AP: "Selected" from the Minors, not "Called Up"; Why?

I keep reading AP articles that say a player was "selected" by an MLB team from the minor league team.

When did selected become the term instead of called up, and why?

Example:

 

just their style, I guess. technically, the MLB team is purchasing the contract. sometimes it's referred to as being "recalled," whether the player has been up before or not. i have seen "selected" more frequently recently.

 

Technically, they do "select" the player, since they have a choice.

 

I believe it's "selected" when they call up someone that is not on their 40-man roster.

 

I had the same question, and asked.
This is what I was told. They're differentiating between players on the 40-man and those not on that list.

 

My question would be: How is a reader supposed to understand the subtleties of that differentiation? It's not like you read "selected" and think, "Oh, that sounds like it relates to his 40-man status." Seems like a weird style guideline.

 

I agree.
But, "recalled" is not the answer.
That should be specific to a player once up, sent down, then brought back up.

 

Not correct.

"Recalled" means the guy is on the 40-man roster and had been optioned earlier. The team already owns the player's contract, therefore they are not purchasing it.

"Purchased the contract" means the guy was not on the 40-man roster, and is usually accompanied by a corresponding move to take someone off the 40-man.

It's really not that complicated, and there's no place for the word "selected" in this case.

 

Here's another one I noticed at the trading deadline:
Joe Blow was traded to the other team for a player to be identified later.

It's always been: a player to be named later.
And since that's redundant, we always have to delete: later.

Identified just sounds weird.

 

More stupid AP editors changing things just for the sake of change.

I'm still pissed at them for changing "said" into "says".

Stupid bastards.

 

In this case, it's the AP not changing things.

Many teams now issue releases using "selected the contract of" (the word "selected" by itself is meaningless in this case) and AP just re-writes the release.

IMO, what AP and beat writers should do is use "called up" or "promoted." That will satisfy 99% of the readers.

For the diehard fans that understand the difference between "recalled" and "purchased the contract of," and the accompanying 40-man roster machinations, well, that's a perfect use of a blog.

 

I haven't seen one MLB team use "selected" in its releases or notes.