Aubrey Huff, Melvin Mora and Danys Baez, three veterans in the final guaranteed years of their contracts, have cleared waivers, according to league sources, meaning they can be traded to any club if the Orioles find a suitor.
The two infielders and the reliever clearing waivers isn't at all surprising as the Orioles didn't find much interest in any of the veterans before last month's nonwaiver trade deadline. All three have struggled at times this season and are still owed a decent chunk of money for the rest of the season.
Mora, who is hitting .254 with three homers and 29 RBIs, is still owed about $2.7 million. Huff (.255 average, 12 homers, 68 RBIs) is due approximately $2.4 million while Baez (4.33 ERA) will make an additional $1.8 million, plus a $500,000 assignment bonus if he is traded.
The Orioles would probably be willing to absorb some of the remaining money if they found an interested team, as Mora and Baez almost certainly won't return next year and Huff's recent offensive struggles have increased the chances that he won't be back. The Detroit Tigers showed some interest in Huff earlier this season.
Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail declined to comment when asked about his players clearing waivers. Teams have to pass players through revocable waivers if they want to move them after the July 31 trade deadline.
If a player gets claimed, a team can pull him off waivers, give the claiming team that player and the rest of his contract, or work out a trade with the claiming team for the player.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orio ... 2947.story
interest in baez as a closer anybody?
