Francisco Rodriguez, Darren O’Day On Revocable Waivers

There are just four days remaining for teams to make trades that will allow an acquired player to be eligible for his new team’s postseason roster. If the past two seasons are any indication (MLBTR Transaction Tracker links), we’ll see a handful of trades between now and Monday, as players acquired next Tuesday (Sept. 1) or later won’t be postseason eligible. Here’s a reminder on how the August trade process works, and here’s Friday’s list of players that have reportedly been placed on revocable waivers…

• Peter Gammons reports that Brewers closer Francisco Rodriguez and Orioles right-hander Darren O’Day are both on revocable waivers at the moment (Twitter link). It seems as though the pair was placed on waivers Wednesday afternoon, as Gammons notes that waivers on each expire today.
• Rodriguez, 33, is the likelier of the two to clear, as he’s owed about $10.23MM through the end of the 2016 season (though $2MM of his $7.5MM salary in 2016 is deferred, as is the $2MM buyout on his 2017 option, per Cot’s Contracts). If Rodriguez does clear, it’ll almost certainly be due to his salary, because his performance in 2015 has been outstanding. In 43 2/3 innings, K-Rod has a 2.06 ERA with 10.5 K/9, 1.9 BB/9 and a 45.6 percent ground-ball rate to go along with 30 saves. A fluky homer-to-flyball ratio bloated his home run rate in 2014 and dragged down his peripheral stats, but that number regressed toward Rodriguez’s career norm in 2015, leading to very strong numbers in spite of diminished velocity (89.6 mph average fastball).
• The 32-year-old O’Day seems like a surefire bet to be claimed, as he’s earning just $4.25MM in 2015 (with $882K remaining on the deal) and is in the midst of a career year. O’Day has been dominant in each of his four years with the O’s, but his current 1.63 ERA and 11.4 K/9 rate both represent career bests. The side-arming setup man is averaging just 2.2 walks per nine innings, and he’s held right-handed hitters to a feeble .195/.233/.244 batting line. It should be noted that lefties have had more success, posting a .237/.333/.407 line against O’Day.

MLBTR has kept track of all players to reportedly clear revocable waivers (list here), though there are, of course, numerous players who clear waivers and go unreported in doing so.