Nationals place David DeJesus on revocable trade waivers

After acquiring David DeJesus from the Cubs in exchange for a player to be named later or cash on Monday, the Nationals "almost immediately" placed the outfielder on revocable trade waivers, according to FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal.

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The Nats placed a claim on the 33-year old in recent days, and then agreed to acquire him from Chicago once the Cubs refused to pull him back off waivers.

Rosenthal writes that rival executives are speculating that Washington wants to clear the money owed to DeJesus, which is $1 million guaranteed for the rest of the year as well as either a $6.5 million club option for next season or a $1.5 million buyout.

At minimum, the Nationals will owe him $2.5 in guaranteed money to sit on the bench behind established outfielders Denard Span, Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth.

ESPN's Buster Olney agrees that the addition of DeJesus makes little sense for an already crowded Nationals' outfield, and wonders if the claim was made in error.

Could turn out to be that WAS acquisition of David DeJesus was just a waiver-claim mistake. Not really a fit...We'll see if they move him...

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) August 20, 2013

The Cubs and Nationals had already made a deal involving an outfielder this summer, when Scott Hairston was shipped to D.C. in exchange for pitching prospect Ivan Pineyro. The general consensus throughout the game was that the Cubs got a great return for the struggling Hairston, so the Cubs' refusal to pull DeJesus back could have been an attempt to capitalize on the Nationals' willingness to part with solid prospects for second-tier players. DeJesus is generally considered a better player than Hairston, and drew interest from many teams in advance of the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline.

In 84 games with the Cubs on the season, DeJesus hit .250 with 6 HR and 27 RBI. He has been known throughout his career as a high on-base percentage hitter, and has registered a .354 on-base percentage in eleven major league seasons with the Royals (2003-2010), Athletics (2011) and Cubs (2012-2013).

The Cubs are interested in re-signing DeJesus this offseason if the Nationals or another team decline his $6.5 million team option, according to Rosenthal. DeJesus is known to have interest in returning as well.

For the latest on what's going on with the waiver wire, check out our August waiver tracker.

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