Philadelphia Phillies infielder Michael Young has cleared waivers and can now be traded to any team, so long as the veteran approves the trade, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

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Young, 36, seemed a sure bet to be dealt before the trade deadline, but made things tough for the Phillies by waiving his no-trade clause for only three teams: the Rangers, Red Sox and Yankees. General manager Ruben Amaro didn't really help things along either, turning down a deal from New York right at the deadline after talks with Texas and Boston went nowhere.

Phils rebuffed Yanks offers New York made a run at a pair of Philly's impending free agents before the deadline, but Ruben Amaro wasn't having it.

The Phillies displayed a hesitancy to be sellers at the deadline because ... I'm not sure why. They were 12½ games back in both the NL East and the Wild Card at the time, and things have only gotten worse since the calendar rolled into August. The team has lost 14 of its last 16 games, and now sits even further away from a playoff berth.

It's likely that the Phillies will do their best to deal Young -- and possibly a few others -- this month, but it's unclear whether the veteran infielder's market is still alive (or if he'll be more open about waiving his no-trade clause). Now that the Yankees have Alex Rodriguez back through the end of the year, the need for a stopgap at the hot corner is much less pressing. The Red Sox are still in need of a third baseman who can hit above the Mendoza Line, so perhaps the Phillies will have better luck in negotiations with them now. That being said, the Red Sox have top prospect Xander Bogaerts learning third base with the expectation he'll be up in 2013.

Young, a free agent at the end of the year, is hitting .276/.343/.404 with eight home runs in 432 plate appearances. He's owed roughly $3 million for the remainder of the season.

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