I just read Peter Gammons' latest column on ESPN.com. In it he lists Richard Hidalgo as one of the players that is expected to clear waivers in August. I would imagine that he has some trade value and we could trade him before the deadline. In either case, looks like he'll be an Astro for 4 to 5 more weeks. What do all of you think about this?
Clearing waivers is one thing ... Getting someone to pick him up is another. Who's going to want an $8MM/yr outfielder who can't hit worth crap? Contenders have better options; non-contenders wouldn't want the payroll. No way the Astros just release him and eat his salary, I wouldn't think.
I would tend to agree with you, but generally Peter has good information on these things. I think it will be interesting to see what happens.
I have a gut feeling that he might get traded, just don't know where. Maybe to Montreal for Guerrero..............
I'm assuming Gammons was referring to clearing waivers as a precursor to a trade after the deadline. Refman, take everything Petey says with a grain of salt; he's been practicing his little brand of "throw a bunch of assertions, innuendo & rumors out there & eventually I'll be right about something" journalism for quite some time.
Waivers, are a way to either release a player out right and eat the contract you are paying him. If the waiver happens after the trade deadline, you can place him on a 5 day waiver to trade to a team. The problem is that any team can snatch up the player in that waiting period, instead of the team that you want to trade with... I think that is correct? Anyone else have a better answer?
You're correct. If you're trading a player after the deadline then he must clear waivers before he's traded. This means you place the guy on waivers. Any other team has the opportunity to claim him. If the team who waives him does not reclaim the player within the 5 days, then he is property of the team that claimed him, who is also responsible for paying the remainder of his salary. If, however, no team claims the player, and he "clears waivers," he can either be reclaimed, traded, or be given his outright release (in which case they would eat his contract).
