Baseball rules: Trades after trading deadline

[TomVols]

Okay, settle a dispute for me:

I know trades occur after the July 31 trading deadline. I know that a player must "clear" waivers to be traded. I know that teams have a right to pick you, and the teams with the worst record gets first shot, on up the ladder. But the bone of contention I have with some folks and even some sportscasters is some say you start with the worst team in your OWN league, while others say the opposite league's worst teams get first shot. One has said that regardless of league, it's worst to best record.

For example: Regarding Adam Dunn, I heard a sportscaster say that obviously, Adam Dunn was snapped up early by the D-Backs since they got an early shot being a division contender but had a poor record, and there was no way they were going to let the AL get a shot at a born, bred DH like Dunner. Then I heard another talking head say that Adam Dunn was obviously devalued since the AL, a DH league, had first shot at him and passed on him. Sorry. Both can't be right.

Which is it? And I'd like a link of some sort to back it up, because I'm hearing and seeing more theories than sand on the seashore.

 

[ccrobinson]

Here's a link from mlb.com about trades after the deadline.

In the case of Dunn, every team that had a worse record than Arizona could have claimed him, but, if Cincy hadn't pulled him back off waivers, that team would have gotten him at his current contract. The Dodgers, for example, already have a crowded OF as it is, and there was no reason for them to claim him.

Adam Dunn was snapped up early by the D-Backs since they got an early shot being a division contender but had a poor record

Early shot? There were 10 other teams that could have claimed Dunn before Arizona did. I suspect it works in a similar fashion to how it works in fantasy baseball, where a player is put on waivers and any number of teams can put in their claim and the claim goes to the team with the worst record.

Adam Dunn was obviously devalued since the AL, a DH league, had first shot at him and passed on him

I heard Buster Olney say that the NL teams had the first chance to claim Dunn, but the linked FAQ says nothing about AL or NL teams having first chance.

Here's a Wiki about baseball trades.

If more than one team claims the player from waivers, the team with the weakest record in the player's league gets preference. If no team in the player's league claims him, the claiming team with the weakest record in the other league gets preference.

Take the Wiki with a grain of salt. I know of at least one company, tWWL, that doesn't consider Wikipedia a valid source of information. If this is true, then whoever said that about AL teams not claiming him is dead wrong.

 

[TomVols]

I can name several radio stations that will no longer use Wikipedia because of its notorious errors.

Early shot? There were 10 other teams that could have claimed Dunn before Arizona did.

I assume the point is that a division contender should not be one of your league's ten worst teams.

Olney's article is helpful. Steve Phillips has an article but you have to be an ESPN.com subscriber (pay) to get it. He's where I got part of the info to start with. He made it sound like it was divided by leagues. It seems as though it may not be and that league divisions come into play only when there are more than one team making a claim.

Y'all may have heard of the school murder in Knoxville this morning. First, this is the second act of gun violence in less than a month at a public facility (a Unitarian Church was the scene of a gunman's assault back in late July). Second, this is the second school shooting in Knoxville in less than three years (the first one was my alma mater). Third, the school today (Central High School) is the alma mater of Rockies 1B Todd Helton.

Pray for the people of Knoxville and the children of Central High School. God bless the Bobcats.