Procedure for Awarding Waiver Claims

The procedure for awarding waiver claims is different depending on the type of waivers and the time of the year.

For Optional Assignment Waivers, Outright Waivers, and Release Waivers, if a player is claimed by only one club, that club is awarded the claim. If more than one club makes a claim, the club with the lowest winning percentage (regardless of league) on the day the player clears waivers is awarded the claim. If two clubs with the same winning percentage make a claim, the club in the player's own league is awarded the claim. If two clubs from the same league make a claim and they are tied in the standings, the club with the lowest winning percentage from the previous season is awarded the claim. If the clubs are still tied, standings from two years back (or three years back, four years back, etc) are used to break the tie.

However, in the case of Trade Waivers (only), if a player is claimed by more than one club, the club in the player's own league with the lowest winning percentage is awarded the claim, even if that club has a higher winning percentage than the club or clubs making a claim from the other league. So a player placed on Trade Assignment Waivers must first be "waived out of his own league" before he can be assigned to a club in the other league.

For the purpose of determining the awarding of waivers claims, the previous season's standings are used during the off-season and up through the first 30 days of the following season. Then beginning on the 31st day of the season, the standings as of the date the player clears waivers are used to determine the awarding of waiver claims, with the previous season's standings used to break any ties.

A club is not permitted to make a waiver claim and then trade the player to another club if the purpose of the claim was to prevent a third club from being awarded the waiver claim. (A waiver claim that is judged to have been made for this purpose will be revoked).