How to Make a Trade After the Trade Deadline

Every baseball season at this time of year, clubs put virtually their entire rosters through "special waivers", just in case they may want to trade a player at some point during the month of August.   Special waivers are not like the kind of waivers used during the regular season when a team wants to outright a player to the minor leagues, or to give a player his release.  Unlike those waivers, special waivers are "revocable", meaning that the team can pull the player back if another team claims the player.   A player that is on a major league roster can not be traded after the July 31st deadline unless he first clears special waivers.

Special waivers can be a tricky business.  Clubs will often put in a claim on a player that they have no intention of trading for, just to block a division rival from making a trade for that player.   Clubs will also let very good players go through on waivers, even though they'd love to have him, contract and all, on their roster, just because if they start putting in claims on players, they could find it difficult to get their own players through special waivers when they'd like to do a deal.   The priority that clubs have during August is also very different than it would be during the first four months of the season.   Waiver priority goes to the team with the lowest winning percentage, but special waiver priority goes first to clubs in the same league, then the other league.   So, if Kyle Farnsworth, for example, was put on waivers by the Rays in July, several National league clubs would have higher priority than the Tigers if there were multiple claims, but that is not the case in August.  

It's actually very rare that a club that puts in a waiver claim in August  gets the player without making a trade.  Chicago claimed Alex Rios off waivers from the Jays, and took on his absurd contract (and absurd performance level) without giving up any players.  The Jays figured to have to eat a chunk of his salary if they were able to unload the under-performing former star outfielder, but they found a generous GM in Kenny Williams to take the albatross on for nothing (kust the waiver fee).   Aubrey Huff had to either clear waivers or be claimed by the Tigers in 2009 for Detroit to get Huff from the Orioles.  The Tigers sent relief pitching prospect Brett Jacobson to Baltimore in that deal.  

When a player is claimed off special waivers, his current club has 48-1/2 business day hours to either pull him back, work out a trade with the claiming club that has priority, or let him go for the waiver fee of $ 20,000.00.   When a player is placed on special waivers and is pulled back, he can be put on special waivers again, but this time his team can not pull him back if he is claimed a second time.    Special waivers do not negate any no trade rights or five and ten rights that a player may have.  A player can choose to waive such rights and allow a claim or a trade to go through, but he can also insist that his current club still keep him. 

There is one other instance where special "revocable" waivers are required outside of August.  When a player is three calendar years or more removed from his major league debut, he has to clear revocable waivers even if he has options left before he can be optioned to the minors.   In such cases, players always clear because clubs don't engage in the practice of blocking other teams from sending their players down when they have options left, knowing that the player will just be pulled back. This situation really has nothing to do with the Tigers right now, unless they were to send, say, Ryan Raburn to Toledo.

To be precise, Baltimore, Kansas City, Seattle, Oakland, Minnesota, Chicago, Cleveland, Toronto, and Tampa Bay would have priority over the Tigers on any waiver claim involving a player on any American League team.  All of the above, plus all National League clubs would have priority  over the Tigers on any player currently playing in the National League.   As for Farnswatch III, the Tigers may pursue Farns, who reportedly has been placed on waivers this week, but the price tag may be a bit high, not so much because of his performance this year, but because he is currently a Type A free agent who could command two top draft picks if he were to decline arbitration and leave for free agency.   He'd also be a risky play to offer arby, coming off a rare consistent season for him.