How a Waiver Trade Works
The July 31st trade deadline has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean the trading is over. How is that possible? Why was there such a big deal about the trade deadline then? Well, that is what I will cover today.
The trade deadline, or officially, the “non-waiver deadline” is the period in which teams can freely trade with one another. Team A can talk to Team B, and work out agreeable terms (players) to send to each other. July 31st at 3:00 PM CT is the deadline to complete any of these types of deals.
Once the clock turns to August teams have to become much more creative to complete trades. There are certain obstacles, which make a trade more difficult, but not impossible. Here is the process, we will use Chicago Cubs player so to not confuse.
Waiver Trading
- Come August, teams try and place a number of players on waivers. In fact, most of their roster will be placed on revocable waivers during this time. For the sake of confusion, we will assume the Cubs placed Tommy La Stella on waivers.
- Scenario One. Tommy is placed on waivers.
-  The National League would have the first shot at Tommy. Meaning any NL team would take priority over any American League team.
- The team with the worst overall record would take precedence over a team with a better record.
- If Tommy was claimed by a single team, the Cubs would have three options at this point.
- They can pull him off waivers and they will retain Tommy.
- They can work with the team that claimed him for compensation for Tommy.
- They can elect to just let him go with no compensation coming back in return.
- If Tommy was claimed by multiple teams, this adds a bit to the details.
- When multiple teams claim a player, the team with the worst record would win the claim. So if the Philadelphia Phillies (39-64) and the Colorado Rockies (60-46) each had a claim, the Phillies would win the rights.
- But let’s say the worst AL team and the worst NL team’s made a claim on Tommy. Even if the AL team had a worse record, the first priority is given to the NL team. Likewise, if an AL team placed a player on waivers, the AL team with the worst record would take priority over the NL team.
- The Cubs would then have two days to complete a trade, give the player to the other team, or pull back waivers.
- If the Cubs decided to let Tommy go.
- The claiming team would immediately control La Stella. They would retain his services and take over his full contract.
- No team claims Tommy.
- This is what the Cubs would hope for. When a player passes through waivers, they are now able to enter into trade talks with any team for the player throughout the remainder of the season.
- If a player is dealt after August 31st, that player would not be able to participate in the playoffs.
- If a player has a no-trade clause or 10/5 rights (10 years in the league, five consecutive seasons with the same team), the player has every right to reject the trade.
- The Cubs pull Tommy back, off of waivers.
- The Cubs would keep Tommy.
- If the Cubs decide to place Tommy back on waivers after pulling him off once, his rights would go to the team awarded the claim.
Teams will attempt to place most players on waivers, pulling back any player they had no intention of trading or players that might be claimed by a team they do not have a trading interest with. You might see a guy like Jake Arrieta, Mike Trout or another superstar being placed on waivers, but it isn’t with the intent to trade him.
There have been more and more trades that have happened after the July 31st “non-waiver” deadline. Part of this is due to three divisions in each league, four Wild Cards, and what seems to be a reluctance by team’s to become sellers before the July deadline.
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