The Oakland Athletics have reportedly placed Coco Crisp, Rich Harden and Craig Breslow on waivers, two weeks in advance of MLB’s waiver trade deadline. Most people recall the July 31 trade deadline as the big date for player movement. However, teams are allowed to conduct trades between July 31 and August 31 if they are able to get players through waivers.
The A’s have already shown an example of moving a player through waivers in the form of Hideki Matsui. A team can place all their players on waivers and if they are not claimed by anybody they then have the right to trade that player. If another team places a claim on the player, no trade can happen and the first team has a right to either pull back the player or release him to the new team.
The A’s passed through the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline with only one trade (Brad Ziegler) as they were unable to get much in return. Since then Hideki Matsui in particular has been on fire, opening the door for additional possible trade opportunities. The next two weeks will be interesting to watch as the A’s figure out what to do with Matsui and the other players that might clear waivers.