Washington Nationals acquire Matt Thornton from New York Yankees
By Josh Hill
The MLB Trade Deadline technically passed back in July but that was just the non-waiver wire deadline and trades can still be made with players exchanging teams.
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What needs to happen first though is a team needs to clear a player they want to trade through waivers before he can be moved, which is what happened with New York Yankees pitcher Matt Thornton this afternoon. According to Jon Heyman from CBSSports.com, the Nationals have in fact not only claimed Thornton off of waivers from the Yankees but have gone a step further and acquired him.
"The Nationals are acquiring reliever Matt Thornton after a waiver claim from the Yankees, sources said.Thornton will beef up the strong Nats pen from the left side, but it’ll be a substantial savings for the Yankees. New York will save about $4M via this waiver claim."
When a player is claimed on waivers, the team who waived him reserves the right to revoke him and take him back or they can trade him. They can also just hand him over free of charge, which the Yankees might have done with Thornton although it’s unclear just what the outline of the deal is.
Either way, Thornton is on his way to the Nationals, and the Yankees have saved on his contract.
Be sure to stay glued to FanSided’s MLB Rumors page to stay up to date with the latest action and rumbling from the baseball hot stove this trade season.