Waiver-Wire Claims

Players get placed on waivers all the time late in the year. After the trade deadline passes at the end of July, players can still be dealt, but instead of it being a sure thing, there are a lot more hoops to jump through in order for a player to switch squads. In essence, here’s what happens.

(1) A player is exposed to waivers.

(2) Teams have the chance to claim the player in order of their record from worst to best.

(3) Once a team claims a player they have a 48 hours to work out a deal.

(4) If a deal is not worked out, then the player stays on his current team and can be “pulled back” from waivers with no penalty. If that player is put on waivers yet again, he cannot be pulled back a second time.

(5) If a player passes through waivers with no team putting in a claim, then that player can freely be traded to any team in the league.

For more on the process see Jayson Stark’s explanation.

Though waiver claims are private, the information always leaks out. Current claims would appear to be in place for the following players.

Heath Bell: Claimed by the Giants
The Giants have Sergio Romo and Brian Wilson on the DL. The team has expressed optimism that both arms will be fine in short order (Romo could even return by the end of the week), but this move suggests otherwise. Still, it should be pointed out that teams often put in claims on players to “block” that player from going to another team. The Giants could merely have claimed Bell with no intention of working out a deal for him just so teams with better records than them (i.e. the Diamondbacks) wouldn’t have the chance to claim Bell. It could also mean that there is serious concern about the condition of Wilson’s elbow.

Jason Kubel: Unknown Claim
Kubel has appeared in only 80 game because of injury but that hasn’t diminished his on field work that sees his current “pace” as .290-18-90 over 160 games. Kubel has hit only .252 over his last 103 at-bats, but he would bring a strong bat to the outfield of a contending team. He’s even hit lefties well with year with a .829 OPS, a shockingly impressive number for a guy who owns a .692 OPS against left handers in his career.

Carlos Pena: Unknown Claim
In each of the past four years Pena has hit 28 homers with 84 RBIs. This season he has 23 homers and 67 RBI. However, he’s also hitting .223 this year, though that isn’t at all unexpected given his batting average numbers the past three years (.247, .227 and .196). He has the power to hit it out of any yard, and he knows how to take a walk which has led to a career .350 OBP, a rather impressive number for a guy who has hit .239 in more than 4,000 at-bats.

Wandy Rodriguez: Claimed by the Rockies
The Astros might be willing to move Wandy given that he is owed $37 million the next three years, but they are going to have to get some talent back for him (i.e. this isn’t being viewed as a pure salary dump move). The Rockies could certainly use a big league read arm like Wandy’s to take up the space vacated by the deal that sent Ubaldo Jimenez out of town.

Jim Thome: Unknown Claim
The perfect wavier-wire claim type, Thome would likely be moved into a reserve role with a contending team which would greatly diminish his fantasy value. Still, as he has shown of late, the guy can still hit as he’s batting .290 with six homers, 21 RBI an a .947 OPS over his last 29 games.

By Ray Flowers

Waiver-Wire Adds

photo © 2008 Dirk | more info (via: Wylio)

You’re in a 12 team league that starts 14 hitters and nine pitchers with five or six guys on your bench. If you are in a setup such as this the following guys might be available for you to add. The question is – should you?

Mike Adams: The best pitcher in baseball? Through 14 innings he hasn’t walked a better and has allowed three hits. That’s a 0.21 WHIP folks. Toss in a 0.64 ERA and the guy been utterly amazing. He’s worth a look in a 12 teamer while pitching like this just don’t expect too many saves since Heath Bell is currently working on the 6th longest consecutive save streak in big league history (40).

Alberto Callaspo: He might be hitting .301, but he’s really nothing more than a replacement level player. Callaspo has never hit more than 11 homers in a season, and he has all of 10 steals in his career. His average won’t hurt you, it sits at .280 for his career, and it is impressive that he’s currently sporting a substantial increase in his walk rate which has led to a .381 OBP, some .051 points clear of his career rate. Unfortunately he likely only qualifies at third base, but with all the injuries at that position he might be worth a short-term add.

Doug Fister: This hurler owns a solid 1.28 WHIP during his young career, and his ERA also sits below four at 3.92. Unfortunately his K/9 rate is just 5.19, so there is little in the way of upside here. Fister’s xFIP last year – a measure designed to show what a pitchers true ERA should be (including normalization for ballpark) – says that his mark last year was 4.10, that it is 4.16 this year and 4.18 for his career. Given that his ERA’s his first two years were 4.13 and 4.11, do you really think he has a good shot to keep his ERA below three this year (it’s currently 2.70)?

Kosuke Fukudome: He lit up April hitting .383/.486/.400. So the initial thought is that he must finally have figured it out. Probably not. He’s still being platooned sitting against lefties (only six at-bats against southpaws this year), and if you look at his career April is always his best month of the season. Moreover, its the only month he has hit better than .280 (.338), his only one with an OBP over .382 (it’s .448) an a SLG over .455 (it’s .507). History says you should expect things to go south pretty soon.

Todd Helton: The Rockies’ first sacker is a legitimate option at the corner infield spot, especially with guys like Daric Barton and James Loney struggling. Helton isn’t likely to reach his totals from 2009 (.325-15-86-79) but it’s doubtful he’ll be as bad as he was last year either (.256-8-37-48). As long as his back doesn’t betray him his bat can play as a depth option.

Phil Humber: His spot in the rotation isn’t secure with Jake Peavy nearing a return, but Humber has performed admirably. However, he doesn’t strike anyone out (5.85 per nine), and there is little chance that he will be  able to continue to keep his HR/9 so low (it’s 0.56) and there is no chance he’ll keep his hit rate down at .212 (that’s some .065 points below his career rate).

Conor Jackson: A first round draft pick with beautiful stroke, Jackson was a solid performer from 2006-08 as a guy who was hitting .290 with 15 homers and 70 RBI. He then picked up West Valley Nile River Mekong Delta Virus or whatever it’s called. It ruined his 2009 and 2010 seasons. Playing time is an issue this season, the A’s have seemingly 47 hitters on their roster, but Conor is looking just like his old self hitting .298 with a .375 OBP and his normally stellar BB/K ratio (1.00). He’s worth an add if he continues to play every day.

Jason Marquis: He’s 3-0 with a 2.62 ERA. Come on, seriously though? Marquis will take the ball every five games, throw a lot of innings, and produce double-digit wins. He does it every year he is healthy. He also owns a career ERA of 4.52 and a WHIP of 1.42 over more than 1,500 big league innings. He’s totally on his game right now and might be worth a spot start or two in the short-term, but you can’t count on him to be anything more than your last starter – and even that may not be a deal you’ll want to make in a mixed league.

By Ray Flowers