One thing that was particularly plentiful on Wednesday was the waiver claim. There were many also-ran players who changed teams. This could be a coincidence, but let's keep in mind that Thursday is Christmas Eve. We might see front offices shut down for the next three days.
Let's get to it.
Roster moves
Angels: They claimed second baseman Rey Navarro from Baltimore, per Roch Kubatko of MASN. More waiver claims: Lefty relievers Bobby LaFromboise and Rob Rasmussen (per Jeff Fletcher of the OC Register).
Braves: They signed pitcher Alexi Ogando to a minor-league deal.
Brewers: They announced the waiver claims of outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis, catcher Josmil Pinto and first baseman Andy Wilkins.
Cubs: Reliever Edgar Olmos was claimed from Baltimore, per Kubatko. Interestingly, Olmos was claimed by the Orioles from the Cubs a few weeks ago. The Cubs also released infielder Brendan Ryan after recently announcing that he was the player to be named later in the Starlin Castro trade. The likely scenario here is that Ryan was sent to the Cubs so they'd pay his $1 million salary in 2016, helping to balance out some of the money that changed hands with the Castro contract.
Diamondbacks: The club signed infielder Joaquin Arias, outfielder Jason Bourgeois, lefty reliever Scott Rice and right-handed reliever Tim Stauffer to minor-league deals, reports Matt Eddy of Baseball America.
Mets: The Alejandro De Aza deal was announced as official.
Orioles: They officially announced the Hyun-soo Kim signing.
Pirates: The club signed John Jaso to a two-year, $8 million deal. They also announced that they claimed Yoervis Medina from the Cubs.
White Sox: They have claimed outfielder/first baseman Jerry Sands from Cleveland, the club announced.
Reports, rumors and speculation
Nobuhiro Matsuda: The third baseman might be staying in Japan, and he actually has a four-year offer with the Softbank Hawks worth somewhere in the $20M-$25M range, reports Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com.
Nationals: The club is focusing on free agents Daniel Murphy and Howie Kendrick as options to fill the hole at second base, per Nationals.com.
Royals: They've been told they have no chance to re-sign Alex Gordon, reports Jon Heyman.
