Colorado Rockies rumors: Juan Nicasio to Denver?

According to Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in this article (h/t MLBTradeRumors.com), the Pittsburgh Pirates put reliever and former Rockie Juan Nicasio on irrevocable waivers.

Today, the Pittsburgh Pirates put former Rockie pitcher Juan Nicasio on outright waivers, meaning that if a team claims him, they must let him go to the other team.

As Jeff Todd of MLBTradeRumors.com discusses in talking about Brink’s report, it is a bit surprising that the Pirates are putting him on irrevocable outright waivers.

You would think that they would be able to get something for them but, as Todd mentions, the Pirates could be at the point where they just want another team to take on the rest of his salary, which is about $675,000.

Nicasio this season

As Todd notes, he has been one of the best relievers on the Pirates, and frankly, in the National League this year. He has appeared in a National League leading 65 games with 60 innings, 60 strikeouts, a 2.85 ERA, a 3.33:1 strikeout to walk ratio, a 152 ERA+, and two saves.

Considering how Greg Holland has struggled for most of the month of the August (he is 0-4 with two saves, three blown saves as well as allowing 13 hits, 14 runs, six walks (compared to only five strikeouts), a 17.18 ERA, and a .371/.476/.771 opponent slash line in only 7 1/3 innings of work), Nicasio could provide the Rockies will a tremendous boost in the bullpen before the August 31 deadline.

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How waiver claims work

For the Rockies to claim Nicasio, all teams in the National League who have worse records than them get first dibs. Entering Tuesday night, the order of teams before the Rockies would look like this: Philadelphia, San Francisco, Cincinnati, San Diego, New York, Atlanta, St. Louis, Miami, Milwaukee, and Chicago.

If all of them pass on claiming Nicasio, then, and only then, could the Rockies claim him. They wouldn’t have to give anything back to the Pirates in return but they would have to pay the remainder of his contract.

Next: August Waiver Trade Rumors

I would not be surprised, however, if it gets down to the Rockies and they claim him. They do need some bullpen help and in each of the last two postseason runs that they have made (2007 and 2009), they have made moves in August to acquire bullpen help. You can read more about that in the article linked above this paragraph.