Mlb Dfa
Why isn’t the MLB waivers process in August more transparent?
It was rumored on Fri, 8/7 that Alex Rios was claimed on waivers by an unknown team. It wasn’t until Mon, 8/10, three days later, that the identity of the team became public information. A lot of baseball fans are interested in the “roster management” aspect of the game. Why doesn’t MLB make the August waivers process more transparent, in the same way that every transaction during the season (sent to the DL, DFA’d, optioned to the minors, etc.) is made public as soon as they occur. Here’s what I’d like to see: a) a list of every player a team tries to get through waivers, b) immediate confirmation when a player makes it through waivers, c) the name of any team that claims a player, and d) a team’s reaction to the claim (lets go, pulls back, negotiates a trade, etc.) This already exists, albeit informally (rumors and anonymous sources), but I’d like it to be official, right next to the box scores.
Opacity protects two things: competitive strategies by the teams (placing waiver claims, or not, can be a sticky business), and (don’t laugh) the players’ feelings. Even though it is routine at this time in the season to put pretty much everyone on waivers (just to have as many players as possible freed up for dealing), those who are or are not placed on waivers can find such information distracting, even upsetting, and they don’t need that during a pennant race.
Fan interest takes a backseat here.
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