Diamondbacks Notes: More Micah Machinations
* Late Tuesday night brought word that Micah Owings was one of the unnamed components headed back to the Reds to complete the Adam Dunn trade. But Owings remains on Arizona's 40-man roster and apparently has not been subjected to waivers -- a prerequisite to a deal after the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. As the Cincinnati Enquirer reports, the Diamondbacks cannot place Owings on waivers so long as he is injured. Therefore, even if Arizona thought they could get him through waivers, the Owings-to-Cincy portion of the swap cannot be completed until the pitcher recovers from what the Diamondbacks have described as shoulder stiffness.
* Not that we don't trust the Cincinnati Enquirer, but ... DBN is on the hunt for a copy of the rules pertaining to waiver claims. So far we have only been able to track down copies of the 2007-2011 Basic Agreement between the Major League Clubs and the Major League baseball Players Association and the Official baseball Rules that govern play on the field. The former does deal with both waivers and injuries -- including the process for sending players on rehabilitation assignments -- but does not (as far as DBN can tell) expressly prohibit the waiver of a player who is injured. The Basic Agreement instead cross-references Major League Rule 10, which is purported to address the waiver process, but which our searches on the Interwebs have yet to uncover. If any of our readers have access to these Major League Rules, kindly forward a copy to editor@diamondbacksnation.com. Please and thank you.
* When asked whether he'd like to have Micah Owings join the Reds before the end of the season, Cincinnati Manager Dusty Baker gave an interesting reply: "I don't think he's available now. He has some oblique problem or something." In politics, this technique is called the "non-denial denial," and typically entails the responsive party either (1) expressing outrage at the question / source / topic and refusing to answer; or (2) answering a different question entirely. For a major league manager to discuss his desire to acquire a player on another team's roster is generally frowned upon, so Dusty's response is both cagey and revealing. He can admit outright neither that he wants Owings now nor even that Owings is the PTBNL in the Dunn trade, but we may read between the lines for further confirmation that Owings is to be included in the exchange.
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