Villar was placed on waivers by the Orioles on Wednesday, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.
The Orioles had been trying unsuccessfully to trade Villar prior Monday's non-tender deadline. Releasing Villar would be an odd move after the infielder stole 40 bases and hit a career-high 24 homers while posting a .274/.339/453 slash line, but the Orioles evidently don't envision the 28-year-old being part of their future. He's projected to make over $10 million in arbitration, though that's presumably a price a contender would be willing to pay.