The July 31 MLB non-waiver trade deadline is in the past, meaning that clubs can only improve their rosters through an August waiver trade. That severely limits the options on both sides of the equation.
And while the waiver wire is littered with players of all talent levels, what are the odds that the biggest names to have cleared waivers will actually end up switching teams?
That is exactly what we are here to examine.
To be sure, no one here at Bleacher Report is an MLB general manager. In other words, placing odds on the likelihood that a player who has cleared waivers will be traded is an arbitrary process.
Another thing that makes this a less-than-scientific endeavor is that MLB general managers are not required to make public the players they place on waivers. It happens all of the time without being mentioned on the national stage.
That does not mean, however, that various factors, including production, contract status, need around the game and other variables can’t be examined, leading to a fair assessment of the chances of a trade going down in the next two weeks.
We will use the published reports of several well-known sportswriters as sources. That means that there could be other players out there who are not listed, but this is a fairly accurate list of the star power on the market that can switch teams at any moment.
Here are the chances of each big name to have cleared waivers being traded before the August 31 deadline.