Yesterdays biggest development was the number of players reportedly on the waiver wire. The Angels, White Sox, Yankees, Mets and Tigers each put impending free agents on irrevocable waivers. Those clubs are out of contention. The hope is that another team with a path to the playoffs will take what remains of this years contract off their hands. Its particularly meaningful in the Angels Tim Hardaway Jr. Jersey case, as shedding enough veterans could allow them to limbo back under the luxury tax threshold after their deadline push fell flat. No other player known to be on waivers has the upside of . The right-hander has had a tough time in Orange County, allowing a 6.89 ERA over six starts. Giolito has been the victim of a home run barrage in Southern California, allowing multiple longballs in three of those appearances. Clearly, the past month hasnt gone as he or the team had envisioned. Yet were only four weeks removed from Giolito and reliever (also now on waivers) fetching two of the Halos top prospects in trade. Now, another team could have him for nothing more than the approximate $1.9MM remaining on his arbitration contract. Giolito isnt the only starter out there, but hes by far the most appealing (at least among the players publicly reported to be on waivers). The Mets made available. He has a 6.80 ERA through 20 starts on the season, though. He hasnt shown much sign of recent progre s, allowing 35 runs and a staggering .404/.450/.654 opponents batting line in 29 innings since the All-Star Break. Its hard to imagine him as an upgrade for a contending pitching staff, particularly since theres still around $2.6MM remaining on his $14MM salary. would be a clearer roster upgrade than Carrasco. He mi sed a month and a half midway through the year with biceps inflammation. A return one start before the August 1 deadline wasnt sufficient to drum up trade interest. Clevinger has turned in a solid enough season, though, pitching to a 3.32 ERA over 97 2/3 innings. While his 20.8% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk percentage are each worse than average, itd be easy enough for a number of hopeful contenders to find room for Clevinger at the back of their rotation at least from an on-field perspective. Complicating matters is the structure of the rightys contract. Clevingers $8MM salary isnt the i sue, as most teams could easily accommodate the roughly $1.5MM still to be paid out. Yet theres also a $4MM buyout on a $12MM mutual option for next season. Clevinger receives the buyout regardle s of which side declines the option and is very likely to return to free agency since mutual options are almost never triggered by both sides. A claiming team would have to take on responsibility for the buyout as well its all or nothing for a suming a players contract off waivers so itd be a nearly $5.5MM investment for a month (and perhaps a playoff run) of Clevingers services. Thats a tough sell for a team. If there were no option buyout, hed need to be playing this season on a $30MM salary to have that kind of money remaining on his deal. Its hard to imagine any team views Clevinger as equivalent to a $30MM pitcher, even for just a few weeks. While Carrasco and Clevinger seem like borderline waiver claims at best, theres little doubt someone will add Giolito. Despite his recent struggles, hed be a clear upgrade for fringe contenders with uncertain rotation outlooks. A few things to remember before taking a look at the likeliest teams to make a claim. Itll be a club with playoff aspirations. Giolito would be the best pitcher on the As, but theres no incentive for them to add him when hell be a free agent in five weeks. Yet hes probably not going to wind up with one of the three best teams in the sport. Waiver priority is in inverse order of the MLB standings as of tomorrow morning. The Dodgers, Orioles and/or Braves could place a claim, but its very likely someone with a worse record will do so as well and beat them out. Lets identify potential fits (in expected waiver priority order): Padres (62-72) This could be a test of how much optimism remains in the San Diego front office. The Padres are 10 games under .500 and eight out of the final NL Wild Card spot. A postseason run is hard to envision at this point. Yet the Friars held and at the deadline and acquired , , and . If theres any hope for 2023 left at Petco Park, a Giolito claim would be the last sign. and are on the injured list, leaving Hill and in the starting five. Theres room for Giolito on the roster. A couple million dollars doesnt seem much of a deterrent for owner Peter Seidler. The question is simply whether the Padres still think they have a shot. Marlins (66-66) Miami looked into rotation po sibilities at the deadline but ultimately brought in just a depth starter in . Theyve kept in Triple-A for the past month. is on the injured list, while its unclear if will return at all this season. Theres a strong front four in , , and rookie . Theres enough uncertainty with the final rotation spot that Miami could consider a claim. Notably, the Marlins arent guaranteed to remain above the Reds in the waiver order. A Marlins win over the Rays paired with a Cincinnati lo s in San Francisco would push Miamis win percentage marginally above that of the Reds. Reds (68-66) The Reds are the first club where itd be incredibly surprising if they didnt put in a claim on Giolito. Cincinnati didnt addre s their rotation at the deadline despite ranking 27th at the time in rotation ERA. Theyve been no better over the past month, with their starters allowing 5.86 earned runs per nine in 26 games. returned from the injured list in the intervening weeks but was shelled in his first two starts back. initially expected back from a leg injury at the end of this month suffered a . Even with and performing well of late, theres clear room for more help. The Reds with the White Sox about their rotation before the deadline, presumably at least gauging Chicagos asking price on Giolito before they sent him to Anaheim. Twins (69-65)* Giolito would be a luxury buy for a Minnesota club thats on its way to an AL Central title. The rotation is already strong, anchored by , , and . The Twins have gotten decent enough work from that they optioned to Triple-A. Placing a claim would simply be about deepening the pitching staff for the postseason, where skipper Rocco Baldelli could have quicker hooks for everyone aside from Lpez and Gray. Red Sox (69-64) The Red Sox may feel their rotation is strong enough to pa s on Giolito. Theyre running with a starting five of , , , and . Thats a pretty good group, although theyre middle-of-the-pack in ERA and strikeout rate since the All-Star Break. Paxton, Sale and Houck have had injury concerns. Houck and Crawford have spent time in the bullpen this season. Starting pitching isnt nece sarily a need, but adding any kind of talent could be welcome for a club that has fallen 6.5 games out of the last AL Wild Card spot. Boston has roughly $9MM in payroll space before reaching the base luxury tax threshold, as calculated by . Theyd only take on the remaining portion of Giolitos salary if they claimed him, so that shouldnt be an i sue. Diamondbacks (69-64) If Cincinnati, Boston (and everyone else in front of them) pa ses on Giolito, the D-Backs figure to step in. Theyre quite similar to the Reds. Arizonas a surprise contender that sought but didnt find rotation upgrades for the deadline. They also with the Sox on Giolito. Theres still very little depth beyond and . Righty has five MLB appearances to his name. has been knocked around as a rookie. probably shouldnt be starting for a team with playoff aspirations. , arguably the clubs third-best starter, seems likely to mi s the rest of the season with an elbow injury. *Note: Boston, Minnesota and Arizona could swap places in waiver priority tonight. When multiple clubs have the same record, priority goes to the team in the same league as the team that put the player on waivers. Within leagues, priority goes to the team that had the worse record in prior seasons. If they all have the same record going into tomorrow, the order would go Minnesota (worse record than the Red Sox in 2021) Boston Arizona. Its tough to envision scenarios where Giolito gets past the Diamondbacks. At least one of Miami, Cincinnati and Arizona should be motivated enough to make a claim. Contenders like the Cubs, Rays, Orioles and Dodgers may all have interest, but itd require inexplicable decisions to pa s on the part of a few teams in front of them. Perhaps clubs near the back of the waiver order will consider a flier on Clevinger as a fallback, though the aforementioned contract situation makes that far le s appealing than getting Giolito would be. Seth Curry Jersey