Reports Say Hoffman Claimed by Giants

ESPN’s Buster Olney is reporting that the San Francisco Giants were the “mystery team” that claimed Trevor Hoffman, and guesses that the claim was only done to block other playoff contenders from getting the all-time saves leader.

It’s a move that makes sense for the Giants, who are still trying to catch the Rockies for the NL Wildcard spot, and likely means that Hoffman isn’t going anywhere.  From Olney:

In response to a general question about whether he anticipated making a
move that would compromise the Brewers’ bullpen in the days ahead,
Brewers GM Doug Melvin replied in an e-mail, “Probably not.”

So we can likely put this story to bed.  Unless the Giants feel like they could actually use Hoffman (which is unlikely, with Brian Wilson posting 30 saves with a 3.00 ERA so far this year), he’ll be finishing the year with the Brewers.  Hoffman has seemed disappointed with the way things have gone so far this year, but he also seems to realize that this team has potential to be very, very good.  We’ll see if he returns for a similar salary next season, but at the very least it looks like Doug Melvin has his eyes on two compensation picks.

Update: Hoffman Claimed

As we noted yesterday, earlier this week Doug Melvin placed a number of free agents-to-be — including attractive options such as Trevor Hoffman and Mike Cameron — on waivers in an attempt to gauge interest before the waiver trade deadline.

Today, Adam McCalvy has a report (by way of Fox Sports, who broke the waiver story earlier this week) noting that Trevor Hoffman has been claimed on waivers.  At this time, it’s not known who the claiming team was, but one would assume that Hoffman didn’t get past an NL club — specifically, the Philadelphia Phillies, who have struggled with the closer spot all year. 

Doug Melvin now has 48 hours to pull Hoffman back, trade him, or let him go to the claiming team for nothing.  Given Melvin’s recent comments, the latter two options don’t seem likely, but that’s not to say negotiations won’t be taking place.

Perhaps the most promising thing about Fox’s report is this little snippet (emphasis added):

The chances that Hoffman will be dealt are probably not good. He isn’t inclined to be a setup man, likes pitching in Milwaukee and wants to return next year.

If that’s a case, Melvin could do one of two things: he could simply hang onto Hoffman and offer him a contract for next year, or as an act of good will, he could trade Hoffman to a contender with the promise of bringing him back next year.  Of course, if he goes to a place like Philadelphia and ends up winning a World Series with a team that needs him as a closer, there’s no guarantee Melvin can persuade him to return to Milwaukee.

We’ll keep an eye on what happens, but one thing’s for sure — the next few days will see a lot of roster movement, even if no trades are made.  Already today we saw Mike Burns sent back to Nashville to make room for Dave Bush, and Chase Wright was removed from the 40-man roster.  Could we see someone like Corey Patterson added to the 40-man and seeing time in Milwaukee during September?

Hoffman, Cameron Among Brewers Placed on Waivers

With just over a month to go in the season and the Brewers 11 games out of the NL Central lead and 10.5 games out of the wildcard, it appears that Doug Melvin is ready to call it quits on the 2009 season.  According to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, the Brewers have placed a number of veterans on the waiver wire to gauge interest in possible trades. 

Rosenthal’s source says that Trevor Hoffman, Mike Cameron, Craig Counsell, Jason Kendall, Braden Looper, and Felipe Lopez were all put onto waivers on Tuesday.  All six players could potentially be free agents following the season, so they would likely be one-month rentals for their new teams.  As a result, it doesn’t seem like Melvin is likely to actually make a deal — anything he would get in return would have to be better than what he could get from the possible compensation picks in next year’s draft, and not many teams would be willing to give up a sandwich pick-level talent for one month’s worth of production.