Why, and how did this happen?

I’m not exactly sure what irrevocable waivers are, but this doesn’t sound like a good move on the front offices part.

Irrevocable waivers are essentially what they sound like. When a team puts a team on standard waivers, they can (and usually do) pull the player off the waiver wire and attempt to negotiate with whichever team tried to pick him up. After he’s cleared waivers (nobody wanted him) he can be released or sent down to the minor leagues. Putting a player on irrevocable waivers means that he can’t be pulled off the wire., and if anybody wants to take on his contract, they can claim him for a modest fee.

The last time I remember anybody significant being put on irrevocable waivers was Manny a couple of years ago (I think it was before Boston won the WS). Nobody wanted to take on his contract, though.

This really does seem like an odd move from Ed Wade. The article you linked to mentions that he hasn’t been doing well in training this season, and that he’s been injured often. Maybe that’s why he was released, but it seems like that description could apply to virtually everyone on the team right now.

He was out of options so if didn’t make the team at the end of spring training he was going to have to go through waivers to be sent down.

My guess is that after a bad start it was there best chance to get him through waivers. At the end of spring trainging there maybe more open spots on more teams rosters.

Nieve’s Spring Training Stats
4.2 Innings Pitched, 6 Earned Runs (11.45 ERA), 8 Hits, 6 Walks, 1 Strikeout, 1 Wild Pitch, 1 Balk

If that’s the kind of stuff you’re bringing to “high noon,” then maybe we’re better off giving more looks to the Royals Rejects.

Just for some additional perspective, here’s his stats from AAA last year:
72.1 Innings Pitched, 5.72 ERA (5.04 Fielding Independent Pitching), 1.58 WHIP, 4 Wild Pitches, 3 Hit-By-Pitches. His strikeout and walk rates were pretty decent, but he’s been unable to get results in the run-prevention department.

At this point in the pre-season, we need pitchers, not just “pitching candidates”. And despite all the talk from management about him being a starter, he’s long been viewed as more bullpen material, an area that we’ve got pretty well covered.

I hope he does well for the Mets, just not against us.

that the Astros were trying to sneak Nieve through waivers. The idea being that he has looked horrible so far, and if he is put on waivers now, he will be less likely to be claimed. Maybe putting him on irrevocable waivers is part of that “game,” in the sense that other teams might take it as a sign that the Astrros have given up on him. I think this move, in any event, means that (1) the Astros saw very little chance that Nieve can make the 25 man roster (which seems reasonable, given what we have seen from him); and (2) they felt the odds were good he would be picked up by someone if they waited to waive him later in the cutdown process.

Nieve’s command has been bad ever since his TJ surgery, but he still throws 95 mph, which will attract interest from other teams, and probably means the Astros wanted to get him through waivers in order to put him in the minor league camp. This is sad, and may come back to bite the Astros in the ass. I always kind of liked the way that Nieve lived at MMP during his rehab and volunteered to ride out the storm and help the building crew protect MMP during the hurricane.

Nieve is one of a number of pitching prospects who have failed to pan out over the past few years. I suppose there’s always a chance he resurrects his career somewhere else, but based on his history over the past few years he’s basically Jason Lane as a pitcher. It’s too bad he didn’t work out, but him leaving isn’t a problem.

Ed Wade passed on Lidge for Cliff Lee last year.

http://www.delawareonline.com/blogs/2009/03/mar-14-q-with-ed-wade.html

“We had conversations [about Lidge] with several clubs, and Philadelphia, to their credit, stayed aggressive on it. One of the deals that we had a chance to make — and if we had made it, at the time people would have scratched their heads — was for Cleveland’s Cliff Lee.”