The Phillies have placed Cliff Lee on waivers, Yahoo's Jeff Passan reports (on Twitter). The Phillies were expected to waive Lee this month, when waivers are revocable. Teams routinely place high-profile players on waivers in August to determine other teams' interest. Executives expect the left-hander to clear waivers Friday afternoon, Passan reports.
Teams have two business days to claim players off of waivers, which suggests Lee hit the waiver wire yesterday, when the August waiver period opened. If Lee clears waivers, the Phillies might be able to trade him. Lee can block trades to 21 teams, including the Diamondbacks. The Yankees, Braves and Marlins are not on his no-trade list, however.
The 33-year-old Lee earns $21.5MM this year and $25MM per season from 2013-15. His contract includes a $27.5MM vesting option ($12.5MM buyout) for 2016. If one or more teams claim Lee despite his contract, the Phillies could attempt to work out a trade with the team that wins the claim, assuming Lee doesn’t veto the move.
Here's more detail on how teams can trade players in August.
the baltimore orioles will claim cliff lee off waiver
They can’t afford him, and I think they are on Lee’s no trade list.
It’d be interesting to know the other 6 teams not mentioned in the article not on Lee’s no-trade list. Let the speculating begin!
I’m going with Baltimore, Oakland, Toronto, Kansas City, Cleveland and Houston.
Can be traded to: Yankees, Rangers, Braves, Marlins and four unknown teams.
Can’t be traded to without approval: Arizona (only known definite team)
Nor Kansas. Nobody wants to get traded to Kansas City
He can still be traded to AZ, he just needs to approve it.
Cardinals are one of them. They have been linked to him before.
Let’s play this scenario out. The Phils have put Lee on waivers. The Orioles claim him. The Phils, looking to get under the luxury tax and have room to sign a free agent or two for 2013, let him go to the O’s on the waiver claim.
Since this is not a trade situation, am I right in saying that Lee couldn’t block this?
Still could block.
How? It’s not a trade. If I understand it correctly, Lee’s only option would be to choose not to report, at which time the O’s would suspend him without pay until he does.
I don’t make the MLB rules definitions, I just know them.
See post earlier today on Soriano, which affirms this:
mlbtraderumors.com/2012/08/poll-will-the-cubs-move…
Essentially it’s a “no move” clause. Google “Alex Rios no trade clause” and read the Baseball Prospectus article for more clarification.
Will do.
Why is this a big deal? Nearly every player in MLB will be put on waivers this month. It’s just standard procedure for MLB teams.
It’s just today’s world. With social media, every little bit of information is exploited. Fun to see who puts a claim in (if anyone) nonetheless.
It’s a big deal because he’s a huge name with an outrageous contract who still has a 99.99% of getting claimed by several teams. Lots of players are already on waivers, but who else fits all those criteria?
It’ll be a big deal if some team claims him. It’ll be an even bigger deal if the Phillies let him walk after that other team claimed him. But right now, not a big deal.
I thought it was sort of an unwritten rule to not say when players are put on waivers?? I guess that today’s media has made that impossible
Heath Bell went through the same and a bunch of speculation last year.
I remember Cano going through a few years ago and people went nuts
I know it’s all business, but this is disgusting. With all the drama of him coming back to the Phillies, i thought that’d be a happy ever after.
Again, “Teams routinely place high-profile players on waivers in August to determine other teams’ interest.”
Relax.
relax, everyone gets put on waivers
I guarantee Cliff Lee and every player in baseball has been placed on waivers every August that they have been in the majors. It’s nothing new or insulting.
Conspiracy…maybe its why the Dodgers let the Dbacks sweep them. Theyd get a crack at Lee before other contending teams and AZ is on his block list.
Pretty sure the Dodgers are on his no-trade list.
Only way Lee goes to the Dodgers is if the Phillies just let them take him as a waiver claim, IMO.
Lee can still drop his no trade if he wants to go.
True, he could, but I doubt he would. I mean there’s a reason the Dodgers are on his no-trade list. My guess is location plays a role, being on the West Coast.
LAD are not on the list. Actually Lee does like the West Coast. Only teams on the west are the Padres, Astros and Rockies from what I can find.
Really? You have a link to Lee’s no trade list by any chance?
The Phillies keep saying they’re not shopping him yet they do this?
“Teams routinely place high-profile players on waivers in August to determine other teams’ interest.”
Determining interest is shopping
No it isn’t. Especially in this case.
Please read up on how August trades work before saying things like that.
they probably put halladay and hamels on waivers too. shocking, I know.
