The Brewers lost Denilson Lamet on waivers to the Rockies, days after acquiring him in the Josh Hader trade.

Colorado Rockies announced on Friday that he had claimed Right-handed pitcher Denilson Lamett waived by the Milwaukee Brewers. (Fellow righty Ashton Goodeau was designated for assignment in the same move.) Limite’s addition to the Rockies caps off an unusual week of trades for him, most notably on Monday. happened, when he was sent to Milwaukee. Returning player in Josh Hader trade.

How did Lamett go from being viewed by the Brewers as a player who would hit the waiver wire within days — and before he ever suited up with Milwaukee? It has less to do with any work, and more to do with rules governing service time and optional assignments.

The short version goes like this. Any player with at least five years of major league service time may decline an optional assignment. Lemmett, because of his more than five years of service, was well within his rights to decline the assignment. The Brewers lacked numbers on their roster — remember, teams can now carry a maximum of 13 pitchers — and so he ended up being the odd man out.

The amusing wrinkle — though perhaps not for the Brewers — is that they would have been able to send Lamet if the trade had been put together earlier in the year.

In fact, Lamett entered the season needing 42 more days to clear the five-year mark. The Padres were free to acquire him at will, which they did on a couple of occasions. They brought him back to the majors on July 26, and since then, he’s earned enough service time to complete five years and earn that power.

The Brewers, for their part, were hoping Lamet would clear waivers and stay with the organization. Instead, he’ll try to salvage his season (and, in a sense, his career) as a member of the Rockies organization.

For those wondering, the Rockies will play both the Padres and Brewers in September, giving Lamet a chance to say hello to both his old teammates and those he never got a chance to meet.