Astros Reportedly Pull Wandy Rodriguez Back Off Waivers

It seemed like a long shot, though, and now Richard Justice issues confirmation that nothing’s going to happen:

By pulling Rodriguez off waivers, the Astros guarantee that he’ll stay where he is for the rest of the year. The Astros are open to the idea of trading Rodriguez, but they wanted more from the Rockies than the Rockies were willing to give. It was true with the Rodriguez trade negotiations at the deadline, and it’s true with the Rodriguez trade negotiations now.

Sources: #Rockies awarded claim on Wandy. Talks ongoing. Will be outcome by 1 p.m. ET Thursday.So the three possibilities are: a) the Rockies and Astros work out a trade, b) the Astros pull Wandy back and keep him until the offseason, or c) the Astros just give him away. It’s a good idea for the Rockies to look for an Ubaldo Jimenez replacement if there’s one dumped on their doorstep, after all.

If Rodriguez were on the free-agent market, would he command more than $36 million for three seasons? Probably, so either the Rockies pony up some prospects (ALEX WHITE AND DREW POMERANZ FOR WANDY?? omg) in a trade, or the Astros will be probably be better off just waiting until the offseason.

There were two thoughts that came to mind after this deal: one, the Astros had no idea what they were doing, and no concept of just how poor their team and it’s short-term future were; or two, the Astros felt Rodriguez had more value in a trade if he were under contract.

If number two is correct, the Astros gave themselves the friendliest year of the deal at $7 million (plus a $1.5 million signing bonus) in 2011. The remaining $23 million is wrapped up in 2012 and 2013, and if Rodriguez is traded, his 2014 option becomes a $13 million player option that has a chance of being picked up or could automatically become guaranteed based on performance, making his 2012-2014 value $36 million.