Waiver Wire Wonders: How Cleveland and Cincinnati Snatched Opportunities from the Twins

[Ted Schwerzler]

The Los Angeles Angels decided to make like a scorned fantasy football owner earlier this week, and dump everything they had acquired. While the Minnesota Twins put in waiver claims, it was their chief competition that grabbed everyone. Is the waiver wire broken?

 

Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports

At the 2023 trade deadline, Derek Falvey and the Minnesota Twins front office decided to do nothing. Swapping Jorge Lopez for Dylan Floro was hardly a trade, and that move was trading out equal parts of a turd, hoping to polish it on the other side. Instead of advancing the roster for Rocco Baldelli, the coaching staff was told to make do with what they had.

A month later, with no waiver trading period of yesteryear, the Los Angeles Angels decided to shock the system. After they held onto Shohei Ohtani, despite postseason hopes on life support, Arte Moreno’s club decided to go for it. They acquired Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Randal Grichuk, and others. Things went sideways; they didn’t win, and Ohtani blew out. Rather than hang onto the assets, they dumped everyone.

Major League Baseball was suddenly presented with an unprecedented opportunity.

While waivers have traditionally been a handful of players with bloated contracts, the Angels effectively pieced everything they added out in hopes of retaining minimal value. Once they made the moves, it became less about Los Angeles and more about everyone else who could acquire the contracts.

For a few million dollars, competitive organizations were in line to grab the likes of Giolito, Matt Moore, Reynaldo Lopez, and Hunter Renfroe. The Twins were among those interested and made four claims on the day. With the way major league waiver priority works (in reverse order of standings), they could not grab anyone, and Terry Francona’s club snubbed them in every way possible.

It’s worth wondering if the Twins inability to handle business at Target Field didn’t play a massive factor in this equation. Up six games when the Guardians came to town, the Twins winning two of three games in the series would’ve given them a seven-game advantage. Instead, they won the first game and dropped the next two, including a colossal collapse in the third. Jhoan Duran and Kody Funderburk gave away a strong Sonny Gray start, allowing Cleveland to think they had a chance.

Minnesota did nothing at the trade deadline, even with Duran and Griffin Jax struggling. They didn’t add a right-handed outfield bat, even with a left-handed log jam truncated by an anchor in Joey Gallo. Dallas Keuchel pitched his way into the picture from Triple-A, but the rotation was in flux with Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober embarking into uncharted waters. Indeed, the front office making no moves was head-scratching at best.

Relying on many waiver options in August was a weird situation, but it was one the Angels and their white flag-waving presented. Being in that boat was only a direct reflection of what had happened thus far, and instead, they were met with opposition from their chief competition.

Cleveland is not traditionally a club looking to spend, nor are the Reds. Even with that truth, both gobbled up the Angels castoffs and kept their competition from adding to the soon-to-expand active roster. Cleveland has less than a 6% chance to make the postseason, but their last-ditch effort costs a nominal amount of dollars while holding Minnesota back. If this works, they’ll certainly look the part of a genius.

Baseball may decide that allowing one or two teams to claim everyone without shuffling back in priority is an unfair advantage. After all, that’s how it works on Wednesday mornings when making claims in fictitious football leagues. For now, though, the Guardians cracked open a drink, kicked their feet, and told Minnesota, “We’re trying.” They have reversed course after waving the white flag a month ago.

The waiver wire game may become a trend as the years go on. Getting under luxury tax thresholds has advantages, and they ring more accurately when you’ve already exhausted your opportunities. During the waiver wire frenzy on Thursday, the Twins came up short, but they certainly could’ve knocked the Guardians out of it ahead of time or made moves at the deadline when the ball was in their court.

We’ll see how the final month plays out from here. Los Angeles challenges the status quo. Cleveland and Cincinnati benefited from it. Minnesota now needs to handle the business they’ve flirted with all year, and if they fall short again, doomsday is coming.

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[theBOMisthebomb]

It was BS in a chef's salad how MLB allowed the waiver wire to unfold. Shame on MLB for allowing this loophole. The Twins should be outraged. If the Twins do choke away the Central, I hope all the waiver wire pickups for Cleveland play a pivotal role. 

[tony&rodney]

Bottom line is that if the Twins cannot win the AL Central this season given their current lead and the remaining schedules for the Twins and Guardians, there is nothing or nobody to blame but themselves. The Twins are in the driver's seat and hopefully know how to steer through these last 28 games. 

