Report: White Sox Placed Claim On Yasiel Puig But Weren't Awarded Him

(CBS) As a mystery team has claimed Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig on waivers, this much has emerged: The White Sox also placed a claim on Puig but weren't awarded him, USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported late Tuesday.

That means that a National League team or a lower-ranking American League club was awarded Puig, Nightengale reported.

This news comes as the White Sox's future direction remains unknown. Amid another underachieving season, Chicago chose to hold on to aces Chris Sale and Jose Quintana at the trade deadline. General manager Rick Hahn has pointed out that the White Sox would have a better chance of acquiring major league-proven talent in the offseason in a major deal. He's also indicated the franchise's direction will be clear to all this offseason, though he hasn't publicly revealed any more details.

Winning waiver rights to Puig doesn't mean the claiming club will necessarily obtain Puig. The Dodgers can now work out a trade with the claiming team, just let that club have Puig or pull Puig back off waivers and keep him.

If the Dodgers just let the claiming team have him, that club would be on the hook for the final two years and $14 million on Puig's contract. If the Dodgers pulled Puig back off waivers, he can't be traded for the remainder of this season.

Puig has fallen from the Dodgers' good graces in recent seasons and was demoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City in early August after struggling at the big league level, where he was hitting .260 with a .706 OPS. He's played well at Triple-A, but the Dodgers haven't committed to promoting him back to the big leagues.