The trading deadline has come and gone, and, if your favorite team wants to make a trade, a player must pass through waivers. You have probably heard this term (waivers) many times before, but did not know how the process works. Well, it’s your lucky day, here is a brief but informative synopsis of the procedure:

There are four kinds of waivers:

outright
optional
unconditional release
trade

Think about waivers as teams getting permission from other teams to make a roster move. Outright waivers are what happens when teams take a player off the 40-man roster. Optional waivers are for some players (but not all) who are optioned back to the minors but stay on the 40-man roster. Unconditional release waivers are self-explanatory. Trade waivers are what we’re going through now.

Teams can place seven players a day on the waiver wire. Teams routinely do this to nearly every player on the roster. You do this to gather information about a possible trade for now or in the future. Or maybe you waive a few stars to try and hide the fact you’re waiving somebody else you do want to trade.

By default, any player claimed is automatically pulled off waivers unless Major League Baseball is told otherwise.

If a player is claimed and the original team wants to make a deal, clubs have two business days to make a deal. A team can claim players based by league affiliation, lowest winning percentage first. Basically, American League players go through the American League first before they get to the National League teams.

So, if you hear the Dodgers put Players, X, Y and Z on waivers, it doesn’t mean they’re trying to unload them; it’s just the General Manager, giving himself options just in case something does happen.