Astros' demands halt Clemens trade to Boston

The Journal cited a Boston TV report that said the two sides spent Thursday talking about a potential deal only to see it fall through due to the Astros' demand for minor-league prospects.
The New York Daily News also reported Thursday the Astros had placed Clemens on waivers earlier this month, and the Red Sox claimed him.

Houston consequently pulled Clemens off waivers. And it was thought the Red Sox made the claim in an attempt to block a potential trade to the Yankees.

Teams are essentially offered players on waivers in inverse order of the standings. So Boston was offered Clemens before the Yankees got their shot.

Players can only be pulled back from waivers once. The claiming team gets the player on the second try.

But now, it is thought the Red Sox would actually like to have Clemens pitch at Fenway Park again, an idea that was essentially crushed when the team balked at Houston's high trade demands.

Clemens became one of the top pitchers in Red Sox history when he pitched for the team from 1984-1996.

But was the deal ever really close to happening?

The Boston Globe doesn't seem to think so, saying the Sox lost "any possible shot" at Clemens when the Astros pulled him off the waiver wire.

The Globe also points out that teams lower than the Red Sox in the standings would also have put in a claim for Clemens, who would be a steal with one more season left on his current contract at $5 million.

If a weaker, pitching-hungry team claimed The Rocket, the Sox would not have been able to even discuss a trade with Houston.

Someboby please explain the baseball trade rules to me. A couple weeks ago there was a trade deadline, but I am still seeing transactions.

General- players can still be dealt, but must clear waivers (which means any trade could be blocked) an example;

Virtually every player in the major leagues will be placed on waivers this month, whether a team intends to trade that player or not. If nothing else, the sheer volume of names can at least disguise players whom clubs do want to sneak through so they can be dealt.



If a player isn't claimed by any team in either league, he can be traded until the end of the month to anyone.



If a player is claimed, but only by one team, the player can be traded only to the team that claims him.



If a player is claimed by more than one team, the club with the worst record in that player's league gets priority -- and the player can be traded only to that team.



If a player is claimed only by teams in the other league, the club with the worst record in the other league gets priority -- and the player can be traded just to that team.



If a deal can't be worked out or the team doesn't want to trade that player, he can be pulled back off waivers once in August. If he is placed on waivers again before September, he can't be recalled a second time.



Or, if a team is just hoping to dump a player's salary, it can simply allow a team which claimed that player to have him for a small waiver fee. If that happens, the team that gets the player has to pay his entire salary. That's how the Yankees were stuck with Jose Canseco and the Padres were stuck with Randy Myers in recent years: They claimed those players, thinking they were just blocking other teams from getting them. Instead, their old clubs said: "You claimed him. You got him."



In the past, many teams claimed players just to keep them from being traded to contenders with a better record. This year, that isn't expected to happen as often, because most teams can't afford to get stuck with a big contract if they're awarded a player they really didn't want.

Its very complicated but the bottom line is most players can still be moved....

The important thing at this point really is Sept 1 deadline....I have seen players dealt right up to the final hour! Once Fred Lynn was dealt to Detroit and the transaction was almost stopped because Lynn couldn't get to Detroit in time,lol....He had to be in the Detroit airspace by the midnight deadline!

It can get quite ammusing, some of these rules!

Thanks Jman

The main thing to realize is this, simply put most players attempted to be move do end up being moved....teams that try to block the waiver must claim the player and take on his contract!