So it won’t. First off, I’ll mention that Guzman is not in the final year of his contract. He’s due to make $8 million next season. Now for the waiver explanation. This happens every August (not necessarily with the Nats, but with some team at some point), so it would make sense to clarify it.

There are several different types of waivers that a player can be placed on:

Revocable Waivers – This is the type of waivers that Guzman was placed on. It means exactly what you would think, based on the name. A player is placed on waivers, but they can revoke his placement on waivers if he does not clear. Many players are placed on revocable waivers in August because they are eligible to be traded to any team if they are not claimed. They’re eligible to be traded to the team that placed a claim within 48 hours of the time that they are claimed. The team (in this case the Nats) can also choose to revoke the player’s status on waivers and retain him if they choose to do so… this simply means that they’ll be unable to trade him unless they place him on waivers again later and no team claims him.

Irrevocable Waivers – Again, this is what it sounds like. Basically, this is “releasing” a player. The player then ends up on waivers for the regular period. If some other team chooses to place a claim, they then take on the contract. If not, the player becomes a free agent and the team that placed him on waivers is still responsible for paying the remainder of his contract.

Assignment Waivers – These are used for players who are out of minor league options in order to send them to the minor leagues. Again, this is not the case here.

Today, there was a player who was placed on “Revocable Waivers” who was allowed to depart by an AL team. Alex Rios (formerly of the Blue Jays) was claimed off of waivers by the Chicago White Sox. No deal was struck, but the Blue Jays elected (and I would say this was the wise business decision…. whether it was the wise “baseball” decision could be determined by how they’re able to use the money [re-signing Roy Halladay, perhaps?]) to let the White Sox take Rios’ remaining contract off their hands anyway.

In the case of Guzman, I would consider placing him on Revocable Waivers an absolute no-brainer by the Nats. He’s slightly overpaid this season, and he’s going to be overpaid next season as well. While I always love the Nats and am excited about their current eight game win streak, I don’t believe that they’re in a position where they’re going to be close to contending for the NL East (or NL Wildcard) next season. A 32-year-old (what he will be next season) streaky hitting shortstop who is below average with the glove isn’t going to help them much. There’s an excellent chance that a contending team (say, for example, the Red Sox, who apparently did not actually place a claim on him, but have said they may have interest if he clears waivers) would be interested in acquiring Guzman’s services to help them get over the hump.

By clearing Guzman through waivers, this would still allow the Nats to pursue trading Guzman (be it to the Red Sox/some other team that placed a claim, or to any team if nobody has actually placed a claim) for a player(s) that could be in a better position to contribute when the Nats look closer to fielding a contending team. It would also possibly give the Nats $8 million off the books for next season that they could use elsewhere. If they can get a quality prospect or two, it’s an excellent “baseball decision.” Even if they can’t get much in terms of quality prospects, it’s still a solid “business decision.”

And just because they clear him through waivers doesn’t mean that they have to trade him. It just means that it’s an option. There are absolutely no negatives to placing a player on revocable waivers, as the Nats did with Guzman.

He is powerless, can’t steal, and fields badly. However, when I go out and look at the SS free agents this offseason, and consider the in house options, Guzman is the best choice for next year for sure.

A recent article over at Fangraphs by Dave Cameron called Guzman one of the most average players in baseball. He also said average players are essential to winning teams. Guzman is a below average fielder with an above average bat for a SS. His bat and glove cancel out to be almost perfectly zero (zero is perfectly average). BTW, Jason Bay was called equally all round average. Bay has a very weak glove offsetting his awsome bat. upon reading this, I decided Guzman was good enough to be the Nats starter for a couple of years at SS. Assuming dave is right. I am inclined to believe him.