Actually I doubt they could put Hamels on waivers. It would essentially be a sign and trade.
Every player in baseball is run through waivers in August. Most are just run through it to hide who a team is actually considering trading, but it never hurts to have every player having cleared waivers so they could be traded in August if a great offer pops up. Teams run players through waivers in groups, every few days. So if Lee is on waivers currently, you can bet there are another 5-6 Phillies on waivers with him right now, and the same for every team.
Only the Rangers would seem to be the new filthy spending Yankees enough to put in a claim, but you have to imagine the Angels would block them like the Giants did with Heath Bell last year. He’s not going anywhere, but hey, at least he’s not Barry Zito. We’re talking about one of the best pitchers in the game, Amaro seemed all the more willing to go over the luxury tax last year but now the shoe’s on the other foot.
Yankees gotta be in in him
Doubt it, they are trying to cut payroll.. not increase it by 25M a year.
i wish they put Rollins on waivers!
They probably did, along with like 18 other guys
They probably have or will. Most players end up on waivers at some point in August.
I don’t think any team will claim him for fear the Phillies could dump the $87.5m owed to him if Lee approves the move.
Granted, I don’t think they Phillies would let him walk for nothing in the way of prospects, but that’s a pretty big gamble to take as a team eyeing up Lee.
I want the Cubs to claim him and give a BS trade offer. That way the Phillies have to pull him back and keep him for the rest of the season.
And you don’t think the Phillies would counter by doing that with Soriano?
Since Soriano wants to go to a contender, there’s very little risk of him waiving his NTC to go to Philly and thus the Phils getting saddled with his salary in a straight waiver claim.
Why? That would be the Cubs dream come true. If the Phils claim Soriano then the Cubs can simply accept the claim and the Phils will be on the hook for the rest of Soriano’s contract.
Exactly. Worst case scenario, Cliff Lee goes to Cubs for a crap offer that LA was trying to do for Dempster. Cubs have the money, and the need for a TOR pitcher.
You must have missed the part where I said Soriano would only waive hit NTC to go to a contender …
Does the no-trade clause apply if it’s a straight-up waiver claim? Like can he veto being taken outright? Legitimate question.
NTC applies to waiver claim.
Ah okay. Never stopped to consider that.
i tried to post a link, but i believe it won’t go through since baseball prospectus isn’t approved.
google alex rios no trade clause and you should get a hit for a BP article when he was claimed off waivers three years ago and Toronto let him walk. Will Carroll confirmed with an agent that a NTC is essentially a “no move” clause.
No it doesn’t. See my reply above.
Maybe if you’d read the article you’d have the correct answer.
No trade clauses only affect waiver claims if a team claims a player and then tries to trade for him. If Soriano was claimed the Cubs would just let the other team take him rather than work out a trade. Soriano could block a trade to a team that claimed him, but could not block it if the Cubs just allowed the claiming team to take his contract.
If by “counter” you mean “do the Cubs a gigantic favor”…
not unless they want to pay him 20M next season
Then the Cubs would just let the Phillies have him. Let’s not forget Randy Myers.
Why the hate? The Cubs aren’t going to contend for 3-4 years at the earliest and Lee will be nearing the end of his career by then. I could understand anger at the Dodgers over the Dempster situation, but what’s up with the Phillies hate? (I’m a Cubs fan, btw)
They will need pitching next year anyways. I think Lee would slot in nicely as the #1 on the Cubs.
The Cubs will lose 100 games next year. It makes absolutely no sense to pay someone $25 million to be on a 100 loss team.
I’m a little disappointed with the lack of outrage this post is causing from people that don’t understand how waivers work.
Yep. They forget that NL teams get first shot. Dodgers sit at #7 in the NL.
He has a NO TRADE to AZ sitting at #8. So the Dodgers will have the
first realistic claim to him since they have arms and money in the farm.
and then the Phillies pull him back.
The Dbacks will almost certainly put in a claim just to block the DOdgers. The NTC is still in effect, but that doesn’t mean the Dodgers would get next dibs. IT would just mean that either the Phillies convince Lee to waive his NTC to go to AZ or they have to keep him. Once a player is claimed by a team off the waiver wire, regardless of whether he is traded or not, he stops going up the list. The first person in line to make a claim is the only team with the opportunity to trade for him.
….thats the reason why i clicked the comments
You should search “Cliff Lee” on twitter. The initial reaction within the first hour after this news came out was hilarious.
will these insane long term contracts ever end ?
when capitalism ends.
