Buster Olney of ESPN says that there is a perception among some general managers that the San Francisco Giants are trying to prevent third basemen from reaching the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves in the waiver process.

Right now players need to clear waivers in order for teams to freely negotiate trade deals. Players such as Geoff Blum of the Houston Astros and Craig Counsell of the Milwaukee Brewers are two such players that can traded freely since they both cleared waivers. Olney reported that both players cleared waivers yesterday. (Confused? Check out our guide on making trades this month here.)

Both the Cardinals and Braves are short in third base depth due to injuries to starters David Freese and Chipper Jones, respectively. The Cardinals are said to have Detroit Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge on their radar.

Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports said the Cardinals asked about Counsell, but backed off.