DFA’d Blue Jay Edwin Encarnacion Clears Waivers, Sent To AAA

There was some thought after he was designated for assignment that Edwin Encarnacion’s time with the Blue Jays organization was finished. Ultimately, though, his remaining $2.6m salary proved too prohibitive, and nobody claimed him off waivers:

With most teams up against their budgets, the powerful but inconsistent Encarnacion wasn’t considered to be worth the cost. A trade could still be made, though, and it would not come as a surprise to see other teams attempt to swap salaries.

One of the dangers of designating for assignment a player you still want to have around is that the player is exposed to waivers in the process. For Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos, though, that doesn’t seem to be a big concern, as far as Edwin Encarnacion is concerned:

Encarnacion is due about $2.7m over the rest of the season, which for many teams is a prohibitive amount of money.

Encarnacion will be eligible for arbitration in the winter, as 2011 is his final year of team control. He will make a total of $4.75m in 2010 as the second year of a two-year contract.

Richard Griffin suggests that Encarnacion and his agent may have requested a trade following the demotion: