Craig Keilitz’s sleepless nights stemmed from a decision that could reshape college baseball’s future.
He knew the response from a room full of hundreds of coaches would be crucial, but couldn’t shake the unease.
“I just want to do what’s right for our sport,” Keilitz said candidly on Thursday evening.
Now in his 10th year as executive director of the American Baseball Coaches Association, Keilitz told the group of Division I coaches gathered at the annual ABCA convention in Washington D.C. that they would need to come to a consensus that evening on the best way for college baseball to proceed with fall roster sizes with the 2026 transition to 34-man teams and a Dec. 1 roster finalization deadline looming.
Should rosters be capped at 34 players for end-of-year workouts? Is 38 too many, as it would require four cuts? Was there any support for unlimited fall roster sizes?
His solution was to open the floor for an open-mic conversation.
“I really need you all to care about this,” he reminded the coaches repeatedly.
After nearly two hours of debate, it became clear that a compromise needed to be reached. The question was no longer whether there should be roster cuts, but how many. Thus, it was ultimately determined that a 38-player fall limit was the best—though still very tenuous—path forward.
Though a few coaches came forward with arguments against it, support grew quickly for the 38-man limit, as it offered what those in attendance believed to be an agreeable middle ground in an unsavory situation that is sure to leave some teams and players in precarious positions.
The prevailing argument against simply limiting teams to 34 was simple: A few season-ending injuries—increasingly common especially among pitchers—could leave coaches without an adequate number of healthy contributors and no way to replace them.
It might have been the most financially-sound and equitable route, some pointed out, but as Keilitz and others countered, the risk was simply too great.
That sentiment—the risk—was also the reason that unlimited fall roster sizes garnered no support at all.
It was the most surefire path to the mid-year transfer window the majority of coaches hope to avoid.
The legal precedent also loomed large. In recent years, the NCAA has lost several high-profile lawsuits from athletes challenging roster decisions, which has left coaches wary of making moves that could expose their sport to even more jeopardy.
“There’s really no right answer,” one mid-major coach told Baseball America after the meeting concluded.
That is even true for the now-agreed-upon 38-player fall limit, which Keilitz will propose to the commissioners of the SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 conferences, who alone have the autonomy to approve of the legislature and send it into its final stages of consideration.
Even an average of four cuts per program would result in roughly 1,200 mid-year transfer portal entrants in a sport that currently offers no path to immediate playing time for those who find themselves without a home partway through the academic calendar.
While it might not be as extreme as unlimited fall roster sizes, even 38 spots leaves teams and the NCAA vulnerable to legal action.
And if one thing was clear on Thursday night, it was that coaches deeply feared a reality in which scorned players could take their case to court.
“Why wouldn’t we just start at 34 players and go from there,” one low-major, Division I coach said during the townhall-style meeting. “All it would take is one of those 1,200 players who got cut to sue, and then we’ll lose the ability to make these decisions for ourselves.”
It’s worth noting that some Division I teams will ultimately be able to avoid some of the aforementioned pitfalls and constraints, which are part of the fallout from the pending $2.8 billion NCAA antitrust settlement. Schools can opt out of the upcoming revenue-sharing model, allowing them to avoid the 38-player fall and 34-player regular-season roster limits.
Those teams would revert back to the pre-pandemic 35-player roster with 11.7 scholarships, according to Keilitz, which could be a reasonable solution for lower-major teams that can’t afford to increase their scholarship pot or over-recruit for the fall just to make uncomfortable cuts later in the year.
Fresno State pitching coach Troy Buckley told Baseball America in December that teams choosing to bring in fewer players beyond the 34-man limit could also gain advantages in the recruiting process, as roster-spot security could prove a valuable selling point.
“I still think you could get away with making a lot of cuts because of the allure of going to your dream school means something,” Buckley said. “But there are a lot of places that won’t do that, and there is a level for everybody. Realizing that will be really, really important.”
A timeline for when the 38-player fall limits could pass into law remains unclear, according to multiple sources, though many Division I head coaches are likely to proceed with their 2026 roster considerations as if it already has.
Now, all they can do is hope it was the right decision.
“I think we just need to proceed with 38 players,” Keilitz said, “and see where the chips fall.”
Two More Legislative Changes Likely To Pass In 2025
While the ABCA membership’s decision to move forward with a 38-man fall roster proposal was easily the biggest news from Thursday night’s Division I meeting, Keilitz informed coaches that two other legislative changes were headed for a Jan. 15 vote and would likely come to pass.
The first, which drew widespread support from coaches who responded to a survey sent by the ABCA in 2024, would increase the number of fall exhibitions teams can play against outside competition from two to four.
The second, which coaches argued was critical for the health of their players, especially with roster sizes set to shrink, was a standardized preseason camp window which would begin 35 days before the start of regular-season competition.
Pending their anticipated approval, both laws would be implemented on Aug. 1.
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