Tomorrow will be an active day on the transaction front. It’s the last day in which teams can add players from outside the organization and still have them eligible for postseason play. Not coincidentally, non-contending clubs placed a number of impending free agents on waivers yesterday. The two-day waiver window for all those players will be resolved tomorrow at 12:00 pm CDT (though it’s possible the claim results won’t be officially announced until later in the day).
[Related: Best fits for Starting Pitchers, Outfielders, Relief Pitchers]
Before getting to the waiver order, a refresh on the priority rules. Claim priority is the inverse order of win percentage as of Thursday morning. Waivers are not league specific, although teams in the same league as the club that put a player on waivers have priority over a claiming team in the opposite league among clubs with the same win percentage. To break ties between teams with identical records and in the same league, the club with the worse record in previous seasons has priority. (A team moves to the back of the line if they’re attempting to claim a player for the second time in a given season, though that won’t be a factor for any of the players known to be on waivers at the moment.)
Tomorrow’s waiver priority:
- Oakland Athletics, .291
- Kansas City Royals, .304
- Colorado Rockies, .368
- Chicago White Sox, .396
- St. Louis Cardinals, .433
- Detroit Tigers, .444
- Pittsburgh Pirates, .455
- New York Mets, .455
- Washington Nationals, .463
- San Diego Padres, .463
- Los Angeles Angels, .478
- Cleveland Guardians, .478
- New York Yankees, .489
- Miami Marlins, .496
- Cincinnati Reds, .511
- Arizona Diamondbacks, .515
- Minnesota Twins, .515
- Boston Red Sox, .515
- San Francisco Giants, .519
- Chicago Cubs, .534
- Toronto Blue Jays, .545
- Milwaukee Brewers, .556
- Philadelphia Phillies, .556
- Texas Rangers, .564
- Houston Astros, .570
- Seattle Mariners, .571
- Tampa Bay Rays, .612
- Baltimore Orioles, .624
- Los Angeles Dodgers, .629
- Atlanta Braves, .659
- Pittsburgh has priority over Mets based on 2022 record
- Washington has priority over San Diego based on 2022 record
- Angels have priority over Cleveland based on 2022 record
- D-backs have priority over Twins based on 2022 record
- Minnesota has priority over Boston based on 2021 record, as teams had identical records in ’22
- Milwaukee has priority over Philadelphia based on 2022 record
This post originally indicated that the Twins had priority over the D-backs. We regret the error.
So the Mariners won’t get any of them. Got it.
They likely will have a chance if they wanted to claim a few of these guys as several will go unclaimed.
Who would the Ms want? Maybe Reynaldo? Why risk messing with the continuity of the Pen….or anywhere on that team for that matter?
Could the M’s use one of the RH OF bats? don’t know that I want anybody who drops that far…
Adding talent almost certainly trumps “continuity”.
Cry more
Maybe Leone, will be available. I’m sure everyone will pick the rest of angels first
I guess I called it
C’mon Reds! Claim Giolito, Lopez, Moore, and Bader! LOL! A guy can hope, right?
It would be crazy if they did. Feasible yes, but it would lead to a huge churn in their 40 man.
Why Bader? With Fraley coming back he’s no better than the 5th outfielder on this team. Giolito, Lopez, Moore, and possibly even Clevinger, definitely. Bader, definitely not.
I don’t think they’d shell out $5.4M + for Clevinger, but one can hope. Marlins (and who knows about the Padres) are teams that can spoil their plans. We’ll surely see if they are willing to spend right here and now.
Giolito and/or Clevinger would certainly allow them to reduce innings for Abbott, who looks like he needs a lesser workload going forward.
If they’d actually get off their wallet to do it.
issue is both Gio and Clev are AL, so pretty unlikely they get to NL.
WTH…Bader? So he can be put on the IL for Hemorrhoids?
We need trade rumors to rank the waivered players
Padres acquire Gio and offer 5 years at ~$110M
We need trade rumors to do a write up on Pat Corrales who just passed.
They did 2 days ago.
Darragh did on Monday:
mlbtraderumors.com/2023/08/pat-corrales-passes-awa…
(Not trying to sound sarcastic, to be clear; just trying to be helpful and pointing you to it)
RIP, Pat.
Steve I hope you know that for every complaint or request or sideways remark there’s a thousand guys here who visit the site who LOVE what you provide.
