The Major League Baseball’s trading deadline has passed (July 31, 4:00 EDT), and many players, as happens every year, found themselves packing their bags for new cities and finding apartments for the remainder of the season. The moniker “Trade Deadline” might indicate to the novice fan that MLB teams may no longer trade players during the season to fill in holes in their rosters or rebuild for the future. However, deals can still occur at any point after July 31. So, then, why does MLB call this day the Trade Deadline?
The deadline does not mean that teams may no longer trade players. It means that teams must now place potential trade candidates onto what MLB calls waivers before completing the deal. Jim Maloney of MLB.com explained the rule in Q&A form in 2003.
Waivers means that the team sends out a bulletin to all MLB teams indicating a player’s availability. Each team’s general manager, in reverse order of the previous season’s records, then has the opportunity to claim the player and add him to the roster. The claiming team must then pick up the player’s remaining contract and salary.
Waivers can occur at any time during the season with or without the players’ knowledge. However, after the trade deadline passes, then players must clear waivers in order for a trade to occur. Clearing waivers simply means that no team claims the player off waivers. Occasionally, a team will claim a player just to keep another team from acquiring him.
Actually, the MLB season has a second trade deadline. Until midnight on August 31, general managers may continue to change their 40-man rosters via trades, call-ups, or signings. Once that deadline arrives, however, players must find themselves on the 40-man roster in order to play in postseason games. No player who joins a team from September 1 on may participate in the postseason unless replacing a player injured before or during the postseason. Other rules may allow a roster change, but the main rule also serves as a second trade deadline during the season.
If a fan’s favorite team did not make that wonderful move by July 31, do not fret; something could still happen. The process may get a little more complicated now, but every year, contending teams continue to add that last puzzle piece in hopes of reaching the postseason and winning the World Series.
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