Overview
A roster cut is a team's notification that a player will not be offered an active roster contract for the following season, effectively serving as a release. In NPB, these notifications occur from October through November. Players who receive them face a choice: attend the 12-team joint tryout, wait for offers from other teams, or retire. Cuts target not only underperforming players but also those with high age, salary, or positional redundancy. The roster cut represents a life-altering crossroads, and the transition to second careers has drawn attention as a social issue. The recently introduced current player draft functions as a mechanism to facilitate transfers for underutilized players before they reach the point of being cut.