Maybe the Twins should be watching the Cedar Rapids team to see how to deliver a knockout.

[Parfigliano]

Did TC put in a claim on Renfroe?

[Eris]

The challenge with changing the waiver rules to move every team that claimed a player to back of the line is that eventually a good player on waivers will be awarded to best team in the league. I think current system has worked just fine. Cincinnati and Cleveland might be better teams now and baseball will have a more competitive stretch run. If this happens, baseball as a whole will be better off.  (Of course not so good for the Twins)
 

There are many elements the waiver/ free agent system that lack fairness under some circumstances. At least with the waiver claims, the worst teams receives the first chance at benefiting and they pay the salaries. I think an equally interesting example that has not received any attention is Josh Donaldson clearing waivers and signing a minor league contract with the Brewers. In case of an injury Josh Donaldson could be eligible for the Brewers post season roster and the Brewers risk is the prorated league minimum. Josh Donaldson has been hurt most of the year, his performance has been declining (and he has a reputation for not being a good teammate) but he is still an above average defender. I think the Brewers got a steal. Insurance at one of their weakest positions without having to make any roster decisions. 

[DJL44]

Just bring back the waiver trade deadline. Problem solved.

[Eris]

35 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Just bring back the waiver trade deadline. Problem solved.

I’m not sure this would matter. The old system was revocable waivers. The claiming team could work out a trade, or sometimes a team would let the waiver claim proceed. If the player cleared waivers they could be traded to any team. However, the decision was left for the team placing the player on waivers as to whether or not they would let the waiver claim go through. In the current case (with the Angels) the outcome could have been the same if the Angels were content to let a player go with no compensation other than salary relief. 

The revocable waivers was more of a game of chess as blocking a move from your competitor was part of the strategy. Most of the time (but not always) this could be done without acquiring the player as most teams expected to receive a trade as part of the outcome. 

[Riverbrian]

A team out of contention has no reason to hang on to an expiring contract unless they are offering them a QO at 20 million for draft compensation. If they wanted to bring them back as a free agent... they can.

An expiring contract serves no benefit in August and September to a team that will not make the playoffs. I don't believe this is a one off event. 

Play some players who will be back next year instead... save a couple of million dollars in the process... you are going nowhere this year... I don't believe this is a one off event. 

Every year there are teams (plural) who are not ready to sell in July but absolutely ready to sell in August after a bad month. I don't believe this is a one off event.  

I don't blame the Owners or players union for not seeing this coming. But it has now happened and I don't believe this is a one off, never to be seen again event. 

One time is too much and it has happened so address this in the off season, Change the rules to prevent the 2nd time it happens... It doesn't matter if the 2nd time is 5 years from now.

No team should be able to pick as many players as they want when this happens. We just watched a mini-merger. 

[LastOnePicked]

I don't feel bad for the Twins one bit. More competition - especially in the Central - is a very good thing. Twins have been absolutely gifted this division lead so far.

I do, however, feel for the players involved. Gleeman and Bonnes had some good thoughts on that today - give the system a tweak so that more veteran players can choose to reject waiver claims.

[Eris]

I don’t really think there is a fair to do this as every system that can be devised has pluses and minuses. 
 

From a team perspective, extending the trade deadline would give every team an opportunity to bid on a player.  And perhaps would seem the most fair to the teams still in the playoff hunt. 
 

Granting free agency to the waived player would would likely result in the best free agents going to the best teams as given a choice, the player would choose the team that appears most likely to go deep in the postseason. This overall would be good for the players but not good for baseball. 
 

Generally, I think it is good for players on uncompetitive teams to to be waived or traded to teams that are still playing for the postseason. This is especially true for players on expiring contracts as it gives them an opportunity to further showcase their talents and value.  (An example of this is Eddie Rosario receiving a contract from the Braves primarily because of his postseason heroics). 

[lecroy24fan]

I would change the rules to back of the line after a claim. But i would also reset the waiver wire after the last game each Sunday.

[DocBauer]

I don't blame the Angels, or anyone else, for making a bunch of wire moves. It's just strange that nobody else thought of this since the changes in the last deal. The Angels, and anyone else, have the opportunity to save a few $M in a lost season. Further, it might improve any potential draft opportunity for said team to improve their position when losing a top FA while facing payroll penalties. On top of that, a team who has no shot to compete ALSO opens roster spots IMMEDIATELY to bring up prospects to debut where there wouldn't be opportunity beforehand due to the new 28 man rules. 

