March 13 (UPI) -- This season will see a change in terms of acquiring players for Major League baseball teams, as the league will be doing away with August waiver deals.
Reports says that Major League Baseball will eliminate the the August deadline, which allowed contending teams to add players for the playoff run.
The league will instead have just one single nonwaiver deadline, with that taking place July 31.
Major League Baseball's change of the rules will see the players' union adopt the new rule starting this season, meaning that once the July 31 trade deadline passes, teams will not have the ability to pick up players off waivers.
Last season, two American League teams that picked up key players for their playoff runs at the wavier deadline in August were the New York Yankees, who acquired Andrew McCutchen, and the Cleveland Indians, who inked third baseman Josh Donaldson.
The move of Donaldson to Cleveland was not well-received by some other teams in the American League.
The teams asked Major League Baseball officials why the Indians were allowed to make the move for a player who was injured at the time, only to place him on the disabled list and then active him for the final few weeks of the regular season and postseason.
The move to making just one deadline could increase teams being more active in moving players, since they know they will not have the ability to dangle them out there in August anymore.
Along with McCutcheon and Donaldson, last year's waiver deadline trades included Daniel Murphy, David Freese, Gio Gonzalez and Curtis Granderson.