While much of the furor this past month has been about the Chicago White Sox deadline dealing Jeff Samardzija, this week’s hot streak forced the team to stand pat.
That doesn’t mean they won’t make a deal, though. Keep in mind in August teams can pass players through waivers, but that is a complex process.
Here is how that works.
Now that the July 31 deadline has passed, a team must put a player on waivers in order to trade him. For example, let’s say the Tampa Bay Rays put a player on waivers (not saying they will). That player would go through the American League first, with the team with the worst record getting the first chance to claim him. If no team in the American League were to claim that player, he would then pass through the National League, once again, worst record to best.
Once a player is claimed, the team that placed that player on waivers has three options.
1. Make a deal with the team that claimed the player within two business days.
2. Pull the player off of waivers, therefore nullifying the trade.
3. Do neither. Just allow the team that claimed him to pay the remaining salary.
It is hard to pass good prospects through waivers. That is why most of the “blockbuster” deals happen before July 31.
In my opinion, if the Sox are going to make a trade, it will probably be for a platoon bat or something of that nature.
If Sox fans remember 2009 and 2010, Alex Rios and Manny Ramirez came to the South Side in waiver deals. Neither required a top prospect, which is why they passed through waivers so easily.
Ramirez was at the end of his career and obviously had plenty of other baggage, which is why the Sox were able to get him. Rios had a gigantic contract, not to mention he was underperforming in Toronto.
Here is my question: If the Sox to acquire a bat, who will it be?
Would Mike Napoli make sense? While I have no inside information on this, he might be a good platoon partner with Adam LaRoche, not to mention he is an option at catcher.
Could a corner outfielder be an option as well? Avisail Garcia has been disappointing so far in 2015, but he could get hot for a stretch. Plus, most of the other corner outfielders are rentals or have big deals.
Overall, I don’t expect the Sox to make any major deals this next month. They still have a young core, and if the team continues to play well, why mess with success?
A minor addition here or there wouldn’t hurt, but major moves may actually hurt chemistry, not help.
Next: Should Tim Anderson be promoted to Triple-A?