Right. So what we did last year with (I believe it was) Tommy Sweeney could work. Sweeney, who had a foot injury, was on the initial 53.
To accomodate him, we actually cut a player we truly wanted to keep, Andre Roberts, whom other teams immediately tried to sign.
Roberts had a "gentleman's agreement" with Beane, which he honored. As soon as the season began, Sweeney was placed on IR and Roberts was re-signed at his original contract, but with his season's salary fully guara