Batting Around: How can MLB fix waiver rules and avoid another Angels-level salary dump?

Our panel of experts weighs in on the waiver wire deadline

Throughout the season the CBS Sports MLB experts will bring you a weekly Batting Around roundtable breaking down pretty much anything. The latest news, a historical question, thoughts about the future of baseball, all sorts of stuff. Last week we picked between Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman or Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson.

Should MLB adjust the waiver rules after last week's moves? How?

R.J. Anderson: You're never going to be able to outlaw what the Angels did. Teams have to be allowed to DFA players after the deadline, and I don't think you want MLB determining what is or is not a financially driven DFA.

What you can do, and what I've since had FO people suggest to me they'd like to see implemented, is alter how the claiming mechanism works. Essentially, you can treat it like a fantasy league: you get your first claim from your actual priority spot, and then you move to the back of the line. If the other players you claim make it to your next spot in the priority line, so be it.

I'm not sure I'm on board with the idea -- I don't mind what the Guardians did -- but it's probably the most realistic "solution."

Dayn Perry: I'd probably prefer to go back to the old system that permitted waiver trades in August. That doesn't address any potential perverse financial incentives, really, but it does give a team another layer of options when it comes to buying or selling before the postseason-eligibility deadline. I also like the idea R.J. mentioned about moving a claiming club to the back of the queue after a single claim. 

Matt Snyder: At the very least, there needs to be a "move to the back of the line" rule once a team claims a player. There's no good reason to allow teams lower in the standings to hog the available players. There's no merit in that. Plus, then they have to decide the order in which they value the players and essentially rank them. If MLB doesn't have a good computer system that could easily figure this out, they should look at CBS fantasy. It happens seamlessly. 

Ultimately, though, there wasn't really reason to do away with the old waiver trade system in August. Especially now with more playoff teams creating more contenders (and as a result a major lack of sellers) in front of the deadline in July, something needs to be done. I don't think they should move the deadline back, they should just allow waiver trades a few weeks after the deadline like in past years. 

Mike Axisa: A "move to the back of the line" rule would help, though I'm more concerned about a team being brazenly cheap and anti-competitive by salary dumping all their good players on waivers, not about one team claiming everyone. The problem to me is what the Angels did, not what the Guardians did, and I don't know how you fix that.

Bringing back August waiver trades would help a bit. At least then you can create the illusion of a baseball move. I'm certain a team would have traded a prospect and eaten all the money to get Lucas Giolito (or Reynaldo López, Matt Moore, etc.) last week. At least then it would not be such a transparent cash grab by ownership. Those moves by the Angels (and also the Yankees with Harrison Bader) were a really, really bad look. We know owners want to cut payroll. They don't have to be so obvious about it though.