Content is awesome, the writers are fantastic, and this is a go-to, number one source for all things baseball for many, many fans. I truly appreciate all you supply to us. Thank you !!
Amen Gary! I may occasionally compliance, but I wholeheartedly agree. I love this site.
This has got to be like the nerdiest form of baseball fandom, but I am thoroughly enjoying this and looking forward to seeing what claims are made tomorrow!
This
I see a lot of people saying that it makes a travesty of the game, or whatever.
I just see that it adds interest.
Only excuse for Cincinnati not getting several of these guys is if Miami grabs them first.
Yup. Reds ownership will be exposed here, one way or the other.
Agreed…All eyes are on Miami.
I foresee MLB trying to adjust the waiver rules to prevent this sort of thing in the future
Thks is the most excitement they’ve had in August in a long time. They’ll probably encourage it next year.
Agreed. The reason this is so significant is bc so many teams are still in the hunt. Literally half the league will be interested in several of those players, despite only have 4 weeks of the season left. That was the goal of the new playoff system.
Think of it this way – even just when they only had 1 wild card team and no play-in game, you probably would have had 8-10 teams still gunning for these guys.. now we are looking at 15-16 teams. It’s great.
By all means they ll b addressing it. For teams trying to get under luxury tax it was a wise move. But what White Sox did was just pathetic.
The White Sox? Lol what did they do?
@Bob, they put Clevinger on waivers. And unlike other teams they are nowhere near luxury tax. So it’s literally just for Reinsdorf to save a few $s and in doing so potentially have an impact on playoff chases and potentially playoff series.
At least teams such as Angels who are attempting to get under luxury tax spend $.
Eh whatever. Someone else wants to claim him and pay the $4 million buyout for next season, that’s ok.
Also, chances are, like years past, there are a lot more players on waivers who just haven’t been reported.
@Bob, in years passed they had revocable waivers and teams could work out trades or just take the player back. And as far as just butting players on outright waivers, there were not starting pitchers with 3.32 ERAs.
Without a doubt some of these players are going to get claimed and have an impact on playoff chases. And fir those teams trying to duck under luxury tax, it is a shrewd tactical move. But for a team such as the White Sox who have never been close to the luxury tax, it is downright pathetic.
Did you read anything about the buy out option for Cleavinger? That’s a lot of money to spend on someone you clearly don’t want to roster. This is a smart financial move. You should be applauding it. Hearing about a 5 year extension would make you feel sick to your stomach.
I would be extremely surprised if someone claimed Clevenger when having to pay $5.4m for 1 month + playoffs. If someone does, White Sox just saved $5.4 m which is much more than a few bucks. White Sox have to pay $4m just for the buyout next year so they might as well try and have someone claim him. Seems smart to me as they are not in the playoff hunt so why keep for the last month?
One team being in the driver’s seat and allowed to grab all these guys is not fair at all. That team could be the Marlins, or if they pass, the Reds.
That’s the problem here. If they want to keep this system, they need to have a team move to the back of the waiver queue when they make a claim.
Otherwise this is wildly unfair for a team that is one game up in the wild card standings for example
Yes , exactly like in old fantasy football leagues before waiver wire became waiver budget.
The Oakland A’s have a chance to do something absolutely hilarious.
Leave one of the largest tv markets and move to one of the smallest?
The league is always looking to balance out so if the lower teams get more chances I’m sure they’re all for it. It’s like saying its not fair that the Braves and Dodgers draft so low because they’re so good. Besides look a the Marlins or Reds 40 man roster and cut the bottom four or five guys and tell me that they want to lose what’s probably and chunk of prospects. Then it would get interesting since the A’s and Royals could jump in when that wave of players hits the waiver wire.
Claim everyone, ruin anyone else’s chance of benefiting from this odd scenario.
Exactly my line of thinking…
Moving to the back of the queue would mean that the players being waived on the same day would also have to be in some sort of queue.
They should take Leone LOL
Maybe requiring them to be on the 40 instead of in the organization. This way they would have to choose them over another player
Giants at #19. Who we gonna get ?
Carrasco
Anthony: By “attempting to claim a player for the second time” do you mean a specific player ex Giolito, or do you mean the team put in a claim for any player on waivers?
A team can’t claim a player twice in one season without going to the end of the line. See Adam Rosales 2013 waiver battle for the reason why.
specific player
Thanks guys!
