Embrace, don’t bash, utilizing the waiver wire

Acquiring players after the deadline is fine. Don’t hate.

On the evening of August 28, the San Francisco Giants, 67-67, fourth in National League West, 12.5 games back of the Dodgers and 6.5 back of the Braves for the third and final Wild Card spot, waived three players: second baseman Thairo Estrada and left-handed relief pitchers Tyler Matzek and Taylor Rogers.

This immediately brought to mind what another California-based team did last season.

Last August, the Los Angeles Angels waived four players—including three pitchers and current Royals outfielder Hunter Renfroe—when the team fell out of the hunt. The Angels waived the players to get under the luxury tax and to allow these players to possibly be claimed by contenders before the post-season roster eligibility deadline.

It’s the latter point that matters but it’s the former point that’s causing some baseball writers to get all tangled up.

Regarding that former point: this morning on New Day With SSJ on Sports Radio 810, Buster Olney, as he does every (or most) Thursday mornings during the baseball season, joined the show to discuss numerous subjects, including the waiving of Taylor Rogers.

Olney called the move by the Giants “unseemly.”

Just over two weeks ago, on The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal spent the first and largest section of his column discussing how the Texas Rangers could follow in the 2023 Angels’ path by waiving a handful of players. To date, this has not come to pass. But Rosenthal, like Olney, clearly wasn’t a fan of this practice.

He wrote about the potential moves:

• “Such a maneuver, though, would be a bad look, not just for the Rangers, but also for the league.”
• “The league during the offseason chose to hold off on any rules changes that would prevent teams from engaging in similar dumps. But additional shenanigans this season might force the league to reconsider, particularly if the sport’s competitive integrity is compromised.”
• “But another massive, Angels-style dump is not necessarily likely. Good. If the defending World Series champions turn into waiver-wire enthusiasts, the sport has a problem.”

Excuse me while I pick up my eyes that have rolled so far back that they’ve fallen out of my head.

Look, I get that fans of the Angels last year and the Giants this year may not be fans of waiving players so the team’s billionaire owners can save a couple bucks, but that’s completely forgetting about the players involved.

Maybe I’m wrong and totally off base here, but if I were a player, with my contract guaranteed and languishing on a club that was out of the playoff hunt with a month left in the season, I’d be glad for the opportunity to join a new team, presumably one with a shot at playing in the playoffs, for the rest of the year.

Think about Paul DeJong at this year’s trade deadline. Or Lucas Erceg. Both of them were playing for teams going nowhere for the final two months of the season. Then, suddenly, their seasons were renewed with trades to the Royals. Both have been key acquisitions as the Royals head into September holding a playoff spot and looking to capture the division.

Meanwhile, DeJong’s old team? The White Sox? Currently 72 games under .500.

Erceg came over from Oakland Sacramento Las Vegas (?)—they’re 58-75.

Sure, the Royals gave up prospects to grab these players. That makes all the difference in the world, I guess. By gawd, if they came over for nothing, there’d be hell to pay to the likes of Olney and Rosenthal.

Utilizing the waiver wire is not “unseemly” and it does not call into question the sport’s competitive integrity. It’s another way for teams making a push to get better if they want to spend the money. It’s a great way—and the last way—for a player who, for whatever reason, didn’t get moved at the deadline to make his season worth something.

Collectively, baseball careers do not last long. Why make a rule that would prohibit a player good enough to help a contender from helping a contender? Just to make a point to owners of underperforming or bad teams? Do that some other way.

Don’t take it out on the player.

Don’t take it out on an owner who is willing to spend that money to win.

Don’t take it out on making the last month of the regular season as exciting as it can be.