MLB Players Most Likely to Hit Waivers Before September

Welcome to The Baseball Insiders Podcast! e e welcome to the baseball insiders where we try to determine who's about to hit the waiver wire in the coming hours I am Adam Wier belongs side fansided MLB Insider Robert Murray as we try to dive into which veterans could find themselves without a gig ahead of the postseason roster deadlines remember if you are in an organization and not on the 40 man right now you can still be on the playoff roster but if you uh are a veteran lingering they need to add you they got to bring you into that organization before the end of August 31st otherwise you're not playing and that means some big names could be changing hands in the wake of Jason Hayward going from the Dodgers to the Astros following his DFA or Michael a Taylor going from the Pirates to the Pirates again he's back he went back uh but to help me make sense of it all is Robert Murray Robert how you doing dude I'm doing great we're uh we're we're we're buzzing uh lots of stuff happening in baseball especially the Giants putting three players on waivers yesterday uh we got some insight into that and also what could be coming next so I'm looking forward to Breaking that down Adam Wier how are you I am good we are buzzing we are h t goo and we are not rotten right to the core we are here to talk about potential waiver claims and we're gonna get into the Giants of course because uh they threw a wrench in this plan obviously when you're talking about which veterans could hit the waiver wire and then the Giants decide to throw out a whole big pile of people you're like well I guess they all could I'll talk about them uh but if you want to get the Insight first we would love to have you in the Discord that's where we answer questions between shows you can join us at the rumor mill tier or the allstar tier the All-Star tier gets you a private call once a month we had that last night allows you to ask questions uh raise your hands get in line and get our Insight we loved it it was a good time as always uh but with in the meantime between private calls you still get priority responses in the comments of these videos which we see here live every Monday Thursday at 3:30 Eastern uh now let's get predictive to MLB Players Most Likely to Hit Waivers Before September begin I already see some comments about players uh who we're going to mention later in the show and we're GNA give some insight on the giant situation uh but Michael a Taylor officially you hinted earlier on our show on Monday that there was a good chance he would go back to the Pirates or at least we would know by end of day we knew he did he went on back uh that situation resolved in sort of unsatisfying fashion with a little bit of a thud but which higher price veterans do you still have your eyes on who could potentially be placed on waivers before the end of the month and please do not say Rich Hill no I will not be saying Rich Hill uh dick Mountain will be left out of this one um I'm still eyeing up a r as Chapman um I think with the pirates's struggles and especially in the bullpen um they could look to put a guy like Chapman on waivers try to save at least a little bit of money um because you know with the Pirates even a million bucks that's something that they'll view as like significant savings and I mean it is for for a team like that for sure so I I think that one makes a whole lot of sense um I do wonder about a team like the St Louis Cardinal and this is just my own speculation um but there and I know we're going to get into this one here in a little bit but there was some Buzz uh can't remember who exactly reported it might have been Derek gold or Kevin AC can't remember who it was specifically um who mentioned that Tommy fam may be getting released or put on waivers I don't know which one it was um which one it specifically was but um he would make a lot of sense sense he could end up being claimed by a team for nothing or added by a team for relatively nothing um I think that makes a whole lot of sense and if they have some other expiring contracts in the books as well I think it would make sense for them to do that and try to save as much money as possible that being said I checked right before the show here um and I am told as of this point there have been no new players who have been put on outright waivers or even waivers in general so that is currently where we stand but the time is ticking on that so we'll we'll see Drew Smiley I know the clock very literally was ticking on him is it seem like he's going back to Chicago I've kind of lost touch with that thread over the last couple days yeah so he he was put on W outright waivers by the Cubs and they made it clear that when they put him on outright waivers like obviously they gives any chance or any team the chance to claim him for no draft or for no compensation at all um but if he went unclaimed which he did um he would return back to the Cubs and it would like they would they would not DFA him but they wanted him on the roster if he cleared and he