Players have to clear waivers to be traded now. If a player is claimed the waiving team can choose to pull the player back or let him go, or try to work a trade with the claiming team. Guys like Verlander may be ripe for this trade market.
Verlander is the first name that comes to mind. But do the Astros value him at over $20M per year for two more years? Unfortunately I could see the Yankees or Indians claiming players to block the Astros from the opportunity of negotiating a trade (i.e. LOOGYs, Britton, etc.)
dont they have to fall to us, which is virtually impossible since we have then 2nd best record in the mlb?
That's if you want to claim them. Once they clear waivers, they're available to trade to anybody. Teams that want to claim players simply to "block" other teams run the risk of being stuck with a bad contract should the players team just let them go.
Right. But teams behind us could simply claim them to prevent better teams (i.e., HOU) from acquiring them, right?
Yeah buts it's a big risk if claiming team doesn't actually want the contract. I seem to remember San Diego getting stuck with a really bad contract one time maybe 10 years ago by trying to block another team.
Not if they don't want to be stuck with that terrible contract. Once they claim them, that could be it... it's up to the other team to want to work out a trade. Usually, it's the really bad contracts that are trying to be pushed through waivers. Usually teams don't claim players to block teams unless they're willing to absorb salary and put the player on their 40 man roster.
Verlander might be waived but will surely be claimed before he gets to the Astros--either to trade or block. A guy that might make it through is Cueto. And that would be an interesting call if things don't change with Keuchel and McCullers in a month
Yup I was just going to post about Cueto. He has a terrible contract. Teams like the Yankees might not care about the money though and put a claim in. I'm not sure the Astros would even want to absorb a contract like that given the future cost of our top players.
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2...ny-cueto-sf-giants-contract-opt-out-extension Old news but still relevant
If a team claims Verlander, it will be because they want him... Not because they want to block him from going somewhere else. I seriously doubt Verlander is waived, but if he is then I imagine some team out there will claim him.
No team wants to pay Verlander that contract. He's about 40 million overpaid. Big market teams are already in luxury tax or close enough that most of his salary would get taxed. So let's say 50 million for them. Also, teams over 237 million start getting the draft pick penalty (1st pick dropped 10 spots) next year.
Most waiver deals that get done actually involve players that go all the way through, making waiver wire positioning not that important. As people have correctly pointed out in this thread, it's usually not worth getting stuck with the contract just to "block." Moreover, this all happens ridiculously quickly... it's not uncommon to have 100+ names on the waiver list at one particular time, and you have 48 hours or less to "claim." It's not realistically possible to block everything of quality because of the enormous risk that would come with doing so. I doubt the Astros make a HUGE waiver acquisition, because most of those players (Verlander the one possible exception) will get claimed, for the obvious reason. However, I do think they can acquire quality depth, if needed. This is why I don't know why folks (including national media) are so hung up on the Astros not having a "Plan B" after Britton. Guys like Tony Watson (LAD) or Bud Norris (someone linked to HOU at one point yesterday) can be found in August. In fact, it might actually be smarter for the Astros to wait a bit and see what happens over the next two weeks with Keuchel, McCullers, Harris, etc. If those guys are rounding into form by August 15, maybe it's not worth the prospect/financial cost to acquire an "innings eater" type. If they aren't rounding into form, then it is, and there's still plenty opportunity to get it done. Don't get me wrong, missing out on Britton hurts... but the reports acting like the Astros also missed out by not having a Plan B are either A) misinformed or B) piling on for the sake of piling on. There will be "Plan B" types available this month.
he was slated to come off until he had forearm tightness yesterday. My level of interest went from 2/10 to 0.5
Only teams in AL that might claim him are Boston and NYY. Astros would essentially be third in line. Waiver preference goes to league the player plays in first. If no AL team claims him then he goes through NL teams in order of worst record.