Nope.
its are on fault…
*sigh* Waivers work like this: Put a player on waivers then the worst team in that league gets first dibs. As the pass it goes up to the best team. THEN goes to worse team in other league then up to the best. So really the Dodgers have the first realistic shot at him. Even if they dont land him they will make a claim anyways to block a trade to Giants. He has NO TRADE to AZ who sit 1 spot back of LA.
Texas may put a claim on him. They aren’t on his no trade list, and have both the money and prospects to get him. They may also have a need for him since they just lost Feliz for the rest of this season and most of next season.
Texas doesnt want to pay his ridiculous contract.
Texas sends Martin Perez and Neil Ramirez for the Phillies to eat 45% of Lee’s contract
I think the more important headline would be if he was claimed. Unfortunately, high salary players going into waivers is nothing new.
I love how the article about the thing that is barely news is getting all these comments because so many people don’t understand August waivers!
Can he go to the white sox?
This will definitely keep things interesting in August. The Phillies will have a massive leverage advantage in any potential deal, with Lee being the obvious big SP chip that is available. Amaro was smart to not give into the temptation to trade Lee before July 31. If they deal Lee, it will be for a massive return.
Ummm … I don’t think you know how this works.
There is NO leverage when the guy being traded has been hurt/ineffective this year, is on the wrong side of 30, and is owed $25m/year for the next three years with an option for a 4th.
It’s similar to Pujols and the Angels. Regardless of how GOOD Lee or Pujols is, their value is significantly offset by their salary. I’d be shocked if the Phillies could extract anything half way decent for Lee (who is an outstanding pitcher).
I’d also point out that their leverage is minimal simply because they can negotiate with a single team … a team that may put in a bad faith claim just to block a rival from acquiring Lee.
They have some leverage especially if a team like the Rangers somehow fall behind the A’s and Angels. Anything can happen, anyone can get hurt and that’s when they will look to the trade market and see one of the better left-handed startes in the league right there able to take any team deep into the post-season. Though I still think if Lee gets traded at all it’ll be in the off-season.
Teams are not going to claim Lee unless their intention is to attempt to acquire him. That contract is too big for most teams to take a risk of putting in a claim.
Pirates should make a move for Lee. They could put Bedard and Corriea on waivers and maybe send one of them to the Phillies. Daniel McCutchen, Evan Meek, and Bryan Morris would be bullpen options to replace Correia. The Pirates rotation of Burnett, McDonald, Lee, Rodriguez, and Karstens would maybe be the best in baseball. I think maybe Polanco, McPherson, Sanchez, and Bedard for Lee is a fair deal. If they don’t go f Lee, I can see Roy Oswalt as an upgrade over Bedard, and he would come a lot cheaper. This is coming from a 15 year olds view, however.
i’d love to see Lee over both Bedard and Correia, but his contract is already about a third of the Pirates roster budget. i doubt they’d be able to move enough to make that contract fit there.
besides, there’s a good chance the Pirates are on his no-trade list (which would have 20 other teams)
Yeah, I also think Lee is overrated just a little. Looking at the free agents this upcoming offseason, the Pirates are better off there.
Too much money, just not realistic for the Bucs.
I’m saying, Oswalt is the better option. I say they should wait for a Dan Haren type player this offseason, or Edwin Jackson.
Dodgers go after him
I agree with most of the comments.
This is a non-story.
Although it would be interesting to see if or if not he goes claimed/unclaimed, But the teams aren’t supposed to let that information out.
*cough cough* OMG, WAIVERS? WHY RUBES ??? **Fart Noise**
Pretty much every tradeable player in the league will see waivers this month.
True. I believe some teams pretty much put every player on waivers. Pretty insignificant.
Reds and Orioles need to put in claims. This is a much better claim than Alex Rios, and he got better after the White Sox grabbed him.
Here is a guy that gave up more cash to come to Philadelphia, and this is how he is rewarded, sounds like Scott Rollin all over again, I recall him signing with the Phillies back in the day for less than his true value and then he traded as a trouble maker, when the Phillies failed to use the money, he deserved and didn’t get to get pitching..
Rolen was a TOTALLY different story. He was still under team control and did not yet hit free agency when he was traded. The Phillies actually offered him a contract, which was better than the deal he signed with the Cardinals in free agency, but turned it down.
Rolen deserved all the vitriol the Phillies fans gave him. I’m proud to say I was at the Vet for his first game back on August 16, 2002, and I booed him mercilessly.
the Houston Astros Will Claim Off Waviers For Cliff Lee