Pittsburgh Pirates Trade Rumors: Waiver Claim for Shaun Marcum?

The Pittsburgh Pirates could be looking for a starting pitcher to replace Erik Bedard. The Milwaukee Brewers have placed Shaun Marcum on trade waivers yesterday.

Ken Rosenthal was first to report the news and said it’s a strategic move by the Brew Crew as the postseason roster deadline is looming Friday night at midnight Eastern Time.

The right hander might be risky if you listen to some reports because he has made one start–against the Bucs–since coming off the DL with tightness in his right elbow. He allowed no earned runs against the Pirates, but four unearned.

"“Got a little tired there in the fifth inning, but other than that I felt pretty good,” Marcum said. “Felt like I was locating from the get-go. In that fifth inning, I made a couple mistakes … but other than that, for the most part I ended up with close to 90 pitches and I felt like I located the majority of them.”  Shaun Marcum after his start Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates"

He will be the probable starter for the Brewers on Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Rosenthal speculated the Dodgers would be interested and not detered by his $1.6 million in salary.

If the Pirates claim Marcum, the Bucs and Brewers would have about 36 hours to negotiate a trade. Marcum is 30 years old, he turns 31 in December, and the Pirates would owe a little less than the remainder of Marcum’s deal which would be about $1.6 million dollars. He has 82 strikeouts in 87.1 IP this year.

Should Marcum clear, the window would be flown wide open and the beer makers could talk with any team in the race presumably which would likely increase the quality of return to Milwaukee.