Blue Jays infielder Mark DeRosa was claimed on waivers Wednesday evening, but Toronto will not trade him, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
More Jays: Aaron Sanchez Injured
It has not been reported which team made the claim.
Michael Young Clears Waivers
Philadelphia got the veteran through the waiver wire, but still have to clear the hurdle of Young's no-trade clause if they want to move him.While it seems odd at first blush that the Jays would be protective of a player they placed on the wire, things are a little different in August. DeRosa is just one of hundreds of players who will go on revokable waivers this month. Most teams put nearly all players on waivers in August to get a sense of what their market would be if they were made available, but have no plans of actually moving the players.
There's always a chance that the Jays did intend to move DeRosa, but if so they were probably hoping he would make it through the wire unclaimed so they could negotiate a trade with anybody and everybody rather than just one team. Now that the Jays have (presumably) pulled DeRosa back from waivers, they cannot do so again. If they put him back on the wire before the end of the season, they'll have to either trade, option or release him.
DeRosa, 38, has rebounded nicely from a down 2012 season. The 16-year veteran is batting .231/.320/.449 with seven home runs in 62 games as the Jays' reserve infielder. Toronto holds a team-friendly $750,000 option on DeRosa for next season, so may end up hanging on to him.
More from SB Nation:
• Spencer Hall: A-Rod should be allowed to take all the drugs
• Is Jose Iglesias this year's Orlando Cabrera?
• How much would you give CC Sabathia now?