Waiver Trade Candidates: National League

Why would Santana, Beltran, or Manny clear waivers?

I know they have big salaries, but they aren't albatrosses like Zito or Helton. They are actually star players.

And Manny comes with 2 draft picks at the end of the season.

Given that the Red Sox and Yankees almost traded for Johan to sign him to an extension, I'm sure they'd claim him for free on waivers.

Why do people continue to hate on Beltran? $18MM for a top 10 player is a deal. No way he gets through waivers.

Others I disagree on:
Kearns, Dunn, Randy, Furcal, Winn -- all are useful players with reasonable salaries.

Ya I couldn't see Manny or Adam Dunn making it through just because a contender could get two months of all star caliber production and then 2 draft picks each at the end of the year. The Yankees, the Rays, the Red Sox if Ortiz was out even longer would be teams that would love to have either of them on their team (obviously not Manny to the Sox).

Could someone explain to me why you a team would place a star player on waivers if they know they probably won't clear. And if they do clear waivers, is there any benefit to that?

"Could someone explain to me why you a team would place a star player on waivers if they know they probably won't clear. And if they do clear waivers, is there any benefit to that?"

There's no harm in doing it. It forces teams to consider claiming more players. There's always a small chance they do clear.

Sky, how can you put Chipper in the top 10 over Hanley?

As for putting stars on waivers, it also sometimes helps teams disguise who they really do want to trade by throwing everyone on the list. If teams claim someone, their teams can pull them back with no problem. Also, once they clear waivers, that doesn't guarantee they will get traded, only that they CAN be traded.

cmac -- Chipper and Hanley are about equal as hitters. Chipper might be slightly better when he plays, but Hanley doesn't have the injury issues.

But then there's defense. Hanley plays the more important defensive position (worth about 5 runs over the full season), but Chipper is a good 3B while Hanley is a poor SS. Chipper's been 5-10 runs better than average the past few years (he figured something out) while Hanley been about 20 runs worse than average at short (although he's more like -10 this year, good for him.)

They're equal hitters, but Chipper's MUCH more valuable defensively.

If the question changes to which one you'd rather have for five more years or at their current contract, I'd choose Hanley.

You should probably add Odalis Perez to the list. He's got a 4.16 ERA on the year and threw 7 and 1/3 strong innings (1 run allowed) in his last start on Friday).

Ronnie Belliard might be another candidate. Like Kearns and Young, he is signed for next year. Unlike those two, however, Belliard is signed semi-cheap for '09 ($1.9 mil not bad for a 2B/bench guy anymore). He's hitting .250/.356/.516 in 149 PA since returning from injury on June 10. He could certainly help a team as a bench bat with some pop that can fill in at all IF positions but SS.

lrs -- I've included SBs in the offense. They're nice, but usually overrated. Hanley's SBs were worth about 7-8 runs in each of 06 and 07.

Over the past three years, Hanley's had an OBP of about .375 and a SLG of about .525. Chipper's at .420 and .600 -- that's a large difference.

There is no way Francisco Cordero who just signed a four year deal as the Reds closer will be traded. Also, the Reds have came out and said Bronson Arroyo will not be dealt and is going to be a feature in their rotation. They can contend next year, they're aren't in a position to start completely over

How about Ty Wigginton? Or do you think the Astros are content with him at 3B going into next season?

I take Hamilton over Beltran. Maybe Ichiro too.

1. I didn't mean Hamilton over Ichiro, I meant Ichiro over Beltran.

2. I was just responding to Sky's top ten list and right now I would rather have Hamilton playing CF for my team than Beltran. Sky said Beltran was top 10 but I was just pointing out two guys that could beat him out for top 10, besides the ones he menitoned.

If you were creating a team, you would take Beltran before Hamilton? This just seems to be a case of agreeing to disagree because I like Hamilton more than Beltran.

I don't get why the Dodgers would release Manny when they got him in the biggest blockbuster of the season.
You wouldn't trade away your prospects to get someone for a week.