One of the more esoteric aspects of the roster management of a baseball team is that of the 40-man roster. The 40-man is less widely understood than the 25-man active roster that teams trot out every day, yet the pressures the 40-man exerts regularly influence MLB transactions.
40-man roster pressure might have played a role in the Yankees’ moves at last year’s trade deadline, namely when they traded Zack Littell and Dietrich Enns for Jaime Garcia. At this year’s deadline, the story is no different. The Yankees won’t be forced into any move, but a constantly looming 40-man roster crunch was likely some sort of factor in the Zach Britton trade.