Guardians president Chris Antonetti says roster decisions are still “in progress” as MLB expands active rosters

The Cleveland Guardians have not finalized which players will be added to their active roster when it expands by two on Tuesday, a decision process that Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said is still underway. Speaking Sunday, Antonetti indicated the club has been actively revisiting its options day-to-day, rather than treating the call-up window as a pre-set outcome.

Antonetti said the organization discussed the decision “last night” and again “this morning,” and he expected more conversations after the game Sunday. The remarks underscored how roster expansion in late August and early September can become a running exercise in balancing immediate needs, depth cover, and the profile of each option against a team’s near-term priorities.

The backdrop is MLB’s standard September roster expansion, which allows clubs to carry two additional players on the active roster. While the broader mechanics of the move are fixed by league rules, the practical effect varies from team to team: for some clubs, the extra spots are used to reward emerging prospects, while for others the emphasis shifts to logistical cover, matchup considerations, or giving everyday players a slightly different relief look.

For Cleveland, the decision is not framed as a single moment but as a sequence of evaluations. Antonetti’s comments suggest the club is comparing multiple candidates and reassessing how each one fits into day-to-day usage once roster limits loosen. That can include considerations that do not always show up in public-facing transactions or lineup announcements, such as how additional position depth affects the rest of the week or how pitching and bullpen planning changes once an extra arm (or an extra reliever-like option) becomes available.

Roster expansion also tends to sharpen how an organization weighs short-term performance against longer-term identity. Even when the additional players are not expected to be the starters of the postseason, they can influence how a team manages workloads in the final stretch of the season and how it prepares for the intensity of October baseball. With two added spots, the margin for error is small, and each call-up can alter both the lineup’s shape and the staff’s available combinations.

The Guardians’ public handling of the process points to the tension front offices try to manage in this window. Make the wrong call early and it can cascade into fewer usable options later, especially when travel and scheduling compress recovery time. Wait too long and it can force a club into last-second adjustments. Antonetti’s “talked about it” cadence implies Cleveland is trying to find that balance before Tuesday arrives.

What to watch next is straightforward: when the active roster expands, Cleveland will announce which two players earn the call and how quickly the club turns them into part of its rotation of options. The decision is also likely to be tested immediately by how the Guardians plan their lineups and pitching usage in the days that follow, since September calls often reveal themselves in the first few games rather than in pre-decision interviews.