Waiver Claim Machinations

The Giants recently made a waiver claim on Trevor Hoffman, whom the Brewers floated to gage interest or, more likely, hoping to squeak him through without claim so they could then try to trade him to anyone willing to pay top dollar for a one month rental.  The Giants did so in part because they had some interest in Hoffman, but also to make sure that the Dodgers or Rockies couldn’t get him.  The Brewers have apparently pulled him back and won’t consider a deal with the Giants.

Kind of strange that the Brewers would even place Hoffman on waivers this late in the season.  Hoffman projects as a Class A free agent, so if the Brewers offer him arbitration and he signs elsewhere, the Brewers get two draft picks.

Of course, if Hoffman accepts the offer of arbitration, he will get a nice chunk of change out of the Brewers for 2010, given the fine come-back year he had for the Brewers this season.  Actually, that isn’t a terrible outcome for the Brewers either, because at his age, Hoffman is only worth one year at a time, and I’m not aware of the Brewers having anyone better to close their games in 2010.

The Brewers were reportedly able to pass through waivers Jason Kendall, Craig Counsell, Mike Cameron and Braden Looper, so several of them may be traded prior to August 31, the deadline for newly acquired players to play in the post-season for their new teams.

Of more interest outside the San Francisco Bay Area and the State of Wisconsin, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports the Yankees  put in a waiver claim on Chris Carter, the minor leaguer who was the main player the Red Sox intended to trade to the Mets for Billy Wagner.

Because Carter is on the Red Sox 40-man roster, they have to pass him through waivers before trading him.  The Yankees apparently claimed him solely to force the Red Sox to keep Carter on their 40-man roster through the end of the season in order to limit the Red Sox roster flexibility for the rest of 2009.

According to Olney, the Sox did pull Carter back from waivers and will keep him on their roster until the end of the season, at which point they’ll send him to the Mets.  Carter was designated a player to be named later, so the Red Sox can hold onto him for some time before sending him on the Mets.

In my mind, it’s always good to see a few GMs thinking ahead and putting the kibosh on other teams’ deals that might hurt their club.