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By Joe Vasile
Shortly after the Mets officially announced David Stearns as their President of Baseball Operations and the surprising resignation of General Manager Billy Eppler, reports poured in that Eppler was under MLB investigation for improper use of the Injured List. MLB evidently took umbrage with his use of what is referred to in baseball circles as the “phantom IL,” a widely practiced tradition of placing a player on the Injured List when they are not hurt. Usually the players are given some sort of general reason like arm soreness or a strained calf.
The phantom IL is nothing for baseball to be super proud of, and MLB has made a point of trying to curb its use in recent years. It was an exceedingly common practice in the minor leagues for years, to the point that in 2021, MLB introduced the Development List to the minors, a list specifically designed to place players that otherwise would have been “phantomed.”
In the minors, players who would get placed on the phantom IL (or now the Development List) fall into two broad categories – players at the very end of the roster, and those who are in need of some rest, either physical or mental. For the former, being phantomed (or Dev. Listed) is a sign that their roster spot may be in danger. The team needs to free up a roster spot for another player and they are viewed as a player who is expendable enough that they just won’t play them.
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