Weeks Behind

Perhaps someone can explain this to me. I don't know much about waivers and that sort of thing. But a few weeks ago, I asked on DJF why the Jays couldn't just assign BJ Ryan to the minors. I thought they just released him because he refused to, but then Ryan signed a minor league contract with the Cubs. They pay the league minimum and the Jays eat the rest. Stoeten told me that to send Ryan to the minors, he would first have to clear waivers. And then I ceased thinking about it. Until this morning. I don't like paying 15 million bucks for something I don't get to use.


Jayson Stark in his guide to waivers...

"Or, if a team is just hoping to dump a player's salary, it can simply allow a team which claimed that player to have him for a small waiver fee. If that happens, the team that gets the player has to pay his entire salary. That's how the Yankees were stuck with Jose Canseco and the Padres were stuck with Randy Myers in recent years: They claimed those players, thinking they were just blocking other teams from getting them. Instead, their old clubs said: "You claimed him. You got him."

So...how is sending Ryan down to Vegas a problem? Either he gets picked up and that team eats his salary or they don't and he works out his issues in Vegas. It definitely doesn't mean 15 million down the drain.

I'm probably wrong. But something smells.