There is a great deal of warranted interest and excitement every year around the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline in Major League Baseball. Teams can deal away players up until 4:00PM EDT on that date without first subjecting them to the waiver wire.
Once that deadline passes it doesn’t mean that trades cannot be made. After that point players can still be dealt. However, they must first pass through waivers.
Non-contending teams frequently will put a player they are interested in dealing on waivers during the month of August. Each of the other 29 clubs in MLB have an opportunity to make a claim in reverse order of the current standings.