737
by TFIR
To finish JR's article
High demand for Jim Thome
August, 23, 2011
Aug 23
It was only about 20 months ago that Jim Thome was struggling to find a job, to find more at-bats in his pursuit of his 600th homer, and when he did eventually sign with the Minnesota Twins, he wasn't promised playing time. But over the next eight days, he might be the most coveted player in the majors; he's already the subject of a whole lot of discussion in executive circles that has nothing to do with his 600-homer milestone.
Thome was placed on waivers by the Twins on Monday, and presumably, there will be many teams placing a claim on him. Travis Hafner may not play again this season, after being placed on the disabled list Monday, and so the Indians would be a natural fit for Thome, at DH. The White Sox could place a claim on Thome to block him from getting to the Indians. The Blue Jays could place a claim on Thome, in their never-ending quest to collect draft picks; if Thome were to play in 2012, it's possible that he would be worthy of draft-pick compensation this winter, and as we know, Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos loves draft picks the way a 10-year-old loves M&M's.
Texas, which tried to sign Thome in the offseason, could claim the slugger, who would cost only $600,000 for the rest of the season. The Yankees could plug Thome in as their left-handed designated hitter. Virtually every NL team could use someone like Thome coming off the bench, given his power and high on-base percentage: He'd fit San Francisco, Arizona, Milwaukee, the Cardinals and the Phillies in this way. The Braves have Eric Hinske but presumably will place a claim to make sure that Thome never reaches the Phillies in the waiver process.
So sometime in the next 72 hours, the Twins will have the choice of either dealing Thome to the team that's awarded the claim, or withdrawing him from waivers.
But after that, there is a very interesting possibility -- which already is the subject of conversation and debate among some executives around the majors.
Thome has never been part of a championship team, despite coming very close with the 1997 Indians. He has a strong relationship with the manager of one of the current World Series favorites -- Charlie Manuel, he of the Phillies, and formerly of the Indians.
If the Twins don't make a waiver deal with Thome this week, what they could do, after withdrawing him from waivers, is to place him on a different type of waivers -- release waivers. Thome would presumably be claimed by all the teams that will claim him on waivers. But because Thome has the contractual right to veto a trade, he could reject the claim, walk away from his current contract and become a free agent -- and then sign with the Phillies, or any other team.
And if he lands with the Phillies, you can book this: There will be howls of protests from other teams, and a lot of scrutiny, perhaps even from the commissioner's office.
The waiver process is designed to give the worst teams first access to players, and some executives believe that for Thome to land with the Phillies would require machinations that would be beyond the bounds of fair play. "That wouldn't be within the spirit of the rules at all," said one GM.
Some executives believe there would be questions of collusion: In order for the Twins to make a deal for Philadelphia happen, they would have to feel out Thome on what he wants. "And if they know he wants to go to Philadelphia, they would have to make that deal in exclusion of other teams," said one baseball lawyer. "That's a problem. The commissioner's office doesn't want a precedent where one team is effectively using a rules loophole to deliver a player to another team after the trade deadline."
In other words: If Thome wound up with the Phillies through the circumvention of the waiver process, would this become standard operating procedure for other veterans? Would they have language built into their contracts that would allow them to become free agents late in the season, in this manner, as part of their effort to win a championship?
"I don't know what the commissioner's office would say about it," said an NL GM. "But I know there would be a lot of complaints from other teams."
Said an AL GM: "There would be a lot of talk -- but I don't know whether [baseball officials] would actually have the grounds to step in and prevent it from happening."
Other questions raised by rival executives: Would the Twins, who have a reputation for being among the most above-board, rule-abiding teams in the majors, participate in that kind of thing, rather than simply keep Thome for the rest of the season? And would Thome -- deferential by nature -- even ask Minnesota to veer through the rules to make a Philadelphia reunion happen?
We'll see.
Thome isn't saying what he wants, as Joe Christensen writes.
Grady Sizemore could be back soon for the Indians.
"I've suffered a great many tragedies in my life....most of them never happened". Mark Twain