The August waiver trade appears to be on its way toward becoming a thing of the past in Major League Baseball.
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the MLB and MLBPA are nearing an agreement on a series of rule changes for the 2019 season. The most prominent of those is the elimination of waiver trades, setting a hard July 31 trade deadline to ensure that all moves are done by then and fewer teams are tanking for the last month or two of the season.
Among other proposed rule changes are a decrease in mound visits from six to five per game, shorter breaks between innings, and extra financial incentive to participate in All-Star activities.
More controversial proposals, such as the implementation of a pitch clock, have been shelved for the time being. Despite its testing in spring training, it won’t make the leap to regular season games as long as the current CBA is in place.
August trades have been very significant in recent years, with the Houston Astros’ acquisition of Justin Verlander in 2017 being the most notable. That apparently won’t be happening anymore.
