It would be fun if baseball still had waiver deals

Quietly, one of the more intriguing times of the baseball season had typically been waiver trades around this time of year.

Waiver trades were deals that could take place after the July trade deadline where players who’d pass through waivers unclaimed could be moved elsewhere. Normally, we’d be looking forward to what certain teams could do right before the playoff chase heats up in September. Here’s how it is explained in MLB.com’s glossary:

“Prior to 2019, players could still be traded following the July 31 Trade Deadline if they first cleared revocable trade waivers. Although trades could be completed after Aug. 31 under the old rules, the last day in August was sometimes colloquially referred to as the ‘waiver Trade Deadline,’ as players acquired after that date were ineligible to be added to the postseason roster by their new teams. With regards to newly acquired players, the Aug. 31 postseason roster deadline remains in effect during a typical season.”

It’s unfortunate waiver deals were nixed in 2019, because there are plenty of teams who could try to make realistic moves this season (and in any season!). And, in the past, there have been some notable ones, like José Bautista to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2008, the Houston Astros adding a prospect named Jeff Bagwell in 1990, the Atlanta Braves adding some guy named John Smoltz in 1987, and the infamous Los Angeles Dodgers-Boston Red Sox deal of 2012. We don’t have any of that to look forward to anymore, but if we did, here are a few things that could’ve gone down.

Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray was being floated out there for deals, but the team opted to keep him, and, according to the Denver Post, is looking to work out an extension. Gray, who is 29 years old and on an expiring contract, drew intrigue from the Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and Toronto Blue Jays, among others, but no deal came together. Gray is 7-10 this season with a 4.13 ERA through 23 starts, and has struck out 123 in 124 and one-third innings. If given another month after the July deadline, it’s possible Gray goes through waivers and lands on any of those starter-needy clubs.

The former American League MVP had been tied to the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets, among others, before the trade deadline. Yes, we’ll get to the Mets in a bit. As of this writing, Donaldson has played exactly 100 games, recording 334 at-bats, 19 home runs, 54 RBI’s, and a hitting slash line of .249 / .352 / .470. Donaldson will turn 36 in December and is just in the second of a four-year, $92 million deal that runs through 2023 and also includes a $16 million team option for 2024.

Maybe you don’t think someone allows Story to go through waivers, but all this is fun speculative bullshit, so whatever. Let’s play this out. Story was ( and still is) in trade rumors. He was a candidate plenty around baseball thought could’ve been moved by the July deadline, but a deal wasn’t found. Story is on the second of a two-year, $27.5 million deal and is slated for free agency this winter. The two-time All-Star is only hitting .246 this season (which is still above league average), with 16 homers and 58 RBI’s through 411 at-bats this season and just a .770 OPS. Story wasn’t happy about being back in Colorado after the deadline either, so maybe that explains his near career-low OPS and batting average.

“I’m confused, and I don’t have really anything good to say about the situation and how it unfolded,” he said after not being moved. The San Francisco Giants, who later added Kris Bryant, were interested. The New York Yankees made an offer before going in multiple different directions. And, as mentioned, the Cubs may be in the mix after the season.

The Mets were as much as 10 games over .500 and 5.0 games ahead in first place of the National League East this season. Entering August, they stood at 55-48 and up by 4.0 games, still with a fairly firm lead on the division. Now? They’re 61-66 — putting them at 6-18 on the month — and a distant third place in the NL East. They did acquire Javier Báez and Rich Hill before the deadline, and Francisco Lindor did just return from injury, but the Mets are Metsing about in perfectly Metsian fashion, and it’s possible that another move or four could’ve helped prevent them from doing the totally Metsy thing — again. We’ll see what Steve Cohen does after the season.