Last Tuesday, Aug. 1, was MLB's trade deadline. More than 50 trades were completed in the week leading up the deadline and two more trades have been completed since the deadline. Wait, what? Yes, post-trade deadline trades are a thing. This year's first two post-deadline trades were completed on Aug. 4 and the Dodgers were involved in both:
- Traded Kole Calhoun to the Guardians for cash considerations.
- Traded minor leaguers Aldrin Batista and Maximo Martinez to the White Sox for international bonus money.
Hey, Calhoun's a familiar name. He's been in the league a while. Since joining Cleveland, Calhoun is 2 for 7 (.286) with a double. He even started his first game at first base since 2013 as the Guardians navigate Josh Naylor's oblique injury.
Trades never actually go away. They are just severely limited after the deadline. There are other ways to acquire players after the trade deadline too. The league can't just say, no, that's it, you're not allowed to add new players after this date. At minimum, teams need to be able to add reinforcements when they're hit by injuries (like the Guardians and Calhoun/Naylor).
Here is a primer on the different ways teams can still add players after the trade deadline.
Trades
The old August waiver trade system, the one that allowed the Tigers to trade Justin Verlander to the Astros on Aug. 31, 2017, went away in 2019. Under those rules impactful major-league players could still be traded after the trade deadline. The current rules significantly limit the pool of tradeable players. These are the players eligible to be traded after the deadline:
- Players signed to a minor-league contract.
- Players who have not been on a 40-man roster at any point this season.
- Players who have not been on the MLB injured list at any point this season.
Calhoun had spent the entire season in the minors before being acquired by the Guardians. He spent a few weeks in Triple-A with the Yankees earlier this year, opted out in June, then signed a new minor-league contract with the Dodgers. They then traded him to Cleveland. Calhoun had not spent a day on a 40-man roster and was thus trade eligible.
In recent years players like John Axford, Delino DeShields Jr., and Brad Peacock were traded as minor leaguers in August. Some familiar names currently in the minors and eligible to be traded include righties Matt Andriese (Dodgers) and Kyle Barraclough (Red Sox), outfielders Ben Gamel (Padres) and Andrew Stevenson (Twins), and utility man Cole Tucker (Rockies).
Waivers
Waivers are still a thing in August. Under the old August trade waiver system, waivers were revocable, meaning you could pull your player back and keep him if he got claimed. Now it's regular old outright waivers (used to remove a player from the 40-man roster) and release waivers (used to release a player). They are not revocable. If your player gets claimed, he's gone.
Teams can coordinate waiver claims so they function as a salary dump "trade" this month. "I can't send you anything in return, but I will claim that guy if you put him on waivers, and take his salary." That kind of thing. Longtime big leaguers Asdrúbal Cabrera, Kevin Gausman, and José Quintana were all salary dumped in August waiver claims in recent years.
Someone like Tony Kemp stands out as an August waiver candidate. He's a rental with $1 million or so remaining on his contract, which I'm sure the Athletics would love to shed, and he's hitting .302/.375/.444 since June 15. Kemp has walked more than he's struck out this year, he's a great baserunner, and he plays second base and left field. He can help a contender's bench.
Other waiver candidates include infielder Elvis Andrus (White Sox), righty Jose Cisnero (Tigers), outfielder Adam Duvall (Red Sox), and lefty Brent Suter (Rockies). They're scheduled to become free agents after the season and they all hit the sweet spot between being useful to a contender while also not having a ton of money remaining on their contracts.
Free agents
It is business as usual here. Teams can still sign free agents the same way they can at all other times of the year. The only problem is the free agent pool in August is not exactly loaded with talent. Notable names on the market right now include slugger Nelson Cruz, outfielder Corey Dickerson, utility man Josh Harrison, catcher Manny Piña, infielders Jean Segura and Kolten Wong, first basemen Trey Mancini and Luke Voit, and righty Matt Wisler. These players are freely available and can sign at any time.
Postseason roster eligibility deadline
There is one important date to keep in mind as teams go through post-trade deadline roster machinations: 11:59 p.m. ET on Aug. 31. That is the postseason roster eligibility deadline and it is a hard deadline. To be eligible for the postseason roster, a player must be in your organization by the deadline, period. There are no loopholes. He doesn't have to be on the MLB roster at the deadline, just in the organization. The Twins could bring Joe Mauer out of retirement on Sept. 15, but he would not be postseason-eligible.
September acquisitions are rare but they do happen. In 2021, the Red Sox signed José Iglesias on Sept. 6, three days after the Angels released him. Iglesias hit .356/.406/.508 in 23 games with Boston and helped them get to the postseason as a wild-card team, but because he wasn't in the organization at 11:59 p.m. ET on Aug. 31, he was not postseason-eligible. Iglesias helped the Red Sox get to the postseason that year but he had to be left off their postseason roster.
The time to add impactful big league players has come and gone. The Aug. 1 trade deadline was the last chance to get someone who will really move the needle these last eight weeks. The trade market is now limited to minor leaguers, plus teams can always scour the waiver wire and free agency. There are still ways to acquire players, but your options will be very limited. Who knows though, perhaps a team unearths the next Iglesias the next few weeks, and bottles some lightning down the stretch.
