars, and it gives fantasy players the familiar September call-ups, even though the expansion is smaller than it was before 2020, when the active roster could grow to 40.
Options: moving players up and down
The step between the 40-man and the active roster is the optional assignment, often shortened to "option." A club can send a player on its 40-man to a minor-league affiliate without exposing him to other clubs, and can bring him back by "recalling" him. This is how a club turns over its bench and bullpen several times a month.
A player can be optioned only if he has an option year remaining. Each player gets three option years, and a year is used when he spends a substantial part of the season (20 days or more) on optional assignment. Once a player has used his options, a club cannot send him to the minors without first passing him through waivers. Minor-league options explained covers the details.
As part of the agreement adopted for the 2022 season, a player who is optioned must generally stay in the minors for a minimum number of days before he can be recalled, unless he replaces an injured player. The minimum is 15 days for a pitcher and 10 for a position player; the labor agreement controls the exact figures, so check the current version. The rule is there to discourage clubs from shuttling relievers back and forth between the majors and Triple-A every few days to keep fresh arms available.
The injured list
When a player is hurt, the club can place him on the injured list, which replaced the old name "disabled list" in 2019. The list comes in several lengths, each with a minimum stay.
| List | Minimum stay | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 10-day injured list | 10 days | Used for position players |
| 15-day injured list | 15 days | Used for pitchers since 2022 |
| 7-day injured list | 7 days | Used for players with a concussion |
| 60-day injured list | 60 days | Moves the player off the 40-man count |
The 10-day list was introduced in 2017 to replace the 15-day disabled list for everyone, and in 2022 the agreement restored a 15-day minimum for pitchers while keeping 10 days for position players. The concern was that clubs were using the shorter list to rotate pitchers on and off the active roster. A player placed on the list cannot be activated before the minimum has passed, though he may stay on it much longer. A club can also back-date a placement to around the last game the player appeared in, which counts toward the minimum.
A player on the injured list continues to be paid and to accrue service time. Injured players can go on rehabilitation assignments in the minors, for a limited number of days, to get ready for a return, and they do not count against the 26-man active roster while they are out. In return the club is free to call up a replacement.
The 60-day list and the 40-man puzzle
The 60-day injured list matters for a reason beyond its length. A player on the 60-day list is removed from the 40-man roster count, so the club can add another player in his place. A club that has lost a starting pitcher for the season will usually move him to the 60-day list as soon as it needs the roster space, and the move is announced as "transferred" rather than "placed."
When the player recovers, he has to be added back to the 40-man, and if the club has filled the spot, it has to clear another one. That is the puzzle: using the 60-day list creates flexibility now and an obligation later. A club with many injured players can end up forced to designate a fringe player for assignment just to make room for a returning one.
Other lists
Injuries are not the only reason a player leaves the active roster. A few other special lists exist, and each has its own limits.
- Paternity list. A player can be away from the team for a short period around the birth of a child, with a replacement on the active roster.
- Bereavement list. A player can leave to attend to a death in the family.
- Family medical emergency list. A player can leave for a serious illness in the family.
- Restricted list. A player who is unavailable for reasons that are not injury or illness, such as a contract dispute or a leave of absence, can be placed on it.
- Suspended list. A player serving a suspension is placed on it.
The first three are short and are designed so that a club is not forced to play with a short roster while a player attends to family matters. The details, including the minimum and maximum stays and whether a player is paid, are set by the labor agreement.
How to read a transaction line
A day's transactions are written in a compressed vocabulary. Here is a made-up set of entries, with the meaning of each.
| Entry | What it means |
|---|---|
| Recalled RHP Smith from Triple-A | He was on the 40-man, optioned to the minors, and is now on the active roster |
| Optioned INF Jones to Triple-A | Sent down; he stays on the 40-man and uses part of an option year |
| Placed LHP Lee on the 15-day injured list | Out for at least 15 days; his active spot is open |
| Transferred LHP Lee to the 60-day injured list | Off the 40-man count; the spot is now free |
| Selected the contract of OF Brown | A minor-leaguer was added to the 40-man and the active roster |
| Designated C Green for assignment | Removed from the 40-man; the club has a set period to trade, release or outright him |
| Outrighted C Green to Triple-A | He cleared waivers and was sent off the 40-man, staying with the club |
Read together, the entries tell a small story: a club that places a starting pitcher on the injured list will often recall a reliever to take the active roster spot, then transfer the pitcher to the 60-day list when he is clearly out for the year, then select a prospect's contract with the freed 40-man space.
Postseason rosters
In the postseason the active roster is again 26, and a club names the players it will use for each round. Eligibility for the postseason depends on being in the organization by a deadline at the end of August, with exceptions for injured players, so a player added later cannot normally play in October. Clubs may change the roster between rounds. How the MLB postseason works lays out the rounds and the format, and the postseason roster is one of the details managers weigh when they decide how many pitchers to carry.
Common questions
Why 40 and 26 and not one number? Because the lists do different jobs. Forty is the size of the pool; 26 is the number who can play. The difference lets a club keep depth in the minors without paying every player the major-league minimum and without risking a Rule 5 loss.
Does a player on the injured list still get paid? Yes. He continues to be paid and to earn service time.
Can a club have fewer than 26 active players? Yes, within limits set by the rules, though clubs usually carry the full complement.
What is the difference between "optioned" and "outrighted"? An optioned player stays on the 40-man and can be recalled. An outrighted player has been removed from the 40-man and sits in the minors on a minor-league contract; he may not be recalled without being added back.
Do the rules differ in the playoffs? The roster is 26, but the eligibility rules and the right to change the roster between rounds are different from the regular season.
Where to go next
For another rule from the same period, the extra-innings runner rule arrived in the same 2020 season as the 26-man roster and the three-batter minimum, and using park factors in fantasy baseball is the next stop if you manage a fantasy roster of your own. For current standings and results, see the scores page and the standings. The trades and free agency topic page collects reporting on roster moves.