A group of high-profile Rangers players has cleared revocable waivers, according to a report from Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Ace Yu Darvish, star third baseman Adrian Beltre, young shortstop Elvis Andrus, and recent free agent-signee Shin-Soo Choo have all cleared. (Outfielder Alex Rios has already cleared waivers.) Meanwhile, lefty Neal Cotts is still on waivers, with his period set to expire tomorrow.
Of course, just because that set of big names has cleared names does not necessarily mean that other teams do not want them, let alone that they are likely to be dealt. As Heyman notes, even if a team was interested in adding Darvish or Beltre, placing a claim would start a clock that could well be too short to complete such a significant deal. In the case of Choo, his down year and massive contract made it quite unlikely that another team would want to take his contract.
Andrus, on the other hand, is a more interesting case. His eight-year, $120MM extension (which includes both opt-out and vesting option provisions) does not kick in until next year. The 25-year-old has struggled to take the next step at the plate, and owns a .271/.326/.337 batting line over the 2013-14 time frame. Though he is a productive fielder and baserunner, that batting line has limited his cumulative value over that period to 4.4 fWAR and 4.9 rWAR. While his name has been mentioned as a trade possibility, the contract would certainly be a major complication, and it is perhaps somewhat telling that he was left unclaimed.
Ultimately, Cotts seems the most likely to actually change hands. Executives tell Heyman that the setup man will likely be claimed, in which case Texas will have the option of working out a trade, allowing his contract to be assumed by the claiming team, or pulling him back. The 34-year-old is earning just $2.2MM this year and will be a free agent at season’s end, making some sort of transaction seem rather likely. Though he has taken a step back from a stellar 2013 (1.11 ERA with 10.3 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9), Cotts has still been fairly productive this year. He owns a 3.54 ERA and 9.6 K/9 versus 3.4 BB/9 over 53 1/3 frames, with peripherals that suggest he has pitched slightly better. The veteran has actually been somewhat more effective against righties (.673 OPS) than lefties (.731 OPS) on the season.
As a reminder, you can check here for MLBTR’s updated list of players who have cleared revocable waivers.
Why would Darvish clear? Is the injury a bigger concern than originally thought?
He has 3 years $31MM left on his contract after this year. I can’t believe he would make it past the Red Sox. Well worth the risk.
Even with “mild inflammation” in his elbow Darvish is worth a claim, he has 2-3 reasonably priced years reaming on his contract. Weird world.
Yes. And the explanation that if you make a claim it would be tough to make a trade in such a short time really doesn’t add up. So you’re going to risk another team claiming and you losing your chance altogether? You’re right, weird.
Everyone knows Texas isn’t letting him go for anything short of an unreasonable return.
Yes. But that didn’t stop teams from claiming a more expensive Cole Hamels. He’s not likely to be traded. It’s still no reason to not claim him. There has to be more to this.
Yep. It’d have to be like a Stanton for Darvish trade or something. Your best guy(s) for a future Cy Young award winner.
I don’t understand the mentality with letting a player pass by on waivers. Even if it is highly unlikely he does get traded why not put in a claim. It doesn’t hurt one bit and maybe you’ll get lucky. Worst case scenario you fill out some paperwork and prevent the player from going to a competitor.
Worst case scenario is you will get stuck with a contract you cannot afford. The team has the option to just let the player and contract go, without a trade.
Imagine if a lower revenue team like the As got stuck with Andrus’ contract… it could be crippling.
I don’t understand how you cannot understand that mentality.
Texas Rangers……what happen to that organization!
Absolutely nothing besides a lot of injuries this year.
Absolutely nothing besides injuries … and trading for Prince.
Seriously though, this is a team that seemed to have everything break their way the past few seasons. This year they made some questionable decisions in FA (at catcher, for example), a massive trade that was widely panned in Fielder, guys did not progress, while other guys got injured. Instead of breaking their way, things this year seemed to always be the worst case scenario.
Goes to show that well run clubs can slip into bottom feeders with just a few bad breaks/decisions.
On a side note – Darvish has the same offensive value as Choo. Fielder, Murphy, Moreland, Pena, and Arencibia have a combined offensive contribution of -2.6 WAR on the year.
I can’t think of anyone that panned the Fielder trade at the time. It was widely seen as a move that made sense for both teams. In hindsight with his neck injury, sure, but not at the time.
I didn’t like it.
However, I am just a blogger, not a so called baseball expert!=P
At the time of the trade Prince was regarded as one of the most durable players in all of baseball. Turns out he got a season ending injury that he was likely dealing with for most of the season which could explain his not so good numbers resulting in a negative war. Same with Choo. He has been dealing with an ankle issue for most of the season. Should have been placed on the DL, but never was. The stats before and after injury are pretty contrasting. Needless-to-say, the injury bug has hit the Rangers hard this year. Pena and Murphy should have never seen field time with the Rangers, but sometimes you do what you have too. At least we know, it can’t get much worse than this year and it looks like a #1 draft pick is headed our way. Not to mention the Soria trade could prove to be a pretty good one down the road.
My team the rangers will come back strong next year and I also think that putting andrus belter and Yu on waivers is not a great idea
As far as catcher goes, they were going after McCann…………he is hitting .233 this year so I am glad the FA catcher situation worked the way it did.
Rios to the Giants would make some sense with Belt out for an unknown amount of time. Stick Morse at first and Rios in left. If Belt comes back this year, Morse becomes a great bench bat. Either way it fills their need for an OF next year.
Rios is a Free Agent after this season.
He has an option.
A 13.5 mil option for a current 0.0 WAR player…overpay.
he is up to 0.1
Get Beltre Orioles!!!! DO IT NOW!!