From what I understand, each team simply released the other and only allowed the other team to claim him? Surely, this circumvention of the trade deadline should be punished somehow, but I haven't heard of any forthcoming action by MLB. If the trade deadline is really that big of a joke, why are there so many deadline deals?
You can make trades after the deadline. The only thing with the deadline is that the players have to clear waivers and good players generally don't. If we were trying to acquire someone, the Cubs and/or Cardinals would have the option of blocking it by claiming the player involved. I'm surprised that no one claimed someone like Nelson. We could certainly have used him. The teams can't control who claims another player, so the "only allowing the other team to claim him" thing can't be right.
Major: Read the ESPN article... I didn't get that out of thin air. Perhaps ESPN is wrong... but this seems a very risky way to trade, otherwise.
Major is right. The players must clear waivers before they can be traded, meaning every team has the option of picking up the player you realeased, in order from worst record to best. But if you block the trade, you are forced to put that player on your roster. My guess why Nelson wasn't picked up is because he had just bashed the Mariners in public for not making a move. BTW...Anyone remember how San Diego claimed Deon Sanders off waivers last year before Oakland could get him? Same thing.
I think this is just a technicality. In order to make a trade both players have to clear waivers. Instead of both players clearing waivers and working out a trade, both teams simply agreed to claim the players they wanted and then took them for "free". The Astros have done this in the past. Keith Ginter was one of the players they've done it with I think.
Check out Jayson Stark's latest article. He gives a fairly good explanation about waivers: http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stark_jayson/1591973.html Considering that Nelson only makes $2.65 mill and is a free agent after the season, it does seem strange that another team would not claim him. If the reason was his attitude, it seems pretty dumb to me (since everyone and their mother bashed Seattle for not making a trade for the second year in a row). Oh well, it helps my A's
