The MLB non-waiver trade deadline is officially in the rearview mirror, but that doesn’t mean that big leaguers like James Shields are off the market just yet.
Between now and the end of the month, a player can be traded to any team if he clears waivers. If the given major leaguer does get claimed, he can be traded to the club that put in the claim.
Usually, a player has to have a flaw to make it through waivers. For Shields, that flaw is that he’s pitching on an outsized contract.
In the list of trade ideas that follows, there are several other players who are in a similar situation as the veteran starter. They are guys who won’t be cheap but who have the talent to help a contender that wasn’t able to check off all the bullet points on its trade-season to-do list before August arrived.
Plus, there’s also room on the list for one former star whose season has so far been wrecked by an injury but who could be returning to the diamond soon.