cleared so he's he's staying in Chicago okay yeah that seemed there are some clips going around of Craig Council being a little bit tur when asked about the decision to play my land waiver so it seemed like his preference was to keep him and it does seem like that's probably to occur I wonder like I think the the M perhaps frustration with that could have been from the fact that it leaked because I know teams do not necessarily like that this stuff L gets out um so I I wonder if that could end up being the case so yeah I don't know that's just my own speculation notorious haters of the baseball insiders podcast they don't want us discussing fun things like the waiver wire at the end of August and to that we say totally get it understood um but the San Francisco Giants kept no Giants Waivers Moves secret over their intentions uh Cavalcade of waiver moves that actually went down while we were live on the allstar Zoom to the point where didn't even know they happen and our good viewers were just popping into the comments being like hey matsik just got play on W yeah Taylor Rogers too also Tyro Strada uh I would consider this a white flag I did not see this coming from Farhan in San Francisco who he you know whether he's on the hot seat or whether he's just under pressure clearly the spotlight has been ratcheted up on him a bit he will not hold that job in perpetuity if the team continues to be 500ish and unable to lure in a big fish in free agency so kind of a big blast to see them uh I wouldn't you know the comments called it pulling at 23 angels I wouldn't quite go that far that was every player who wasn't tied down with a salary of over $4 million uh but still these are substantial names and and Tyro Estrada is a valuable middle infielder who seemed to be uh a couple years ago you know a buding allar in 2021 limited playing time 118 Ops plus above League average the last two years and found that power bat so you could do better but that's a solid utility a player to have and he's under team control through 2026 but the ARB is rising and I guess they would rather somebody else absorb that salary though he's theoretically entering his Prime at 28 that one confused me uh but any other Insight you have on destinations uh for Rogers matsik and Estrada or the thought behind it uh would love to talk more about that yeah I think in this case the Estrada one did catch me off guard I mean he's a guy who is considered a plus Defender and I mean he's also he's stolen a fair amount of bases over in previous Seasons I think it's right around the 20 plus stolen Bas Mark so I mean that's nothing to really scoff at here he struggled offensively this year he hitting a little over 200 I think 219 um so he's like he's defense first for sure um and they're giving any team here the chance to claim him for for no compensation at all um I am very curious to see if he gets claimed um I would think there is a fair chance of that I mean he's only 28 years old and he's a useful player I think the one thing that would prevent him from getting claimed is that is the offense and his lack of production there um so that one as I said caught me off guard Taylor Rogers didn't necessarily catch me off guard um because he's in the second year of a three-year $33 million contract and that is that's a substantial amount especially for a relief pitcher um I do think there is a team that makes a whole lot of sense here and it's the New York Mets they obviously have pretty deep Pockets um Steve Cohen is he can spend whatever he wants I think that's abundantly clear and he could be he could be helpful for them next year but he could also give them a short-term solution um for what is becoming a kind of a problem here with Edwin Diaz's struggles uh he could maybe spell Diaz give him a breather in the late Innings and allow him to reset and also add a veteran option in the ninth inning or even in just High leverage situations in general um but it makes total sense that the Giants would do this with with Rogers it's very similar to what the Angels did last year with Tyler Anderson where he was in the second year of a two or or even the first year of a threeyear $39 million contract so I mean it's it's not unprecedented by any means I think there is a chance he's claim but with his making about 11 million a year for a reliever that could scare off the majority of teams here is it an Edwin Diaz problem or is it a Corbin Carol solution because I watched the game I actually wasn't sure do we credit Carol or do we blame Diaz honestly like I think it's it's a it's a valid question I think you could probably end up crediting Corbin Carol that's just I mean he's struggled this year for sure but that's just a great player like shining in a great moment so like good for Corbin Carroll If he if he can bounce back and really emerge we're we're talking about the Diamond Backs becoming infinitely more dangerous so that could have been um a signal for teams around baseball they just be like hey like watch out for the Diamond Backs they're they're coming yet yet again and yet another