Waiver Wire Primer

Ok, so, there is (and always will be) mass confusion over how the waiver period works between July 31 and August 31, so I thought I'd try and help shed a little light on what actually happens during that time.

First, the basic: Any player can be put on waivers, and most are. Teams can put up to seven players on waivers each day, and by the first few weeks, most teams have put their entire 40-man roster on the waiver wire.

Why?

After the trade deadline passes on July 31st, any player a team wishes to trade who is currently on their 40-man roster has to pass through revocable waivers in order to be dealt to another team.

Example: If the Braves wish to trade Will Ohman to another team, he first has to be placed on waivers. If a team places a claim on him, the Braves have 48 hours to work out a deal with the club in question. If no team claims him, the Braves can then trade him to any club at any point over the next 30 days.

Now, how does the process work once a player is placed onto waivers?

First, each team in the league the player's team is in has right to make the first claim. Priority is based on a worst-to-first ranking. So, using the above example, if both the Astros and Phillies claimed Ohman, the Houston would be the winners, because of their having a worse record of the teams making the claim.

If a player passes through their own league without a claim being made, then the opposing league then has a chance to claim the player. So, in order for a team like the Red Sox to claim a National League player, they must first clear waivers in the NL. However, the same worst-to-first priority also works in the opposite league, as well. So, in order for Boston to claim an NL player, the eleven teams with a worse record must also pass.

So, what happens once a player has been claimed?

Ok, here's where it can get a little more confusing.

There are three different options: (a) the original team can revoke the player, (b) try to work out a trade with the team who made the claim or (c) send the player to the team who made the claim with that team accepting all financial burdens tied to the player in question.

Option A: Since the type of waivers we are referring to here are revocable waivers, the team who has placed a player on waivers can pull them back at any point if a team makes a claim. Nothing changes, the player remains on the original team and the team who made the claim has no stake or ties to the player they placed a claim on. The one drawback of this is, a player can only be placed on revocable waivers once. If a team pulls a claimed player back before the 48 hour window closes, they cannot be placed back on waivers within the current season. If they attempt to do so, it will be on irrevocable waivers and the player will be free to go to which ever team makes a claim.

Option B: If a team makes a claim on a player, the original team is free to attempt to work out a deal with that club for the player. The hitch is, any players who are dealt for the original player, must either pass (or have passed) through waivers themselves or not be on the claiming team's 40 man roster. Once it reaches this point, trades work just like they normally would, but with that one small issue.

Option C: If a player is placed on waivers and claimed, the original team has the right to allow the claiming team to acquire the player while accepting their existing contract, play the original team a waiver fee and have to place the player on their active roster. This is the main reason you never see players like Chipper, Manny, Pedro or whoever else has a massive contract claimed -- at any point the original team could pull an "ok, take him, he's yours" and the claiming team would be forced to bite the bullet and take the player. This has happened a number of times, most notably in 2000 when the Devil Rays placed Jose Canseco on waivers, had the Yankees claim him and Tampa freeing themselves of the $3M burden and giving him to New York.

Alright, now, what if a player passes through the three day waiver period without a claim being made? At that point, it becomes similar to option B above. The player is free to be traded to any other ML team, but like with option B, any player acquired for them has to either have passed through waivers or not be on the 40 man roster.

One last note: The blocking of a player. A number of years ago, the Expos had placed Pedro Martinez on waivers and were trying to work out a deal with another team to acquire him. The problem was, before the other team could make the claim on Pedro, another team lower in the standings made a claim on him with no other intentions than to keep him from going to their division rival. That team made the claim, had no intentions of acquiring him, the Expos weren't just going to hand him over, so the 48 hour window passed and Pedro was taken off the waiver wire.

The problem with this is, and could very well be the case with the Red Sox and Padres right now over Brian Giles, what if the waiving team says to take the player? Boston obviously had no interest or desire to acquire Giles when they made the claim to block Tampa from getting him, but now that supposed trade talks have opened up between the two teams, you have to wonder if San Diego may have wanted to turn Giles over to Boston. And if Boston would have been stuck with Giles, perhaps that is what lead to the two clubs opening up trade discussions, mainly for the Pads to also be able to get something for Giles instead of just sending him on his merry way to New England.

One last thing: As I'm sure almost everyone knows by now, in order for a player to qualify to be on a postseason roster, they have to be in an organization by 5pm on August 31st. Any player acquired after that point will not be eligible to play in the postseason.

Alright, are we clear now?

If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask and I'll attempt to answer with the best of my ability.