Sizing up the August trade candidates
By Jerry Crasnick
ESPN.com
The July non-waiver trade deadline has passed, and Major League Baseball's August trade deadline is approaching.
It's the same thing, only with more gamesmanship, smaller names in play and no real sense of anticipation.
Players now have to clear waivers before they can be dealt, which complicates matters. Pass through waivers without being claimed, and you're free to be traded anywhere. For underperforming players with fat contracts, the waiver process should be a snap. (That means you, Vernon Wells and Barry Zito.)
Conversely, star players with sizable contracts and young, talented, inexpensive players are sure to be claimed. This universe of names extends from A (Albert Pujols) to Z (Jordan Zimmermann).
There's no risk in exposing a player to waivers. If a player is claimed, Team A can either pull him back and keep him or step aside and lose him to Team B, which assumes the claimed player's entire salary. The latter scenario occurred two years ago when the Los Angeles Dodgers claimed pitcher Esteban Loaiza on waivers from Oakland.
Teams also have a 48-hour window to work out a trade. And although some clubs make waiver claims to block players from going to competitors, a claim might be a sign of genuine interest in a deal.
So who's likely to move this month? Adam Dunn and Greg Maddux were traded last August, but Matt Stairs, Scott Eyre, Chad Bradford, Mark Kotsay, Eddie Guardado, Luis Ayala, Jose Bautista, Horacio Ramirez and David Eckstein were the more conventional August-type pickups.
As long as a player is acquired by Aug. 31, he can appear on a postseason roster. The Phillies picked up Stairs from Toronto with two days left in August last season, and six weeks later, Stairs hit a huge home run off Jonathan Broxton in the National League Championship Series.
"Down the stretch, it's either the bat off the bench or teams are trying to beef up their bullpens,'' an American League assistant GM said. "It's veteran guys who are making a little money and might have a little left to help a club get to the finish line. They're usually the strongest candidates to go.''
Team finances, of course, will play a major role in the decision-making process.
"The last two years, you've seen fairly active blocking,'' an AL executive said. "But so many clubs are cautious about where we are economically, I think you're going to see guys clearing waivers who have any amount of money attached to them.''
Which names will be in the news this month? We take a look at some August trade candidates in this week's installment of Starting 9.
#7 Carl Pavano, Indians
Now that Cliff Lee, Victor Martinez, Mark DeRosa, Rafael Betancourt and Ryan Garko are off the books, Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro wouldn't be averse to moving a little more inventory.
Kerry Wood might help a contender, but he has a 5.11 ERA in 37 innings and more than $13 million still owed to him on a two-year deal. Good luck with that.
Pavano has been bothered by a wandering case of home run-itis. But he has 11 quality starts -- the same number as CC Sabathia and John Danks -- and he's shown enough flashes to make you wonder why his ERA is 5.37. The Tigers must have wondered after he dominated them with six hits over eight innings in an 11-1 Cleveland win Sunday.
Factor in Pavano's incentive bonuses, and he'll cost a team a little more than $1 million the rest of the way. At that price, he's unlikely to generate much interest. But he's out there for the taking.