Mets should claim Giolito
was thinking the same, try him out for the rest of the season. see if he’s worth a contract in the off season
Because paying him $1.5M makes more sense then just sending a scout to watch wherever else he’s pitching?
They’d be paying quite a bit more than $1.5M as well with luxury tax tacked on.
You can also discuss extensions without fear of tampering.
You can add guys to the tank for a lot cheaper than that. They were THIS CLOSE to getting that #6 slot last night. Ugh.
With waiver claims, can you take as many players as you want? (Someone above was mentioning the Reds claiming like 4 guys.) Or do you get first choice, then it kicks you to the bottom of the waiver list?
A team can claim as many as they want.
Moore, Reynaldo, and one of the Angels outfielders to the Twins, please.
Preller probably gonna take Giolito thinking he still has a chance for the playoffs.
If no other team grabs Giolito before it’s SD’s turn to pick, it’s a SLAM DUNK, the Padres choose Giolito.
With Musgrove and Darvish on the IL, and Hill not worth, well, a hill of beans, Giolito is a natural fit.
I still think the Padres can make a September run at that finals wild-card slot. Just don’t see the Giants, Reds and Cubbies as being better. JMHO, but Cinderella is gonna come calling for those three pretty soon. Maybe the D-Backs, too. After Gallen and Kelly, their SP is very suspect.
Because somehow, some way, the Pads will make up 7.5 games on Giants and pass three other teams in the process, with just 28 games left? Sure.
Red are smoke and mirrors.
Cubs are a good team but might not be enough time to catch the brewers, but should grab a wild card spot easily.
I don’t think the Padres can realistically make a run, it’s just a poorly constructed team full of alphas who just don’t mesh well together. Mets and pads are proving that you can’t buy a winning team, only headaches.
Oakland gonna spend the big/prorated bucks?
Any of these guys league min with 2 years of control left and all star performance?
Nope, all free agents to be
The Guardians should ruin everyone’s day and claim Giolito, Lopez, and whichever outfielder they like best (my pick would be Grichuk)
well done. you deserve a beverage!
Props to Anthony for taking the time to lay this all out. Great job.
In the future, or this year, would be interesting to see a WC contending team pick up spare parts August 31st, catch fire and win the whole damn thing.
I think that’s what the league is hoping for
Well the Ians are gonna try. I saw someone call them the Guardian Angels.
The most hilarious scenario would be if Preller and the Pads claim everyone and go all-in for September.
Anybody have any idea what time today the claims will be announced? What time does the 48 hours expire?
I believe that the posting of waivers close at 1pm EST(or so), deals could be announced anytime after that. Teams have to get their roster configured before sept 1 if any given player is to have playoff eligibility.
I’ll really be surprised if the D’Backs go after or get any of these wavier players. I see them going with what they have. They call up a couple minor league prospects tomorrow.
I hate it for my Braves. Teams in front can claim anyone and get better. No glaring weakness for Braves though other then maybeeee a starter would be good but people called up have done fine
Why? The braves arent as desperate as other teams here.
I wonder if the white sox could claim giolito and able to offer the QO.
Hate it for the Braves
Will the Cardinals surprise everyone with claims? The Cardinals are in a situation where they must make upgrades to both the starting rotation and bullpen in order to put themselves in a position to have a winning record in 2024. Currently they have several relief pitchers on the roster who appear to have no future with the Cardinals, or for any other MLB team for that matter. The Cardinals could claim both Reynaldo Lopez and Matt Moore, who would be immediate upgrades over pitchers such as Jacob Barnes, Casey Lawrence, and James Naile. The Cardinals could then evaluate Lopez and Moore to determine if they want to offer them contracts for 2024 or beyond., and even start a negotiation process before the current season ends. The Cardinals could do the same with Lucas Giolito as a starter. In all probability, Lawrence and Barnes will be removed from the roster anyway at the end of the season, and Naile is unlikely to again be placed on the roster. Lawrence, Barnes, Naile, and Leahy were only added to the roster to begin with because the roster was depleted with the trades of Jordan Hicks, Jack Flaherty, Jordan Montgomery, and Christ Stratton, and the front office did not want to promote other pitchers to the 40 man roster who are not ready.
Pirates should get one of these guys for no reason
Cubs need a lefty in the pen, and if Moore is unclaimed, they should sign him. That said, they are close to the first tax line, and I’m hearing that they are unwilling to cross it this year.