Apparently the practice is pretty common, although I had never heard of it until I read this article about Wally Backman quitting because he felt disrespected, in part because he didn't get the customary call-up. (When Backman was with the Twins I got the impression he was a jerk, and from reading this article I got the impression he hasn't changed.) (I know, impressions formed on the basis of snippets in the media aren't always fair.) http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/17538715/wally-backman-says-quit-new-york-mets-job-disrespect