Who Claimed Felix Doubront?

The moment with the Twins seems to have come and gone. As Marc would say, they've passed the first test in an offseason full of temptations. Still, there's an unresolved thread in all of this: Felix Doubront was claimed off waivers, and we know not by who.

In fact, we don't even know how that's possible.

When Ken Rosenthal asked the question of whether or not the Red Sox would be foolish enough to go after the waived Joe Mauer, he dropped this tidbit while talking about a possible Doubront - Mauer trade:

The Sox could begin their package with left-hander Felix Doubront, who was claimed on waivers by an unidentified club Tuesday

Normally no big deal. Players are claimed on waivers every day with nothing happening--the Gonzalez - Beckett - Crawford trades are, obviously, the exception to the rule.

Here's the weird thing, though: Felix Doubront went on waivers almost two weeks ago, at least according to Nick Cafardo.

Of course, Cafardo added at the time that Doubront wouldn't be going anywhere, but after this past week I think we've learned never to say never with this team and surprising deals.

Anyways, the point is that with Doubront having gone on waivers two weeks ago, it doesn't make any sense that he would have been claimed on Tuesday. The 48 hour period in which teams have the ability to make a move would have been well in the past.

It's possible that Cafardo screwed up initially, or Rosenthal screwed up now. After all, the waiver wire isn't exactly transparent, and all it takes is one inaccurate source to make a mess of things. Or it could be that the disabled list has some effect on the situation. Once again, the odd world of waivers is not the clearest.

Frankly, if Doubront has been claimed through some bizarre series, it could lead to interesting things for the Red Sox. It would seem a little crazy for the team to ship off a young cost-controlled starter who's shown some promise like Doubront, even now that the trade has freed up so much money. I've wondered in the past whether Felix Doubront maybe just doesn't quite fit on the Red Sox between his walks, and left-handed fly ball ways.

This is not to say that Doubront is a bad player or even a bad pick for the Sox. Just that he might prove more valuable to another team. A lefty who strikes out nearly a batter per inning is intriguing for every team, but slightly less so for any team that plays in front of the Green Monster. If there's a team that can offer a different sort of young pitcher, one who perhaps plays more to the Red Sox' strengths--or a different piece if the Sox can find that elsewhere--then it might be an avenue worth exploring.

That being said, it seems unlikely that the Sox will just happen to match up with whomever grabbed Doubront off of trade waivers--if, indeed, that's happened at all. If they choose to go a different route, it will likely have to wait until the offseason.