Thursday marks the official deadline for teams to claim players off of waivers so that they can be eligible to play in the postseason for their new teams.
The Los Angeles Angels made a ton of headlines on Tuesday when they waived six players.
There will be some teams who decide to add certain players to their roster, while others stand pat.
However, Buster Olney of ESPN thinks that MLB owners who choose not to spend money at this time, regardless of whether their teams are contending or not, could be setting themselves up for a PR disaster.
On Twitter, Olney called out owners who may not end up spending before the waiver deadline.
For the owners who don’t want to spend any more money on payroll this season, regardless of whether their teams are contending, this waiver situation could be a PR nightmare. Very hard to defend a choice to not place claims.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) August 30, 2023
It’s possible that certain owners and front offices of teams not in contention will ultimately decide that it doesn’t make sense to add pieces at this time.
For certain teams, it may not make sense to do something like this.
However, Olney believes that not placing claims on waived players, especially when they would come at almost no cost is simply indefensible.
For teams out of contention, adding certain pieces could serve as a test run of sorts as they gauge their interest in these players and see whether or not they may want to stay long term, or if the team is interested in keeping them around.
Teams who need pitching, such as the St. Louis Cardinals, may want to try and place a claim on somebody like Lucas Giolito and gain some leverage going into the offseason before adding more pitching.
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