We hardly knew ye.
As expected, the Cubs designated right-hander Luis
Vizcaino for assignment on Thursday to make room on the 25-man roster
for Jeff Samardzija.According to ESPN.com, Chicago was trying to trade Vizcaino before
bringing up Samardzija from Triple-A Iowa. But while general manager
Jim Hendry attempted to work out a deal with other teams to save money
— including the Nationals — the 34-year-old reliever will now be on
waivers for up to 72 hours. After that, the Cubs will have seven days
to release or trade him.MLB.com.
If my rudimentary understanding of the ridiculously complicated waiver
system is correct, if a team claims Vizcaino in the next few days,
they will assume his entire salary ($3.5 mill this year, and 500k
buyout next year). If no one claims him, the Cubs will have seven days
to trade or release him (Cubs would be on the hook for whatever the
other team doesn’t take on), and if still he remains, he can accept a
minor league assignment if he so chooses.
Please feel free to correct me.