Why is there a MLB trade deadline?

Question

My Bosox just got Mark Kotsay well after the trade deadline. My question is, If teams still "aquire" players after the deadline, then why even have one?

Answer 1

It's an administrative thing - until July 31, you can trade with no restrictions.  After July 31, other teams can block deals by placing a waiver claim on one of the players involved in the trade.  If a team lower in the standings than Boston had claimed Kotsay, then they deal wouldn't have gone through.

Answer 2

There are two trade deadlines - July 31 is the non-waiver trade deadline which means teams can trade whoever they want and nobody can really stop them.

Aug. 31 is the waiver trade deadline - that means that if a player is traded between Aug. 1 and Aug. 31 he has to clear waivers. The other teams in the league can choose the player off waivers if they want to stop the trade. This seldom happens, there's a sort of "gentleman's agreement" between the GMs to let players go through.

Players can still be traded in September, too. But if they are, they cannot appear in the post season.

The reason for all this is to limit the amount of "rent-a-players"  and to prevent one team from stocking up on available players for a one-month run. (Think '97 Marlins, but over a much shorter period of time).

Answer 3

cause teams wood cheat

Answer 4

The July 31 deadline just means that a player doesn't have to clear waivers to be traded before then.   After the deadline, trades can still be made, but the players must first be put on waivers where they can be claimed by another team.    Apparently nobody else was interested in Kotsay.   There is also an August 31 deadline - a player must be on the team by then if he wants to be on that team's playoff roster.