As we noted yesterday, earlier this week Doug Melvin placed a number of free agents-to-be — including attractive options such as Trevor Hoffman and Mike Cameron — on waivers in an attempt to gauge interest before the waiver trade deadline.
Today, Adam McCalvy has a report (by way of Fox Sports, who broke the waiver story earlier this week) noting that Trevor Hoffman has been claimed on waivers. At this time, it’s not known who the claiming team was, but one would assume that Hoffman didn’t get past an NL club — specifically, the Philadelphia Phillies, who have struggled with the closer spot all year.
Doug Melvin now has 48 hours to pull Hoffman back, trade him, or let him go to the claiming team for nothing. Given Melvin’s recent comments, the latter two options don’t seem likely, but that’s not to say negotiations won’t be taking place.
Perhaps the most promising thing about Fox’s report is this little snippet (emphasis added):
The chances that Hoffman will be dealt are probably not good. He isn’t inclined to be a setup man, likes pitching in Milwaukee and wants to return next year.
If that’s a case, Melvin could do one of two things: he could simply hang onto Hoffman and offer him a contract for next year, or as an act of good will, he could trade Hoffman to a contender with the promise of bringing him back next year. Of course, if he goes to a place like Philadelphia and ends up winning a World Series with a team that needs him as a closer, there’s no guarantee Melvin can persuade him to return to Milwaukee.
We’ll keep an eye on what happens, but one thing’s for sure — the next few days will see a lot of roster movement, even if no trades are made. Already today we saw Mike Burns sent back to Nashville to make room for Dave Bush, and Chase Wright was removed from the 40-man roster. Could we see someone like Corey Patterson added to the 40-man and seeing time in Milwaukee during September?
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