In light of the under-reported trade of Twins' pitcher Ramon ortiz to the Rockies for a 25-year-old AA 3B Matt Macri, Jayson Stark's Rumbling & Grumbling column offers some info on which players have cleared waivers and which ones were withdrawn after being claimed. By my estimation, Ramon Ortiz would fit right in.
What is Josh "Box of Doughnuts" Towers doing in the cleared list? Did Blue Jays' GM J.P. Ricciardi over estimate his value at the deadline?
What were the teams asking for when they withdrew players? Seems all of those players should have changed uniforms for a minimal price.
July may be in our rearview mirror, but the hunt for bodies to trade for goes on -- not real successfully, but it goes on nonetheless. "We've been watching the waiver wire with bated interest," said an executive of one team. "But nobody is letting any pitching worth a [hoot] get through." As always, we've been trying to maintain a list of players who have made it through waivers this month -- and those who haven't. Since hundreds of players have hit the waiver wire, we're confining this extremely partial list to players whose names were filling up Rumor Central before the trade deadline:
Pitchers who have cleared: Steve Trachsel, Jose Contreras, Josh Towers, Odalis Perez.
Position players who have cleared: Troy Glaus, Jack Wilson, Pat Burrell, Dmitri Young, Omar Vizquel, Jeff Conine, Mike Piazza, Wily Mo Pena, Jason Lane.
Pitchers who were claimed and withdrawn: Jon Garland, Javier Vazquez, Dan Wheeler, Chad Qualls, David Riske, Kei Igawa, Matt Thornton.
Position players who were claimed and withdrawn: Miguel Tejada, Mark Loretta, Jacque Jones, Scott Hatteberg, Richie Sexson, Mike Lamb, Corey Patterson.