Dear Fans of Expanded Rosters (or Last Place Teams),

With the season quickly running out of games and teams making last efforts to improve their rosters and make the playoffs, some fans are left with little to look forward to while their teams wallow in last place. Luckily, Major League Baseball will soon allow rosters to expand and let several players in each organization get experience in the big leagues. This will both help improve some contenders and their depth while giving other organizations a little excitement for their fan base. In just under two weeks, new faces will appear and we will get to see first-hand some of the raw talent that awaits us in the near future.

Roster expansion rarely leads to the changes needed to turn a team into an immediate contender, however. The purpose is used primarily to give experience to young players who may be candidates for an opening day roster spot next season. No matter what team you’re rooting for, as a fan you get excited to see what the future has in store. It’s a time when those with allegiances to the underperforming teams can be exciting.

No one but the front offices of Major League teams knows exactly who will and won’t be called up the big league club, but guesses can be made. Many times it may be a player that already had a stint in the major leagues during the season as an injury replacement or an experiment in the bullpen. Sometimes it will be a veteran who has made his way through the major leagues and found closure on a Triple-A roster with the expectations that he can still prove he has something left. Or maybe it will be a highly-touted prospect who is almost ready for that roster spot he was drafted to fill; all he needs is an introduction to what he needs to expect to become a successful player in the majors. Whatever role these guys fall into, roster expansion can lead to a lot of interesting baseball.

David Price, arguably the best minor league prospect in baseball, will almost certainly get to see some time in a Tampa Bay Ray’s uniform. His future is bright and he is expected to bolster the Ray’s pitching rotation for years to come. He suffered the first loss of his professional career only last week and has been praised by major league stars, including Pedro Martinez, who he had faced in an early season game when Price was assigned to Tampa’s Single-A affiliate.

For many leagues, David Price is available because he has not made it to the major leagues yet. He is a player that you should keep an eye on, maybe not for this year, but for the future. If you are involved in a keeper league, the chances of Price being taken are a bit greater. His value is too high to disregard. This last month of the season should be a great time to get an idea of what the kid is all about.

As Status mentioned in his previous article, Brandon Wood is another player that may get to see some time throughout September. While he may not play every day because of the talent that is on the Angel’s roster, Wood is going to have a chance to redeem himself from his previous unsuccessful attempt as transitioning from Triple-A to the major leagues.

Charlie Zink was just called up to the big show to take the rotation spot of Tim Wakefield. If he hadn’t been asked to make the start, there would have been a good possibility that we would have been watching him in a Red Sox uniform before the season was over regardless. Pawtucket, Boston’s Triple-A affiliate, has a great pitching staff.

Again, managers in deeper leagues should consider Triple-A names as possible future stars and therefore take longer looks. Single season leagues or leagues that are not very deep shouldn’t have to concern themselves with the impact that roster expansion additions will have on their new big league ballclub. Zink is a good knuckle-ball pitcher who may or may not have a great professional career ahead of him but he is definitely worth taking a look at in case you are shallow on your pitching.

Depending on the struggles of the Washington Nationals, their first order of business may be to improve the pitching. Garrett Mock, currently with Triple-A affiliate Columbus, is the solid pitcher they may be looking for to solidify their bullpen. His ERA sits at 3.01 as a member of the starting rotation for the Clippers. He is averaging just below a strikeout per inning which would be a nice addition to a sloppy Nationals bullpen (Who are we kidding? Everything about that team is sloppy).

These are just a few names that may (or may not) be thrown around when it comes time to calling up talent from the minors to fill in those extra spots on the roster. But September call-ups are not as fine and dandy (yes, dandy) as they may seem. You will soon begin to realize that having players on your fantasy roster that play for contending teams is more important then ever.