Both Jon Heyman and Ken Rosenthal are reporting that an unknown team has claimed the Houston Astros Wandy Rodriguez off waivers. Considering the quality of pitcher Rodriguez is, even though he has often flown under the radar, this is not surprising, and his contract is not as player friendly as some sheep in the national media have bleated that it is.
↵If you have already forgotten the rules around waivers and what happens next, trot over to here, where Jeff Sullivan neatly explains the process. In essence the Astros have three options. They can pull Rodriguez back from waivers, and then, if they put him back, he will be claimed on irrevocable waivers and will have to be traded to that team no matter what. Second, they can trade him for players who have cleared waivers within a 48 hour time period. Or thirdly they can give up the player and their entire contract for a $20,000 fee.
↵What happens next will give us an insight into what Ed Wade is really up to this season. If he salary dumps Rodriguez, then it becomes clear he is just slashing payroll no matter what the cost is. Can he really get anything for Rodriguez to validate trading him over the next two days, to whichever team has claimed him? That would be something.
↵UPDATE: The Colorado Rockies were awarded the waiver claim. See our full story here.