Olney: Waiver Trade Candidates

In case you missed it, Buster Olney posted a list of players who have passed through waivers and can be traded to any team before Thursday’s deadline.  Here’s the list:

David Wells
Shawn Chacon
Jae Seo
Sidney Ponson
Bruce Chen
Jeromy Burnitz
Jeff Conine
Jay Payton
Bobby Kielty
Reggie Sanders
Luis Matos
Jay Gibbons
Geoff Jenkins
Gabe Kapler

There are some truly awful players on that list.  But there are also some solid guys who are there simply because they make too much money for what they’ve done this year. Wells and Gibbons are the two names that jump out at me. 

Wells starts tomorrow at Safeco Field, and then has a matchup with Roy Halladay on deadline day.  In four starts this month (against the Yankees, Tigers, Orioles, and Devil Rays), Wells has posted a 2.67 ERA and 1.37 WHIP.  Boomer is a battle-tested big game pitcher, with 120 innings of playoff experience and a 3.15 ERA in the postseason.

Gibbons, 29, has been plagued by injuries for years.  This makes his four-year deal signed this January all the more curious.  Gibbons slugged .516 last year and seemed on the verge of a breakout if he could stay healthy.  He’s suffered a complete power outage this month since coming back from a sprained knee ligament.