MLB Trade Rumors: The Tampa Bay Rays can still make trades

The MLB Trade Deadline has come to pass with teams across the league making several blockbuster deals with high caliber talent transferring teams. Yu Darvish is with the Dodgers, Sonny Gray with the Yankees, and Addison Reed with the Red Sox were among the most notable. The Rays for their part, surprisingly sent Tim Beckham to the Baltimore Orioles for a low level minor leaguer.

It was a shock as the team had been rumored to be interested in adding to club, even after making the several notable additions in the days leading up to the deadline.

However, just because the official trade deadline has passed, teams can still make trades, it’s just a lot more complicated.

Pretty much every team will place their roster on the waiver wire over the month of August.

Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish explains it well

If a player is claimed off waivers, his team has three choices:

The team can simply pull him back off waivers, revoking his status as available. The player simply stays with his team and is no longer eligible to be moved in August.

The team can simply award the player to the priority claiming team, with the claiming team taking on the rest of the player’s contract and immediately acquiring him. The most famous example of this is still, eight years later, the White Sox claiming Alex Rios from the Blue Jays and having to pay him $60 million. No-trade rights apply here.

The club can explore a trade with the priority claiming team over the course of a 48.5-hour window. In that time, the teams can either work out a trade or not come to terms, with the latter scenario causing the player to be ineligible to be dealt in August.

Rays fans have seen several notable deals go down in August over the years, such as the acquisitions of Greg Zaun and Chad Bradford, and Delmon Young.

The Rays have also made a couple of notable trades as well, dealing Scott Kazmir to the Los Angeles Angels for three prospects in August of 2009. There was also the case of Jose Canseco in 2000, where the Rays just gave him and his remaining contract to the New York Yankees.

So, although the trade deadline has technically passed, the Tampa Bay Rays may not be done in the trade department.