For the Blue Jays, Christmas in late August is a chance to upgrade the roster

As per Jeff Passan of ESPN and Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Los Angeles Angels have placed a “dirty half-dozen” of pitchers Lucas Giolito, Matt Moore, Reynaldo López, Dominic Leone, as well as outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk on waivers.

Other players recently placed on waivers include Yankee CF Harrison Bader, White Sox starter Mike Clevinger, Mets starter Carlos Carrasco, Tigers reliever José Cisnero as well as ChiSox SS Elvis Andrus. All players are now free to whichever team wants to pay their remaining 2023 salary.

So what does this mean? As per MLBTradeRumors, “In 2019, MLB and the MLBPA agreed to a single deadline, with no trades allowed at all after the first [trade] deadline. There’s no longer any way for a club to make deals at this part of the calendar but players are still playoff eligible if they join an organization prior to September 1. That means they may find interest on the waiver wire, so long as the claiming club is willing to take on the salary of the player in question.”

Effectively, teams that place players on waivers like this are trying to save some money (effectively one month of their 2023 salary) if another team claims them. And because players are only eligible for postseason play if they’re on a team’s 40-man roster prior to September 1st, placing these players on waivers now allows the required 48 hours for claims to be made prior to the end of the day on Thursday, August 31.