According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the Nationals placed Adam Dunn on waivers today. This led to the standard Twitter freakout, wherein people were trying to figure out what it meant. Do the Nationals want to get rid of Dunn? Are they going to trade him? Do they plan to just give him away? For an answer to the question of what this means for Dunn and the Nationals, I direct you to SB Nation DC.
More generally, though, I think this is a good opportunity to remind everyone that placing players on waivers in August is more of a procedural thing than anything else. Most players in baseball get placed on waivers in August. It doesn't mean anything. It's investigative, and harmless. Hearing that a certain player has been placed on waivers in no way lends any insight to a team's motives.
Are you still confused? Does your confusion stem from a lack of clear understanding of how waivers work? That's fair. Allow me to try my best.
For these purposes, I'm going to use specific player examples to explain the basics of how waivers work. Players, of course, don't place themselves on waivers and generally aren't aware of what's going on, but consider this artistic license. Upon being placed on waivers, a player can go claimed, or unclaimed:
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Brian Fuentes: Anybody want me?
Team: Yes
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Carlos Zambrano: Anybody want me?
Teams:
Carlos Zambrano:
Teams:
Carlos Zambrano:
Teams:
Carlos Zambrano: Well I'll be here if you want me
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If a player goes unclaimed, he is available to be traded to anybody. If a player gets claimed, then one must sort out the issue of waiver claim priority. In the event of multiple claims, priority goes to the team with the worst record in the same league as the player.
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Adam LaRoche: Anybody want me?
Padres: Sure
Everybody else: No
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Adam Dunn: Anybody want me?
Rockies: Yes
Giants: Yes
Tigers: Yes
White Sox: Yes
Tigers: Well we have the worst record, so he's ours
Rockies: But we're in the NL
Giants: So are we
Rockies: But we're worse than you
Giants: Dangit
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Once a claiming team is identified, the player on waivers may be pulled back off waivers, traded to the claiming team, or given to the claiming team with his entire contract.
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Albert Pujols: Anybody want me?
Everybody: Yes
Cardinals: Sike
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Jose Guillen: Anybody want me?
Giants: Well I guess
Royals: We require either a player who has also cleared waivers, or a player who is not on your 40-man roster
Giants: Fine
Royals: Pleasure doing business with you
Giants: Whatever
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Chone Figgins: Anybody want me?
Angels: We miss you
Mariners: Sucker
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I hope you now have a greater understanding of the waivers process. It's worth adding that, if a player is placed on waivers and pulled back, then he may be placed on waivers again, but said waivers would be irrevocable. Meaning, the team could not pull him back again. If a player gets claimed, and the player's team pulls him back, that's pretty much the end of it.
So, waivers aren't really a big deal. Most everyone will land on waivers at some point this month, from the Willie Bloomquists to the Evan Longorias of the world. The best players will get claimed and pulled back. The worst players, or the players with the worst contracts, will fly through unclaimed. Some will attract some interest, and some will move on. Don't fret, or even raise an eyebrow when you hear that a player's been placed on waivers. Raise an eyebrow when a player's rumored to be traded. That's when the month of August can actually get interesting.