reason why the Giants decided to somewhat wave the white flag and put a bunch of their players on waivers because at this moment in time snapshot August 29th Thursday less than 30 games to go in the regular season I think the three most likely teams to represent the NL in the World Series were all on the same division yeah no I I wholeheartedly agree with that well actually no let me I want to re okay I don't wholeheartedly agree with that not so fast not so fast I'm I'm doing my inner uh um Lee Corso look I'm living and dying with Brewers Astros in the World Series so I get it but I do feel like uh those three teams are obviously making a charge you think it's Brewers Astros that's the worst take of all I'm just kidding I'm just quoting a com I'm standing yeah I'm standing by Brewers Astros don't worry and and honestly of the three teams I doubt the one I doubt the most is the Los Angeles Dodgers out of that Trio but I'll hand it over to you no I honestly with their pitching staff I I agree with that I totally do I think the Brewers are legit I think Philadelphia their second half has been disaster class but they have the talent where if they can bounce back and get hot again um they will instantly become the favorite to represent the national league in the World Series like they're that deep and talented they got a Taiwan Walker issue that's that's one of their big problems right now but they have otherwise is a very talented roster um so so good job by Philadelphia um yeah I believe in pretty much any of these NL teams over pretty much any of these Al teams though if I'm being perfectly honest it's wide open I don't know we we will see but again if your division is red hot all the more reason to say are we sure we need Taylor Rogers you know we sure we need Tyro Strada are they part of the final solution here um we Veteran Roster Moves have already had some veteran roster movie the past couple days uh Elias Diaz to San Diego I don't know if we talked about that on the show that's a minor league deal but that's also the 2023 allstar game MVP uh quality defensive metrics at least in terms of uh there are some areas in which he is an improvement over their current backup catcher Jason Hayward does go to Houston uh Chaz McCormack goes down today uh seems like Hayward could really be a postseason factor for the Astros uh so what are your thoughts on those two moves specifically that the things that we have seen happen don't have to speculate about yeah I think it was really smart moves by both organizations and for different reasons like the Padres they needed a a another veteran behind the plate and getting a guy like like Diaz who as you said was the All-Star game MVP last year is a very good like useful catcher he's he's I mean he's not going to be like the long-term Solution by any means but adding him on a minorly contract at this point of the season for nothing that you you can't you can't complain about that that's got so much upside and no risk whatsoever um I thought it was a great move by AJ PR um it's only going to help them down the stretch here and I I think it was just a really smart move um overall by PR and who knows maybe we'll be talking about that here shortly but maybe maybe he's not done maybe PR is not sleeping who I mean PR never sleeps I I should make that clear but he he may not be done um but as far as Jason Hayward goes like the Astros they've had some injuries around that that around that team especially with Kyle Tucker they call it a shin contusion for when he was out and yet he's missed over three months and still hasn't started running at full speed so it either that is the worst bruise of all time or the Astros kind of didn't give us the entire picture here so I don't know what going on um but Hayward is going to provide some some veteran insurance on the roster uh when Tucker eventually returns and that should be at some point in September um they can have just they they'll have more depth they'll be able to like ease him in and I think it's only going to be a good thing and he'll get useful playoff at bats and he's got postseason experience and I mean the Astros obviously do too but getting postseason experience on that team is never a bad thing or more of it I should say is never a bad thing yeah and you see Astros fans getting in that recursive argument of like have you seen our Outfield we need help have you seen heyward's numbers we need better help and it's it's true but at this point you're gonna have precious few options you're not picking up Jackson Merill on the waiver wire so you could it's really tough to do better than a guy who was extremely effective in 2023 just last year on a minor league deal and provides leadership qualities and that Astros locker room not like they lack for playoff experienced voices but it's always good to add another one and speaking of playoff experienced voices a Padres Reunion with Tommy Pham? man who went to the World Series last year and was one of the best hitters in that World Series and was probably the strongest performer on the NL Champions