ADDITIONALLY,  the guys placed out there actually have a chance to MAYBE, join a team that makes a run for the playoffs. Despite the bad inconvenience of moving around too soon at times, those guys get the opportunity to play post season ball. Not a bad thing!

BUT, two things need to change!

1] The whole September promotion of TWO...and ONLY TWO...roster additions is complete BS, and I've been arguing this since the change was made. MLB has decided that limiting the September call up that has existed for decades is flawed. They believe it provides an unfair advantage for contending teams to play non-contending teams late in the season with a playoff spot on the line. In other words, if you are a GOOD team, playing a bad/losing team...bringing up a handful of proscpects to audition...and you are in direct competition with another team for a playoff spot who is playing ANOTHER good team who is playoff caliber, you are supposedly being penalized. 

How is this remotely true? First of all, the schedule is set before the season even starts. Who can possibly predict final records before the season even starts? And when we get to September, we have NO CLUE who will be good or bad when the season starts. What if a team EXPECTED to compete is having a bad year, injuries and the such? So this bad team can't bring up prospects to see about the next year? You are literally handcuffuffing teams that want to look forward to the next season. To limit teams to add ONLY a couple players doesn't only harm their future, but also doesn't paint an accurate picture, but the MLB idea of "competitiveness" isn't really accurate from day 1 to 162. 

So 2 additions somehow makes everything good and even across MLB. 

NOPE!

Thats why the Angels took a new step forward. It's something MLB didn't see coming. They suddenly save some $, improve their draft stock when they lose Otani. But they also get to promote prospects to fill slots they didn't have before.

NOW, MLB has to look at how this loophole figures in to the future. You can't have a hard deadline that replaced the previous dual headlines and allow someone to just "nab" waiver wire acquisitions in August. You pretty much just kept what used to be in place before the trade deadline changes took place. 

If you are going to keep the hard trade deadline in place, you have to make changes in how future August DFA are going to be approached. Because it's not going to change. The floodgates are open. They need to either go back to the previous trade deadline, OR, make some kind of claim adjustment. Maybe it's a listing of preferred claims so everyone gets a shot. Maybe you go back of the line after one claim. I don't know the answer, but Pandoras box is open. MLB needs to figure out an equitable change that makes sense. 

[ashbury]

Currently waivers are player-centric, and each player is handled separately according to which team(s) put in a claim.  That's usually fine when only a player or two at a time is put on waivers.

When there are a lot of players, desirable ones at that, you have to have a draft. 

It need not be a public spectacle like the June draft or the Rule 5 draft in December, when multiple desirable players are routinely available.  Instead, each team just has to manage its current list of waiver claims by priority, at the commissioner's office.  If you want Matt Moore the most, followed by someone else, rank them #1 and #2 respectively.  Every day, one of the commissioner's minions* goes through in priority order (this year Oakland first, then KC, etc) and if they have any waiver claims, they get their top priority.  Then on to the next team in order. If it's your turn and your #1 guy is already gone, then you get your #2, unless he's gone too.  And so on.  Just like any draft, except everyone has made their decisions in advance, because the numbers of players are so much fewer than in June or December and the decision making is manageable.  (Imagine ranking all the amateurs for the June draft, that would not be manageable.)

Most days the process would be trivial, and with exactly the same results as we're used to - players pass unclaimed through waivers all the time and that would continue.  But on a day where a team like the Angels has put a lot of good talent on waivers, the process spreads out the talent to multiple teams.

 

* In truth the minion would be a computer program that runs through the list** as many times as needed, but I don't want to rile up any anti-computer hysteria.

** I was going to say database, but, well, you know.

[old nurse]

Had the Twins snagged the 2 relievers and Refroe there wouldn’t have been complaints of unfairness nor that the system needs changing.

If Cleveland nor Cincinnati make the playoffs the system would be considered working fine by mlb. 

Tanking for a draft pick at this point in the season.  Players playing for a job next year. Every other team that was lower than the standings is in the same boat. Here is to hoping that the Reds Giants, Diamondbacks and Marlins win the draft lottery 

[Nine of twelve]

Here’s an idea:

No player may be waived between the trade deadline and August 31. On that day all waivers are announced and a draft is held with each team selecting 1 player at a time (or declining to make a selection). These players would be eligible for the postseason. There would need to be a way to discourage tanking during August, possibly a lottery of some sort to determine the selection order. I have an idea for how a lottery could be done but I’m not going to go into details now.

Would this work?

