Waiver Trade Candidates: National League

Yesterday, we wrote about waiver trade candidates for the American League.  Despite the post title, I tried to be more comprehensive and list all of the players who I think might clear waivers.  That’s why players such as Derek Jeter and Michael Young were named.  I know they won’t be traded this month, but they could still go unclaimed if placed on waivers given their large contracts.

Also, as one reader pointed out yesterday, a player does not have to clear waivers to be traded.  He can be traded to or dumped upon the team that wins the claim, if there is one.

Here are the NL players who might clear waivers this month, generally excluding injured players.

• Phillies: Brett Myers, Adam Eaton, Tom Gordon, Geoff Jenkins, So Taguchi.  Maybe Taguchi could go in a minor deal.  Myers makes $12MM next year, but the Phillies would probably prefer to keep him and get him back on track.
• Marlins: Wes Helms, Mark Hendrickson.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see one of these two guys moved.
• Mets: Johan Santana, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Pedro Martinez, Luis Castillo.  We know the stars aren’t going anywhere.  Pedro and Castillo are especially likely to clear but aren’t coveted players.
• Braves: Mike Hampton, Mark Kotsay.  The Braves would have to eat all of the remaining $4.6MM to move Hampton.
• Nationals: Austin Kearns, Dmitri Young.  Both are signed through ’09, and teams won’t want to take that on.
• Cubs: Alfonso Soriano, Jason Marquis, Bob Howry, Scott Eyre, Jon Lieber.  Marquis still has $11.8MM coming to him through ’09.
• Brewers: Eric Gagne, Jeff Suppan, Ray Durham, Bill Hall, David Riske, Guillermo Mota. The Brewers have some undesirable contracts on the books.
• Cardinals: Chris Carpenter, Jason Isringhausen, Adam Kennedy, Cesar Izturis.  In general, most contenders probably won’t be shipping off veterans.
• Astros: Miguel Tejada, Carlos Lee, Kaz Matsui, Randy Wolf, Jose Valverde, LaTroy Hawkins, Mark Loretta, Brad Ausmus.  Multiple candidates to clear waivers, though the Astros still have their eye on the prize.
• Reds: Adam Dunn, Francisco Cordero, Bronson Arroyo, Jeremy Affeldt, Corey Patterson, Javier Valentin, Matt Belisle, Josh Fogg.  I’d be surprised to see Dunn get through waivers unclaimed, even though the Reds still owe him $3.9MM.  Keeping him now makes the most sense anyway.
• Pirates: Freddy Sanchez, Jason Michaels, Jose Bautista, Chris Gomez, Doug Mientkiewicz.  The Pirates don’t have any massive, ugly contracts on the books.  Sanchez’s remaining $7.9MM through ’09 is the worst.
• Diamondbacks: Randy Johnson.  Nothing too ugly on the books here aside from the Eric Byrnes contract, which runs through 2010.
• Dodgers: Manny Ramirez, Andruw Jones, Jason Schmidt, Rafael Furcal, Jeff Kent, Nomar Garciaparra, Juan Pierre, Angel Berroa, Pablo Ozuna.  I’m sure the Dodgers wouldn’t mind unloading Jones or Pierre to clear up the outfield a bit.
• Rockies: Todd Helton, Kip Wells, Yorvit Torrealba, Willy Taveras, Cory Sullivan, Glendon Rusch.  Helton’s back is still bothering him, not that there’d be interest anyway.
• Giants: Barry Zito, Randy Winn, Dave Roberts, Omar Vizquel, Rich Aurilia, Brad Hennessey, Kevin Correia, Tyler Walker.  Brian Sabean should be active in trying to unload a few of these contracts.
• Padres: Greg Maddux, Trevor Hoffman, Tadahito Iguchi, Brett Tomko, Wil Ledezma.  If the Dodgers do try to acquire Maddux, it’s possible another team could claim him just to block the trade.