MLB Waiver Wire: 7 Players Who Will Be This Season's Cody Ross

The MLB trade deadline is a bit misleading. Trades can still happen in August as long as the player clears waivers first.

Last year, Cody Ross exemplified the power of an August acquisition. Although obviously not single-handedly, Ross provided the jolt that the Giants needed to eventually win the World Series.

Following this success, the question is inevitable: Who will be this year's Cody Ross? Who will be the bat or the arm that gives their team a boost down the stretch?

Here are seven potentially important players who have already cleared waivers according to MLB Trade Rumors and are now available to be traded. They could bring the added pop to a contender just like Ross did.

Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs

I admit, I have always been a fan of Alfonso Soriano. He has always been an intriguing player in my book.

This year, he is batting .242 with 22 home runs and 65 RBI. He does strike out far too much, and his on-base percentage is a very lowly .283.

According to Jon Heyman of SI, the Cubs are willing to pay "a major, major chunk" of his rather hefty salary. He could be an interesting acquisition to provide some pop in a lineup for a semi-decent price.

Hideki Matsui, Oakland Athletics

I guess I'm a little heavy on former Yankees here. However, Hideki Matsui has also cleared waivers and could be a very useful bat off the bench or against left-handed pitching for a contender.

He is hitting .258 with 11 home runs and 64 RBI. He might be useful off the bench because he has eight of his 11 home runs against left-handed pitchers despite the fact that he himself is left-handed.

Teams always need to be able to hit that annoying left-handed pitcher out of the bullpen, and Matsui might be able to contribute in that role.

David DeJesus, Oakland Athletics

Again, I am falling into a different trend with another Oakland Athletic. Don't be deceived by a down year; David DeJesus is a solid contact hitter.

This season, he is batting .238 with eight home runs and 39 RBI. Nevertheless, he is a .284 career hitter. Oakland is not an easy place to hit the ball in, and this difficult campaign will lower the price for DeJesus.

He has shown that he is a capable hitter and could fill a hole that some team might have in the outfield.

Angel Pagan, New York Mets

Angel Pagan is not all that different from David DeJesus when looking at contact hitting. This season, he is carrying a .268 average with seven home runs and 46 RBI.

However, his speed is what differentiates him from David DeJesus. Pagan has stolen 27 bases already this season. He could provide some average and speed at the top of the lineup.

So far in August, he is batting .363, so maybe he is already turning into Cody Ross.

Ted Lilly, Los Angeles Dodgers

Ted Lilly is one of those guys who always seems to have decent numbers. This year, that trend seems to be continuing.

He is 8-13 with a 4.43 ERA. However, his WHIP is pretty solid at 1.18.

The reason that he made this slideshow is that he is tearing it up in August. Over 32.2 innings this month, he has a ridiculously low WHIP of 0.80 and a tidy ERA of 2.20. Perhaps some team will be able to pick him to bolster their rotation down the stretch.

Chien-Ming Wang, Washington Nationals

Chien-Ming Wang has only started six games this season. A lot has changed since he won 19 games in back-to-back seasons for the Yankees in 2006 and 2007.

He is 2-2 with a 3.82 ERA. He will not strike out very many opponents at all, but ultimately what really matters is getting outs. If he is finally overcoming his injury problems, he might very well be worth a trade to support the rotation because of his postseason experience as well.

August is going very well, and maybe he can start racking up the wins again.

Jim Thome, Cleveland Indians

I know that he was traded already, but Jim Thome still counts as a waiver deal. He will get playing time at DH in Cleveland because of the injury to Travis Hafner.

He has 13 home runs this season in limited playing time, and five of them have been in August. Cleveland could use a hot bat in the middle of the lineup as they try to scrape their way back into the division race. Thome hitting home runs would help that out quite a bit.