MLB Waivers Explained, Ignorance Beaten Back With A Large Wooden Stick

One of my most embarassing ignorances about Major League Baseball has finally been extinguished: I now know how post-trade deadline waiver deals work.

It has confused me every year since I started following the sport. The trade deadline would come and go, yet players would continue to switch teams. The less-than-urgent nature of the subject coupled with my lethargy kept me from taking five minutes out of my day to figure out how waivers work. Until now. In light of Manny Ramirez getting picked up by the White Sox in a waiver deal, I have finally decided to beat back my ignorance. It's surprisingly simple, here's how it works:

Any team can place a player on waivers at any point during the season. Once a player is on waivers, any team can claim him. If more than one team claims him, the team with the weakest record in the player's league gets preference. If no team in the player's league claims him, the team with the weakest record in the other league gets preference.

Once a player is claimed, the "waiving team" has several options. They can: (1) request a trade for the player, (2) rescind the request and keep the waived player, or (3) do nothing and allow the claiming team to assign the player to their major league roster, take on the player's contract, and pay the waiving team a fee.

Thank you, Yahoo Answers.

Now let's conduct an always-exciting hypothetical situation.

Cardinal's GM John Moseliak suffers temporary brain damage after shoving a Crayola crayon too far up his nose (ala Homer Simpson). In his debilitated state, he takes advice from Cubs GM Jim Hendry and places Albert Pujols on waivers. Within several hours, the Cubs, the Brewers, and the Orioles claim him. In this situation, the Cubs get Pujols because they have the worst record in the National League. If the Cubs weren't in the picture, the Brewers would get him because they too play in the National League. The only way a team from the American League could snag Pujols is if no other National League team claimed him.

Now that the Cubs have claimed Pujols, Moseliak has three routes to choose from. He can attempt a trade and try to get some players in return for Pujols, he can come to him senses and retract the request (a move that would bring Pujols back to the Cardinals with no reprecussions to the organization) or he could simply give Pujols to the Cubs if they agree to (1) pay a waiver fee, (2) pick up the remainder of Pujols' contract, and (3) place him on their Major League roster.

That, in a nutshell, is how waivers work.