Welcome back to Top of the Order, where every Tuesday and Friday I’ll be kicking off your baseball day with some news, notes, and thoughts about the game we love.
Last week, I explained how players can still change teams even though trades are no longer allowed. Now that it’s a week and August, I’d like to present a list of players who could be irrevocably released before the end of the month, the latest that a team can claim and claim. qualify for the playoffs. Players placed on waivers are first assigned to the worst team in the league, then to the other clubs in ascending order up to the one with the best record at the time of the waiver.
I’ll focus on teams with less than a 5% chance, although contending teams can see if a rival wants to bite on a tough contract. (Spoiler alert: it won’t.) As a reminder, if a player is claimed on waivers, it’s a direct claim. The team that loses the player gets nothing but salary relief, as the new team faces the remainder of the contract.
Chicago White Sox
Despite holding on to their two most coveted trade pieces, Garrett Crochet and Luis Robert Jr., the White Sox traded away six players at the deadline. One of the remaining players, however, is right-hander Chris Flexen. He hasn’t been great by any means, with a 5.53 ERA and 5.14 FIP, and he’s never put up good strikeout numbers in his career, so perhaps it’s understandable that Chicago couldn’t get what it wanted in a return package. That said, there is one thing Flexen does offer: He can eat innings (114 IP so far this year). Teams probably don’t want to take the chance of buying bad innings in bulk, but they may be willing to pay all of Flexen’s minimum salary this year ($1.75 million) to take the load off their other young arms as he progresses. grind on the dog days of August and the rush of September.
The White Sox will likely place Andrew Benintendi on waivers to see if there will be players, but considering he’s one of the worst hitters in baseball this season and has three more years and $47.5 million left on his contract after this one, no team is going to let him go. the South Siders to get out of the game with a bad deal that has been looking bad all game.
The Colorado Rockies
It was an ineffective trade deadline for the Rockies, who traded for relievers Jalen Beeks and Nick Mears but held on to the hope that 2025 is a little better.
I don’t see pending free agents Elias Díaz and Jacob Stallings going anywhere. It’s hard enough to learn new hires that come on board, which is why catchers are rarely moved at the deadline, so teams may not want to cover their contracts if they have little time to gain that much experience. And Charlie Blackmon, 38, isn’t going anywhere either. That leaves big contracts no one will want: Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela, and – gulp – Kris Bryant.
Miami Marlins
Peter Bendix and Co. they clean house on deadline, leaving no hire left on the list. They are in full exploration mode for 2025, and the current workforce will be part of that, with no one left.
The Oakland Athletics
The last iteration of the Oakland Athletics did not do much before the end of July, exchanging Paul Blackburn and Lucas Erceg but holding key players Mason Miller and Brent Rooker, each of which would have changed the farm system if it had been done.
Oakland is still drafting three pending free agents, all of whom could be valuable to the right team: Scott Alexander and TJ McFarland are heavy lefties who are inadequate as second or third basemen in a playoff bullpen, and Ross Stripling has been healthy and pitched five-plus innings. in the first three since coming off the injured list. Still, Stripling is only one of three starts after an injury, and he will be owed the remainder of his $12.5 million contract.
Washington Nationals
General manager Mike Rizzo traded every recruit he had at the deadline, but a few that were interesting were in IL at the end of July and, as a result, stuck around.
Trevor Williams was brilliant before he got hurt (2.22 ERA over 11 starts) and is getting closer to a rehab job. He hasn’t thrown more than six innings or 97 pitches in any start this year, but if used properly, it’s clear he can be effective.
Washington is the latest stop on Joey Gallo’s “we can fix him” tour, and unfortunately the same has happened to him. Just five homers in 165 plate appearances isn’t enough to cover 71 strikeouts, and buying out $2.5 million in his matching option (which will deal with a new team) makes things even more difficult.
Patrick Corbin is also a pending free agent, but it doesn’t mean (but I’m going to say it anyway) that he will finish his max contract as a National.
Los Angeles Angels
It was quite confusing when Kevin Pillar wasn’t moved at the deadline, but it was reportedly the same decision for the veteran’s final season, with both sides agreeing that the potential return wouldn’t be big enough to mean anything at all. . Still, if Pillar expresses a desire to end his career in the playoffs, the Angels will likely agree, and he’ll likely be wanted because he only makes a league salary of at least $740,000.
Lefty reliever Matt Moore is expensive, earning $9 million this year, but bounced back from a bad start on July 19 (two outs, five runs allowed) to throw 6 2/3 scoreless innings in six appearances since at that time. He was very good from 2022-23.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays were one of the busiest teams last month, trading Yusei Kikuchi, Yimi García, Kevin Kiermaier, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Trevor Richards, Justin Turner, Danny Jansen, and Nate Pearson. The only rental left is Ryan Yarbrough, acquired from the Dodgers for Kiermaier. The best version of Yarbrough is useful as a multi-inning arm, but it hasn’t been that way for a month.
The Detroit Tigers
Gio Urshela and Shelby Miller were surprisingly caught at the deadline, though both would have been valuable to the right team.
Urshela could still find himself elsewhere as he has a cheap deal ($1.5 million) and has a strong defensive record at the hot corner, versatility in the infield, and good contact hitting. As for Miller, some bad outings have boosted his ERA to 5.85, but his catchy fastball that led to a streak with the Dodgers last year may still be there. He has a club option for 2025 that his new team can exercise if he finishes a strong season.
Texas Rangers
The reigning champions saw their playoff chances fade even after adding Carson Kelly and Andrew Chafin at the deadline; they don’t seem to get any momentum. They may be inclined to allow the season to run with existing workers no matter how low the odds, but they also have a hiring price they can expose to layoffs to lower wages.
All of these players are free agents at the end of the season, or have similar options, which may never be exercised: Max Scherzer, Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, David Robertson, José Leclerc, Kirby Yates, Kelly, José Ureña, Travis Jankowski, and Robbie Grossman.
The Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati traded part of the deadline, trading for rentals Lucas Sims and Frankie Montas but not changing the roster either way. The Reds may try to get out from under Jakob Junis’s $3 million mutual option buyout by releasing him from waivers, and releasing Buck Farmer and Justin Wilson pending free agents as well.
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In the end, only a few of these players will end up on new teams before September 1st, and of course, none of them will be as impactful as the guys traded. But some of these players could make a difference down the stretch and/or in the postseason. The non-revolving waiver wire is less exciting to follow than the trade deadline, but it’s still worth keeping an eye on over the next few weeks.
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