On Thursday, the MLB playoff picture was shaken up as the Cleveland Guardians and Cincinnati Reds claimed five veteran players off waivers. Here are other teams that made sense for Lucas Giolito and Harrison Bader, among others.
We are almost a full month removed from the Major League Baseball trade deadline, yet Thursday provided more activity and intrigue than any moment before July 31.
With the Los Angeles Angels placing six players – Lucas Giolito, Matt Moore, Reynaldo Lopez, Dominic Leone, Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk – on waivers, it gave teams the opportunity to claim each player for no acquisition cost. The New York Yankees then followed suit with Harrison Bader. The Chicago White Sox did the same with Mike Clevinger. The New York Mets with Carlos Carrasco. The Cleveland Guardians with Derek Norris.
On Thursday, the waiver claims became public. And the results sent shockwaves around baseball.
Giolito, Moore and Lopez were claimed by the Cleveland Guardians. Renfroe and Bader were claimed by the Cincinnati Reds. Leone was claimed by the Seattle Mariners.
"It's kind of just letting a playoff team who has no other way to make a real addition face a choice to just take the money or not," one executive said when the Angels began placing veterans on waivers last week.
"Never saw this coming – at least to this extent," that same executive said Thursday.
Here are other teams that made sense for players that were claimed.
Lucas Giolito: Arizona Diamondbacks
At the trade deadline, the Arizona Diamondbacks expressed interest in Giolito and other starting pitchers. But the asking prices for each player were too high and the team was not comfortable parting with a haul of prospects for potentially a two-month rental.
But with Giolito on waivers, and it costing the Diamondbacks no prospects to add him, claiming him made a ton of sense. And Arizona did in fact place a waiver claim for Giolito, sources tell FanSided.
The Guardians (64-70) had a higher waiver priority than the Diamondbacks (69-65), and thus were able to claim Giolito on waivers. Arizona also placed waiver claims on Moore, Lopez and Bader, a source tells FanSided.
It's possible that the Diamondbacks pursue Giolito in the offseason when he becomes a free agent. He will surely command an expensive multi-year contract, but considering that he was traded midseason, he will not be eligible for a qualifying offer. Which will surely be intriguing for Arizona and other interested teams this winter.
Harrison Bader: San Francisco Giants
I could easily put the Diamondbacks here since they attempted to claim Bader, but I'll put the Giants here because I thought – and so did rival executives – that they made a lot of sense for the veteran outfielder.
Bader, a Gold Glove caliber defender in center field, would have patrolled the spacious Oracle Park outfield with ease. He would have been a strong platoon against left-handed pitchers – he's hitting .343/.392/.687 with a 1.079 OPS against lefties this season – and would have been a strong chess piece for manager Gabe Kapler.
Alas, he goes to a young Cincinnati Reds team that could use a veteran voice or two. They got it with Bader and Renfroe, who will both be free agents at the end of the season.
It would hardly be surprising to see San Francisco or Arizona pursue Bader in the offseason, though he could be a candidate for a one-year "prove it" deal considering his offensive struggles (.240/.278/.365 with seven home runs and 37 RBI) as well as his extensive injury history.
Reynaldo Lopez: Minnesota Twins
Word is, the Minnesota Twins were actively looking at the waiver market for potential bullpen reinforcements. And Lopez would have made a ton of sense for them.
Instead, the Twins will continue with a plan that relies on injured pitchers recovering and pitching again in 2023. It also includes converting starting pitchers with power arms into unique roles, as Dan Hayes of The Athletic noted, and that's a giant risk. Especially for a team leading its division and hoping to advance in the postseason.
Which is why adding Lopez or Moore would have been ideal for Minnesota. To make matters even worse is that both pitchers went to the Cleveland Guardians, who are only five games back of the Twins in the American League Central.
It places increased pressure on the Twins. With the Guardians now clearly gunning for a postseason spot, they got better. A lot better. And it's going to require the Twins to play near perfect baseball to prevent being caught by Cleveland.
Matt Moore: Miami Marlins
The Marlins were another team eyeing bullpen help and had its sights set on Lopez and Moore. Ultimately, Moore ended up with – ahem, you guessed it – the Guardians.
Adding either player would have made a ton of sense for the Marlins, who recently demoted veteran reliever David Robertson out of the closer role. They envisioned Robertson locking down the ninth inning, but it got to the point (8.18 ERA in 11 innings pitched) that the team had to do something.
If the Marlins claimed either Moore or Lopez, they surely would have been ticketed for high-leverage spots in the late innings. But they came up empty in that search and their inability to get one of the relievers may have helped seal their fate outside of the postseason, as they entered Thursday three games back in the National League wild card race behind the San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks and Cincinnati Reds.