Manny placed on waivers

The move that has seemed inevitable since Manny Ramirez came back from the DL appears to have happened this afternoon. Sources tell ESPN that Manny has been placed on waivers. Teams have until Friday afternoon to put a claim in on him.

First, the specifics of this whole waiver thing. Once a team puts a claim in, they have to be awarded a shot at Manny. The team that is awarded the claim will have until Tuesday to get a deal done. While Manny has been rumored to be willing to accept a deal, he also has a full no-trade clause, complicating the process a bit.

Teams in the National League will get first crack at him. It seems unlikely any team would, but you never know. The more likely scenario is that the White Sox will follow through on their plan to claim him. They were rumored to have wanted him at the original trade deadline, but money issues got in the way.

Because of Manny's no-trade clause, if he were to veto a trade, the Dodgers would have to pull him back off of waivers and keep him for the rest of the season. So it's another potential issue in this whole ordeal.

Any team that gets Manny would owe him $1.1 million for the rest of this season and $3.3 million in deferred salary. Basically, his contract wouldn't be difficult to move.

With all of that said, the signs seem to point towards Manny being moved. He's made it known that he'd be willing to go to the American League to be a DH somewhere. The White Sox are a perfect fit, and the Rays have been talked about too, who are another great fit.

The next few days will be interesting, as Manny is the biggest name by far on waivers now. Will an unknown team step up and try to nab him? We shall see in the very near future.