[Riverbrian]

1 hour ago, old nurse said:

Had the Twins snagged the 2 relievers and Refroe there wouldn’t have been complaints of unfairness nor that the system needs changing.

 

Complaint isn't the right word.

But... I'm 100% positive that if it were the Twins benefiting from this roster influx. I would have pointed out the unfairness while in a state of mini-celebration. 

It is possible to do both. 😉

[old nurse]

57 minutes ago, Nine of twelve said:

Here’s an idea:

No player may be waived between the trade deadline and August 31. On that day all waivers are announced and a draft is held with each team selecting 1 player at a time (or declining to make a selection). These players would be eligible for the postseason. There would need to be a way to discourage tanking during August, possibly a lottery of some sort to determine the selection order. I have an idea for how a lottery could be done but I’m not going to go into details now.

Would this work?

So if you cam’s waive players then the DFA players couldn’t be claimed during Agust, either. Some player would be denied a chance to be on a roster. 

[DJL44]

14 hours ago, Eris said:

I’m not sure this would matter. The old system was revocable waivers

Get rid of revocable waivers. Let every team that claims bid on the player.

[Blyleven2011]

16 hours ago, Eris said:

The challenge with changing the waiver rules to move every team that claimed a player to back of the line is that eventually a good player on waivers will be awarded to best team in the league. I think current system has worked just fine. Cincinnati and Cleveland might be better teams now and baseball will have a more competitive stretch run. If this happens, baseball as a whole will be better off.  (Of course not so good for the Twins)
 

There are many elements the waiver/ free agent system that lack fairness under some circumstances. At least with the waiver claims, the worst teams receives the first chance at benefiting and they pay the salaries. I think an equally interesting example that has not received any attention is Josh Donaldson clearing waivers and signing a minor league contract with the Brewers. In case of an injury Josh Donaldson could be eligible for the Brewers post season roster and the Brewers risk is the prorated league minimum. Josh Donaldson has been hurt most of the year, his performance has been declining (and he has a reputation for not being a good teammate) but he is still an above average defender. I think the Brewers got a steal. Insurance at one of their weakest positions without having to make any roster decisions. 

I agree with the rules ....

This is America  , quit wanting to change the rules , they are and have been established  for years , now this year it effects the Twins and everyone thinks it's unfair  ...

It is what it  is ...

Cleveland made the right play because Twins lost two games to Cleveland  ....

[old nurse]

2 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

I agree with the rules ....

This is America  , quit wanting to change the rules , they are and have been established  for years , now this year it effects the Twins and everyone thinks it's unfair  ...

It is what it  is ...

Cleveland made the right play because Twins lost two games to Cleveland  ....

Baseball has always changed the rules.

[old nurse]

3 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Get rid of revocable waivers. Let every team that claims bid on the player.

They did get rid of revokable waivers. 

[Eris]

15 hours ago, DocBauer said:

I don't blame the Angels, or anyone else, for making a bunch of wire moves. It's just strange that nobody else thought of this since the changes in the last deal. 

We are all assuming that this is a move that the Angels made without consequences. How do players in general feel about this. Will this impact the ability of the Angels to attract free agents. Part of this would be on how it was handled. Did they ask the players who were waived if they wanted an opportunity to play for a contender. I have not read an articles about the human element of these roster moves. 
 

Mike Clevinger who one of the better pitchers placed on waivers, went unclaimed. Although he had other baggage (domestic abuse) his buyout clause was an inhibiting factor in being claimed. This suggests what players can do to limit being claimed on waivers. In Clevinger’s case his buyout is 4 million dollars. 
 

 

[DJL44]

The hilarious part of this is the Angels couldn't get under the luxury tax threshold because Grichuk went unclaimed. They're still getting a 4th rounder for compensation for Ohtani.

[Jocko87]

17 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

The hilarious part of this is the Angels couldn't get under the luxury tax threshold because Grichuk went unclaimed. They're still getting a 4th rounder for compensation for Ohtani.

It might be the limiting factor on this whole thing going forward.  Oops indeed.

[Nine of twelve]

5 hours ago, old nurse said:

So if you cam’s waive players then the DFA players couldn’t be claimed during Agust, either. Some player would be denied a chance to be on a roster. 

My idea was just a quick thought, not a serious well-researched proposal. I’m sure there are other issues as well. Maybe have a draft of all players either waived or DFA’d, maybe every month, I don’t know. I just think there must be a way to improve on the current system that would be more fair for players and for all teams.