uh you mentioned earlier Kevin AC was the report I saw that comes from the San Diego side of things that as the Cardinals fall off there is a rumor that Tommy fam will be released in the coming days uh AJ prer we thought this might be an offseason fit we thought it might be a deadline fit after fam went to the White Sox was obviously available the white socks I believe their record is six and 148 so they were sellers at the trade deadline uh now fam could be on the market again it's only natural connect him back to PR what are your thoughts yeah I the the first person I thought of when I saw this report from Kevin AC was our our loyal friend Andrew Lee he has been asking about fam in the Padres for a good 12 months if not more than that so I I I'm very happy for you I mean nothing is happen by any means but um I do think there is a a shot that fam is either put on waivers or he like is allowed to go to um a contending team and if that is the case and he goes to San Diego I think that'd be a stroke of Genius uh once again by AJ PR I think that'd be a really smart Savvy move being able to add a guy like Tommy fam obviously very familiar with from his time in San Diego he's spent good amount of time there they got um fam and PR have a very good relationship and um obviously the production on the field throughout his entire career like speaks for itself it would be to me a no- brander move it would not cost the Padre's much on their payroll and we know about their their payroll restrictions or um constraints this year as opposed to in Year's past like that this would fit perfectly for them and it would give them Outfield depth which which they've needed basically all season I think it'd be just a home run move we'll see if It ultimately happens but uh Kevin AC is very plugged in in San Diego um so when he speaks on that um I intend to listen so um yeah I I think it makes a whole lot of sense here you noted as well that like hey couple NL and arado walk-offs this week but roller coaster Cardinal season we were talking when they picked up fam like oh wow like what a locker room fit playoff tested veteran look at how easily he's fitting in as the Cardinals go for this final wild card spot and here we are August 29th basically saying and what's the point you know whether he sticks around he doesn't I don't care we gotta go somewhere uh that probably has to get shouldered by someone in the St Louis Cardinal side of things and and I think uh we were looking at Ali marmo last year he was allowed to stick around heat was off for a bit heat back on yeah oh absolutely heat is firmly back on in St Louis and I if they make a move I don't think it'll be John mosac I think he is going to end up like playing out the rest of his contract which I believe is through 2025 and then after that we'll see what ultimately happens but um I think oi maral's job at this point like you have to start asking some questions about exactly what his future is in that organization and and there's if they end up making that job available there's going to be so many different candidates who are going to be attracted to that job and I think the one that makes so much sense sense is skip shoeer is ties to the organization from playing there he was a he was a coach at one point there too um I think it makes all the sense in in the world it would continue the Cardinal way he has a deep understanding of the organization has a relationship with John moac clearly knows the players there I think it makes so much sense if they ultimately do part ways with marmel and considering the way that they're they're trending right now I think that's becoming an increasingly like realistic thought whether or not they ultimately do it remains to be seen but if they did fire marmal at the end of the year it would not surprise me one bit and meanwhile holy moly speaking of collapses like we don't even have to go outside that division to talk about the Pirates Meltdown team that we got a lot of questions about and if we had done this show live yesterday at 3:30 instead of today we would have had fun reacting live to one of the worst blown leads of the Season half decade I mean 103 in the seventh uh just trying to salvage one at home against the Cubs uh instead the Pirates blow that 103 lead it's it's 109 with two outs in the inning Ironically in the ninth uh Hot Shot grounder ikf can't knock it down 109 becomes 1110 and the Cubs add on uh that series by the way they got swept by Chicago at home Jared Jones Mitch Keller Paul skin you cannot do that I'm sorry I don't care what area of the standings you're in if you're just trying to avoid finishing last you're trying to get back in the Wild Card race if you're trying to save face at the end of the year you can't throw those three big guns in a home Series against a Chicago team that's been hotter lately and give up what amounted to the highest scoring three- game span for any team this year the Cubs took that honor away from the Oakland A by piling up runs on the Pittsburgh Pirates Trio of aces in that Series so Pirates fans were losing