Come to Think of It: Waving Away the Waiver Wire

Much has been said and written in recent days about the Cubs' chances of claiming one of an assortment of available players.

Yet as much as they do need hitting help (and yes, pitching too, now that Big Z’s back is aching again), the vast majority of players available at this time of year either have huge salary liabilities, or they are just plain bad.

Take, for example, Jason Giambi.

Released by the Oakland A’s on Friday, there has been some talk of the Cubs acquiring him to be a left-handed bat off the bench.

But at the time Giambi was shown the exit, he had the lowest batting average in the majors at .193, and his slugging was nothing special.

The former steroid pin-up boy appears washed up at 38. Defensively, Giambi is a DH and Lord knows we already have plenty of those (Fox, Bradley, et al).

Then there is the case of future Hall of Famer John Smoltz. He certainly has a big reputation, and the Red Sox were banking on a comeback from the right-hander this year.

Yet after failing miserably, they designated him for assignment, and some are speculating that he may end up in the Cubs bullpen.

Sure, it’s a low cost move, but does it really have much probability of success?

Boston is a very smart organization, and I believe them if they think he is washed up.

Of course, as bad as Aaron Heilman is, Smoltz couldn’t be any worse I suppose.

But that’s not supposed to be the logic used when acquiring a player, even one that doesn’t cost you much. If he can’t help you, why bother?

Many players are routinely placed on waivers at this time of year. If they pass through without being claimed, they can later be traded to the other league, despite the official trade deadline having passed.

And if the player is claimed, the team can simply pull him back, let the claiming team have him, or they can try to work out a trade.

Oftentimes, players with high salary commitments are placed on waivers with the hope that a contending club will take on the player’s salary.

Take, for instance, Alex Rios of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Since signing a $70 million deal prior to the 2008 season, he has been somewhat of a disappointment. Yet a team, supposedly the White Sox, have put in a claim on Rios.

This could be a golden opportunity for the Jays to receive salary relief by allowing Rios to simply walk away to the Sox.

Likewise, instead of using the waiver wire to obtain some broken down, lousy player, I’d rather the Cubs put a guy like Milton Bradley on the wire and see if some team is dumb enough to claim him and absorb the remaining two years on his contract.

Now occasionally a useful player will become available, so if that happens, by all means go ahead and get that help.

But that usually doesn’t happen. Additionally, teams are allowed to put claims on players in the reverse order of their record, meaning the Cubs won’t be one of the first to have the chance to claim a player.

There has been consternation over the Cubs closer situation, and the Mets are said to be shopping Billy Wagner. While this isn’t a waiver situation, it is an option. But don’t expect the Cubs to be interested, in large part due to his salary as much as his injuries.

Meanwhile, don’t expect the Cubs to make any bold moves at this time of year. In fact, waving bye-bye to the waiver wire just might be the best thing they could do, come to think of it.