Explaining Cliff Lee and August trade waivers
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Explaining Cliff Lee and August trade waivers
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — The Phillies placed Cliff Lee on trade waivers, according to a report by Yahoo! Sports, which is merely standard procedure this time of year. Most teams place a majority of their players on waivers after Aug. 1 regardless if they intend on trading them or not.
Lee is likely to go unclaimed because he is owed approximately $95 million through 2015. If a team claims him, the Phillies can pull him back, negotiate a trade with the claimant, or simply allow that team to absorb his entire contract. It's highly doubtful anyone claims Lee for risk of inheriting a massive commitment.
The Phillies, a baseball source says, were not willing to assume any of Lee's remaining salary during trade talks before July 31. They were also asking for a bounty of top prospects in return.
Lee has a no-trade clause that prevents a deal to 21 teams without his consent.
For those reasons, any Lee deal now or in the wintertime, is dubious unless Ruben Amaro Jr.'s demands change.
"They told us those were rumors and there wasn't anything really in the works," Lee said Tuesday. "Ruben did tell me some teams did propose some stuff to him, but nothing that even made close to sense for the Phillies. I signed here to win here. Obviously nobody is happy the way this year has gone, but this is where I want to be. We still have a lot of talent."
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
Please please please be setting up a Lee for Justin Upton trade— kilo_005- When the hell will the Phillies put Amaro on the trading block? Surely we could use some new bats or something worthwhile! The guy obviously has no clue as to what he is doing, just like the non-American president we have!— erniebanks14
- great comment from start to finish! — advantasux
- I'm getting pretty disgusted by RAJ's disrespect towards Lee. At this point, I'd rather see Halladay on waivers.
- completely with you on this point. Getting very tough to watch the way Amaro deals with certain guys - Lee, in this case - while bending over backwards to coddle others. After being shocked and disappointed with his unexpected trade in December 2009, Cliff Lee made a terrific gesture to the City of Philadelphia, its team and its fans just one year later and, even now, with his first sub-par season ongoing, Amaro continues to dangle the guy like he's David Herndon.
No, forget that, Amaro coddles guys as important to him as David Herndon. Cliff Lee? Not so much.— advantasux - Relax. As stated, a lot of guys go on waivers after the trade deadline. You just never hear about it unless someone actually claims them. If they're claimed then the waiving team (the Phillies here) has all the control. They decide if they want to make a deal, take him off waivers and keep him, etc. Even if a team decided they wanted to take on all of Lee's salary the Phillies could say, "Wait a minute, we want some guys back or he's coming off waivers." It really boils down to three choices if another team is interested:
(1) No thanks, we're rescinding the waiver; (2) Okay, let's talk trade; or (3) Go ahead, take the guy and you have his contract.
Number one gives the Phillies full control.
Understand the process and don't panic. It means next to nothing.— s - Ruben isn't the one to blame. Start with no hustle Rollins, Opie of Mayberry, Victorino, Pence, and the bull pen. Victorino and Pence had to go.Ruben got back a lot By freeing up about $30,000,000 for 2013. Then there will be about another $20,000,000 coming off the books with Blanton, Palanco, Contraras, and the other trash in the bull pen.$50,000,000 should allow them to sign some good players.— Rumrunner11
- Also, I doubt any player views this as disrespect. It's part of the process, just like trades are. These are all big boys with big paychecks for what they do. They're not as sensitive as people think. If my boss could put me on waivers and another company could claim me for 25 million a year I be waiving all the way to the bank.
Some people tend to take the personal side of baseball too seriously. It is, after all, a game.— s - The odds of anyone claiming Howard off waivers are about the same as the odds of the Phillies winning the World Series this year.— s
- Is it standard procedure for teams between August 1-31 to place their GM's on waivers to gauge interest if another team wants to pick up his contract?— sonnybuoy01
- great idea but no one would bite. — advantasux
- Matt Gelb was just claimed off waivers by The Sacramento Bee.— s
- Dempster is way overrated and most likely is a two month rental. Neftali Feliz needs TJ and the other starters donlt scare anybody. I wouldn't rule out Texas revisiting the Lee trade talk. The Angels just beat them easily and they are for real. Pujols is starting to heat up and their starting pitching is pretty good. They are the team to beat. No question about it. Hamilton and Napoli could leave after this season. So this could be the last chance they have to win the WS. With Lee on board, they have a good chance.— EL Zorro
- Ask yourself this question, If they intend to keep Lee, why go to the trouble of putting on waivers? Why go aggravate him? Did they put him on waivers last year, or Halladay for that matter?— EL Zorro
- I still think Amaro is fishing for a deal for Lee. Why aggravate Lee with this move unless he has plans to deal him? To me, it's obvious what Amaro's intention is. I still think he's going after Olt and if the right package is put together, Lee will be a Ranger by 8/31.
