2026 Roster
Active 26-man roster. Updated automatically via MLB Stats API.
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Data via MLB Stats API. Click column headers to sort. ★ = BSF player page available.
What Is the Active Roster?
The active roster — officially the 26-man roster — is the group of players eligible to play in any given game. Teams carry 26 players from Opening Day through August 31, when rosters expand to 28 for the final month of the season. The 26 must include at least 13 pitchers. Managers set their lineup from this group each day. A player not on the active roster cannot appear in a game unless he is first recalled, activated off the IL, or added via a corresponding roster move.
What Is the 40-Man Roster?
The 40-man roster is the larger protected pool from which the 26-man is drawn. It includes the active roster plus players on the injured list, players optioned to the minor leagues, and any player whose rights the organization wants to protect from being selected by another team in the Rule 5 Draft each December. Players must be added to the 40-man roster by a certain date each fall to remain protected — failure to do so makes them eligible to be claimed.
How Does the Injured List Work?
10-Day IL: A player placed on the 10-day IL must miss at least 10 days but remains on the 40-man roster. The team can replace him on the active 26-man immediately. He can be activated as soon as the 10 days have passed and he has been cleared medically.
15-Day IL: Used for pitchers only. Same rules as the 10-day but with a 15-day minimum.
60-Day IL: For more serious injuries. The player is removed from the 40-man roster entirely, which frees up a roster spot. The minimum absence is 60 days. This is typically used for players recovering from surgery — Tommy John, labrum repairs, fractures — who won't return for months.
Service Time & Options
Service time is the number of days a player has spent on an active major-league roster. A full season equals 172 days of service. After accumulating three years of service time, a player becomes eligible for salary arbitration. After six years, he earns free agency.
Options allow a team to send a player to the minor leagues without exposing him to waivers. Most players have three option years. Once a player has been optioned three times, he must clear waivers before being sent down — any team can claim him for the waiver price.
The Super Two threshold is a cutoff that grants arbitration eligibility to players who have between two and three years of service but fall in the top 22% of that group by service days. Players strategically held in the minors early in their career — like Samuel Basallo in 2025 — often miss the Super Two threshold by design.
2026 Orioles Roster Notes
The 2026 Orioles are in a win-now phase after years of rebuilding, and the front office has made a series of long-term commitments to anchor the roster. Samuel Basallo signed an eight-year, $67 million extension in August 2025 — days after his MLB debut — covering the 2026–33 seasons with a 2034 club option. It was the largest pre-arbitration deal for a catcher in MLB history. Kyle Bradish signed a five-year, $90 million extension in July 2026, and Shane Baz was locked up for five years and $68 million in March 2026. The Orioles also added Pete Alonso at first base on a five-year, $155 million free agent deal signed in December 2025. Together, those four contracts represent Baltimore's clearest statement yet about the direction of the franchise.
The 60-day IL has been a significant obstacle in 2026. Jordan Westburg, Ryan Mountcastle, and Félix Bautista are among the prominent names who have missed extended time, creating a steady flow of transactions between Baltimore and Triple-A Norfolk. Catcher Sam Huff and reliever Chadwick Tromp have been the most frequent travelers between Camden Yards and the Tides, called up and optioned back multiple times as the Orioles manage their active roster around injuries and matchups. Norfolk has functioned as a true pipeline this season — the depth has been tested, and for the most part it has held.