Phillies Cliff Lee on Waivers – August Waivers Have Begun

With the non-waiver trade deadline passed, teams have begun the process of waiting players, in part to determine the interest level of other teams.

Cliff Lee is the biggest name to make the news so far. Players with bulky contracts are often waived during August. Teams have two business days to make a claim on any player on waivers.

The best case scenario for the Phillies would be that no one claims Lee and they would be free to deal with any team in baseball to trying get a deal done.

If Lee is claimed by one team, or multiple teams the Phillies could attempt to strike a deal with the team that wins the claim.

Lee has 21 teams on his no trade list.

Other players that will most likely get waived in August, are Alfonso Soriano and Matt Garza of the Cubs, Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers, B.J. Upton of the Tampa Bay Rays, Jason Vargas of the Mariners, Carl Crawford , and  Denard Span of the Twins.

Garza will draw lots of interest, as soon as he is able to show teams that he is healthy and ready to pitch.

Carlos Lee of the Miami Marlins refused what would have been his second trade this season earlier this week to the Yankees, but that wouldn’t preclude the Marlins from trying again.

As always teams will be looking for pitching, and Josh Beckett of the Red Sox presents an interesting possibility for some teams.