Braves sign Stubbs

[50PoundHead]

I see the Reds waived Jake Cave. I believe he is the sort of playing you and I are both thinking about.

Agreed.

[nsacpi]

I wouldn't argue that Cave would be a more productive player in 2016 at the ML level than Francoueur/Bonifacio/Stubbs/Bourn. But there is a chance he develops some value and we would have him under control for the next five years.

[clvclv]

We'd have to trade the Reds something for him since he was a Rule V guy. Not sure it'd have to be much to cover the $25,000 they'd lose if they have to offer him back.

[nsacpi]

We'd have to trade the Reds something for him since he was a Rule V guy. Not sure it'd have to be much to cover the $25,000 they'd lose if they have to offer him back.

Reds released him. We claimed another Rule V guy last spring (McKirahan) in a similar way.

[clvclv]

Reds released him. We claimed another Rule V guy last spring (McKirahan) in a similar way.

They can't flat out "release" him without offering him back to the Yankees for $25,000 unless he goes through waivers unclaimed. Placing him on waivers is the same thing as putting him on a fantasy league trade block - in essence saying they'll take anything they deem as more valuable than the $25,000 they'd save by sending him back to New York:

"The Reds have placed outfielder Jake Cave on waivers, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports (via Twitter). As a Rule 5 pick, Cave will be offered back to the Yankees for $25K if another team doesn’t claim him. Any club that does claim Cave would have to keep him on its 25-man roster for the entire season or lose him to the Yankees."

If the claiming team doesn't want to keep him on their 25-Man Roster all season and doesn't offer them something of value to avoid that, the Reds have to send him back to New York to clear the roster spot. It then becomes a trade rather than a waiver claim and the team that gets him could send him down if they so chose.