Blocking Waivers is dumb

by delmonfan on Aug 5, 2006 5:55 PM EDT

So it seems like the Devil Rays tried to block the Red Sox trade of Adam Stern for Javy Lopez by claiming Stern. Does the Devil Rays Front Office feel like they have too few OF's in the minors? Why would they claim Adam Stern, who has to fall behind numerous guys in the majors and minors?

I guess the popular theory is that they were pissed that the Red Sox asked Julio Lugo's agent whether he'd play second base. How can you be pissed off at that after the Alfonso Soriano debacle this Spring? It's ridiculous that the Rays would block this sort of due diligence - and it's harmful for both the team they were negotiating with (Red Sox) and the player (Julio Lugo) they were tring to trade.

Terrible job, Devil Rays Front Office. Terrible job.

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.

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I'm not big on Adam Stern, but there's sound reasoning on why we'd contemplate a move like this.

First, by placing a claim on Stern, we'd force Boston to place another player on waivers or kill the trade altogether.

Next, if Boston did in fact "tamper" with Lugo still under our control...this is against the rules in Major League Baseball. However, MLB wouldn't discipline one of their highest money-making teams for tampering.

Stern is probably better of an option than Tomas and probably Hollins and Branyan.

If Rocco's injury forces him to go on the DL, we're going to have to call-up Delmon. Placing a claim on Stern wouldn't stop that.

by Jacob Larsen on Aug 6, 2006 3:09 AM EDT reply actions

"Tampering"

It might be technically against the rules, but that situation (asking a player whether he'll be happy playing a certain position) isn't why those rules were set in place. That's the kind of due diligence that teams SHOULD be doing. And there's no reason baseball should be disciplining anyone for that kind of action. If Joel Guzman refuses to move positions from 3B - where Upton seems to be now, did the Devil Rays Front Office do a good job in trading for him?

And no, blocking Stern only changes the money configuration of the deal.

Stern is not better than Hollins or Branyan. Look at his minor league stats from this year (age 27) and compare them to what Branyan and Hollins did in the minors.

And he's very certainly not better than Delmon.

This is one of those situations where the Devil Rays Front Office is doing things just to mess things up for others, and that's not going to help things in the long run when they actually need to make a trade with the Sox or the Orioles.

by delmonfan on Aug 6, 2006 9:15 AM EDT reply actions

Seriously...

I doubt that a DRays/Red Sux trade will happen under this current ownership, just because it's a major rival and we'd overcharge(or vice-versa) in a trade.

I'd probably guess the same with Baltimore...

by Jacob Larsen on Aug 6, 2006 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Well....

How about the case where in the future, the Rays want to make a waiver deal? If the Rays keep blocking things for no good reason, why wouldn't other teams do the same to them?

At some point if you want to compete, you are the ones that lose leverage and you can't overcharge.

by delmonfan on Aug 6, 2006 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions