Puig among last-minute trade candidates

The final month of the regular season means percolating pennant races that we’ve all come to anticipate and absorb, dramatic plays on the field that can define stretch drives, and the type of late season bonding that forge a clubs’ identities heading into the postseason.

But there’s one other event on the calendar, one last milepost that could be as important to the fate of a team as any clutch base hit or high-leverage inning pitched.

It’s the annual Aug. 31 deadline for a player to be eligible for a team’s postseason roster, or, in more basic terms, the last chance for teams to swing deals that could impact their rosters, and, in turn, the standings. The actual deadline is at 11:59 pm ET on Wednesday, just before the stroke of midnight.

Aug. 31 has been colloquially — and mistakenly — referred to as the “waiver trade deadline” because it occurs about a month after the higher-profile non-waiver Trade Deadline. The “deadline” part of the Aug. 31 description simply means that players acquired after that date are ineligible to be added to the postseason roster by their new teams.

• Trade Waivers & Aug. 31 “Deadline”

For example, last Sept. 13, the Blue Jays acquired infielder Darwin Barney from the Dodgers, but because Barney was acquired after Aug. 31, he was ineligible for the postseason roster and did not appear with Toronto in either the American League Division Series vs. the Rangers or the AL Championship Series vs. the Royals.

Got all that? Good.

Because if you thought the July 31 deadline moves that resulted in new homes for big names …

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