their minds a little bit yesterday Livy Dunn was losing her mind on Twitter she's already got the uh distraught Paul sk's gifs locked and loaded for when the Pirates blow one of his leads and she used one yesterday uh if you're a pirates fan who's overreacting to that loss or those three losses I would say take a deep breath but you're not really too far off and I think we need to appraise some some hot seat participants here in Pittsburgh as well yeah I for me the Pittsburgh's collapse here is brutal um they what what's gone on in Pittsburgh and the amount of promise that they had in the first half of the Season especially after calling up Paul schemes and seeing how good Jared Jared Jones was that they seemed like a team that was on the rise that would finally make the postseason and get over the hump because for the longest time they have not been able to do that internally they viewed this as the first year that they could truly contend and yet here we are now they're toward the bottom if not at the bottom of the NL Central they blow a gigantic lead against the Chicago Cubs and it's just the Vibes are really bad in Pittsburgh and it's led to a lot of different speculation like could they end up moving on from Ben sherrington could they Bo move on from a guy like Derek Shelton what ultimately happens here um is anyone's guess I don't think charington would get let go um I think the I think ownership likes what he's done there I don't know about Derek Shelton I think if they're if they collapse enough which they have uh and they finish in last place place I think there's going to be a scapegoat especially after they invested so many resources into the roster um and they they had such promise entering the year I think they would try to find a scapegoat whether it's Shelton whether it's uh like a hitting or a pitching coach I mean remains to be seen um but I would expect some sort of change in Pittsburgh and it's really unfortunate but they they have a really talented roster and they're going to want to maximize that as much as possible especially while they have schemes and Jones under contract on these on these cheap deals so um that's something I'm watching in Pittsburgh but there's no real like real signals of which way they're leaning at this point because um yeah I just I don't think that's something that they've discussed at this point just while we're here in the NL Central I'm going to go to the comment section real quick is Sean Garner asking about Kyle Hendrick playing for another team next season or potentially retiring I'm gonna spin this off into saying that I guess the Cubs are in a confusing spot right now where they have like we said uh caught the St Louis Cardinals in the standings their now in second place in the division still five and a half out of the Wild Card still nine out behind the Brewers 10 in the Lost column the all important loss column their run differentials now positive expected win loss record this year is way better than their actual win loss record they should be 71 and 63 they ain't uh all this to say that the Cubs are stuck in between you can't rule out success next year but fine-tuning this roster down the stretch I'm not sure how much sense it makes uh hearing a lot of will Kyle Hendricks be DFA chatter and how will they handle his release feels like an offseason problem to me I can't imagine them bringing the ax down on him on September 1st or August 29th but uh Kyle Hendricks if if he does go it's probably gonna be gracefully this offseason you would think and and does he have a future in this game after that point yeah I I I don't know if he's got a future in this game at this point but I'd be flat out stunned if the Cubs end up DFA or releasing Hendrick at this point because I mean he's been a franchise pillar for the last however many years he's been one of the most important pitchers in recent Cubs history and if they ended up dfang him a month before his contract is up that would be a really bad look for the organization and that would be something that Hendrick would notice that'd be something that other veteran players notice and and it would leave a bad taste in their mouth and who knows how that could impact them in free agency or just future negotiations down the line because that you don't do that to a veteran player you got to think about the the Long Haul here and they're going to let Hendrick go out and end his tenure in Chicago on his own terms so that uh no I I would get any thought of DFA Hendrick out of your mind because I would be I'd be stunned if that happened that'd be a huge slap in the phase yeah look it's over I mean I don't know if he has a big league future after this point and I sincerely doubt it's in Chicago great career uh but we'll probably be able to come to its soft conclusion at the end of the year rather than in an Abrupt match uh we're getting the September call-ups we're going to have a lot more to talk about on Monday when we get a fuller slate of names who to be excited for down the stretch who might even sneak on to some postseason rosters