The Buzz: August Trades

Even though the MLB Trade deadline has passed, teams can still make trades during the month of August. To specify, the July 31st trade deadline is labeled as the non waiver trading deadline. Teams usually try to complete any waiver trade by August 31st, as that is the deadline date for playoff rosters to be set. With that being said lets take a look at how August trades work.

• No matter if the team intends to trade them or not, every player in the MLB will probably be placed on revocable waivers this month. This strategy allows teams to be discrete about players they actually intend to trade.
• If all 30 teams pass on a player who is on revocable waivers, that player is now eligible to be traded until August 31st.
• If a player is claimed by one team, the player could then be traded to the team that put the claim on him.
• If multiple teams claim the player, the team with the worst record would get priority, and therefore the player can only be traded to that team.
• If the two teams can not work out a deal involving the claimed player, or the the player’s team does not want to trade him, they then can pull him off of waivers.
• Also, if a team is hoping to clear salary in anticipation of the off-season, they can allow the team that claimed their player to have him for a small waiver fee. In this case, the claiming team would be on the hook for all of the players remaining salary.

Here are some of the trades that happened last year during this period…

• The Cleveland Indians traded Carl Pavano to the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named later. Pavano’s efforts last season boosted the Twins into the playoffs.
• The Baltimore Orioles traded Aubrey Huff to the Detroit Tigers for pitcher Brett Jacobson.
• The Texas Rangers received Ivan Rodriguez from the Houston Astros for pitcher Matt Nevarez and a player to be named later.
• Billy Wagner was traded from the Mets to the Red Sox for two players to be named later.
• The Tampa Bay Rays traded starting pitcher Scott Kazmir to the Angels for Alex Torres, and Matt Sweeney.
• The Arizona Diamondbacks traded Jon Rauch to the Twins for pitcher Kevin Mulvey.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers traded pitcher Luis Garcia and a player to be named later to the Washington Nationals for Ronnie Belliard.
• The Chicago White Sox traded Jim Thome to the Dodgers for a player to be named later. The Dodgers also acquired starter Jon Garland from the Arizona Diamondbacks for a player to be named later.
• In a separate move, the Chicago White Sox traded pitcher Jose Contreras to the Colorado Rockies for minor leaguer Brandon Hynick.
• Also, the Chicago White Sox made arguably the biggest waiver claim that we have seen in a while. As they claimed a then slumping outfielder Alex Rios, and all his $60MM remaining contract from the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays were more than happy to simply let Rios go claimed to the White Sox.

So as you can see, there are not a lot of blockbuster trades that happen in the month of August. The most famous trade in August is probably one that includes a player to be named later. Trades during the month of August are based around players that  have a specific role, and not ones that make a big impact.

I would look for teams that want clear payroll to be active during the month of August. More specifically the Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cubs will probably put players like Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano, and Kosuke Fukudome to hope that they find a team like the White Sox last year who are willing to claim one of their big contract players.

*Information used in this report was courtesy of ESPN’s Jayson Stark