Jim Bowden: When a deadline is not exactly a deadline

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Livan Hernandez and Eric Hinske were among players traded after the July 31st trade deadline.

Fans are asking me how this is possible. Then it hit me: Most fans don’t understand waivers. So I’ll explain it to you.

A player can be put on waivers for one of several reasons:

» Unconditional release

If a player is placed on waivers with the intention of unconditional release, the other 29 teams can claim his contract for $1. If no team claims the contract, the team who placed him on waivers will continue to pay the player’s contract until he signs with another team. This type of waiver usually applies to players who no longer provide a benefit at the major league level and make too much money to continue playing in the minors — Luis Matos, for example.

» Assignment to the minors, without the right of recall

Like the previous condition, the other 29 teams can claim his contract. This time the waiver fee is $20,000. If no team claims the player’s contract, the player reports to his assigned minor league team.

Outright waivers remove a player from the team’s 40-man roster. This type of waiver usually applies to players who do not make as much money and could serve a purpose in a team’s minor league system. One such example is Marlon Byrd, who is now with our Class AAA in New Orleans.

Both of these waiver types are classified as irrevocable. If a player is placed on waivers and then claimed by another team, the team who waived the player cannot take him back off waivers.

This is different than revocable waivers, which is what we used to trade Livan to the Diamondbacks.

In order to make a trade following the July 31 deadline, a player must first pass through waivers. Teams claim players to either trade for them or block a competitor from doing so.

The blocking gives credence to the so-called deadline. Teams are often reluctant to claim a player with a large salary, afraid the waiving team will let them claim the player and take on a big contract. Once a player is claimed, the waiving team has the opportunity to withdraw the waiver. Therefore, teams place many players on waivers just to gauge interest.

Despite the trade deadline, trades will be made for the rest of the season. The other important deadline is Aug. 31. If a contending team wants a player to be eligible for their postseason roster, he must be acquired by this deadline.

If a team wants to place a player on waivers, they must first notify the commissioner’s office, which then announces it to the league. The fee for major league waivers is $20,000. Teams have two days to make a claim on any waived player. At this point the commissioner’s office will tell the original club of any claims.

Claim priority is set by league and then by winning percentage in ascending order. If we were to place a player on waivers today the Pirates would have first preference followed by the rest of the National League in order of winning percentage, all the way to the Mets.

Following the Mets, the preference lies with the team sporting the worst winning percentage in the American League, all the way up to the team with the best. Any ties are broken through records from previous seasons.

Once a team is notified of the claim, they have two days to either withdraw the player or negotiate a compensation package. A team can place a player on irrevocable waivers once over a 30-day period. This often initiates strategy as to when teams place their players on waivers.

I hope you took copious notes. There will be a quiz.

As told to The Examiner’s John Keim. Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden provides an exclusive column to The Examiner each week, ranging on topics from the Nats to the state of Major League Baseball.