but the first couple uh I would say these guys are postseason non-factors but exciting to What to Expect From Rhett Lowder get a peek at Rett louder coming up for the Cincinnati Reds just broke right before the show that the angels are going to do Kaden Dana as well he's coming up over the weekend uh neither player will participate in the postseason in all likelihood uh louder before mizerowski the announcement took me by surprise a little bit your boy the Brewers still still waiting on that one but what are the Reds hoping to see from louder the rest of the way as the season gets away from them a little bit I'm I'm excited to watch him and I think I don't think Cincinnati is far I think they had sort of a nightmare year but I don't think they're far away no I don't think they're far away either and this is just getting louder some some major league experience in some pretty low leverage situations here because they're they're not competing they're they're out of the hunt here um and I think it's it's only a good thing for his development he's going to be able to face Major League pitch or major league hitting I should say um so I I I think it's nothing but a good thing by the Reds and he is a very very very talented pitcher and he's one of what in the top 35 prospects in baseball and he's gonna have a huge impact in Cincinnati um maybe we'll see flashes this year but I think the real impact is going to start being next year uh if and when he potentially breaks the the opening day roster so um it would not be surprised at all if we see more of these top prospects called up we'll see about mizerowski um the Brewers are being very careful um they want to they like their current setup in the bullpen right now and all the guys who are like utilizing and or or eating those Innings up right now so they're I expect moski to get called up but it's just taken a little bit longer than than some would like but I I still think he's going to get call up at this point or at some point this year we will catalog the call-ups that we see over the weekend in talk about him on Monday to see who's going to have an outsized impact whether the Yankees will actually go for it no show on Monday oh my God you guys you're not even gonna believe this my producer our producer Joanne reminded me there we go 30 seconds ago that there was no show on Monday and then I still said we're gonna be back for a show on Monday we're not you're not GNA see us on Monday we'll still have the list of September call-ups but Monday's a holiday so we'll react to it the next time we're live on the air which will be Thursday a week from today you can find us in the interim in the Discord you just got a little peeking how robotic my brain is that when I come up with a sentence like two minutes ago not even a note from my producer can affect whether I say it or not uh the anti-ron burgundy the teleprompter is in my own head I still said it out loud so there you go um felt real dumb there but yeah no show Monday we will be back next week regardless on Thursday and we'll have a full list of September call UPS to talk about uh who's G to make an impact whether or not the Yankees will finally give Jason Dominguez the Reps he deserves instead of Alex Verdugo either way if you want to talk to us between shows you know where to find us either the allstar level or the rumor mill here in our Discord channel uh you can also get Robert's writing in the interim on fansided.com and in the moonshot Subscribe there it's been ticking on the bottom it's our weekly baseball email newsletter from the fanid at MLB team including the one and only Robert Murray where they break down all the biggest stories in the big leagues with humor insight and behind the- scenes info that's pretty much how we aim to design things on the baseball insiders as well so shake hands uh we are one and the same I'm getting asked for a biscuit update biscuit is doing well uh biscuit went through a little bit of a medical spell yesterday but he's barking his ass off today you would never know that he had some dog troubles uh so everybody thank you for your positive thoughts regarding our friend biscuit and he's doing good and I will see him when this podcast is over and you can ask me more questions about biscuit in the baseball insiders Discord um Joan our producer waiting patiently behind the scenes right now to see if I say again that we have a show on Monday I'm not going to do it I'm not that stupid we're G have a show on Monday uh so Robert Mar and I will not see you for another week but it's been a pleasure to see you today and thank you for joining me Robert M and thank you guys we appreciate you and we'll see you all on Thursday see you right back here on Thursday same time same channel turn your notifications on thanks for joining the comment section today thank you for joining the Discord if you have or if you're interested let us know if you're having trouble getting in leave a comment on this video until Thursday we'll see you right back here on the baseball insiders goodbye everybody thank you buddy