It’s the Circle of Waiver Life.

The Chicago Cubs recently claimed lefty Edgar Olmos off of waivers from the Mariners, and, as a true minor leaguer this time of year, you always have to wonder if it’s going to be a situation where they’ll try to outright the guy off of the 40-man, pass him through waivers, and stash him at AAA.

Well, the Cubs tried, and it didn’t work – Olmos was claimed today by the Orioles. The Cubs’ 40-man roster is back down to 38 at the present, though it’s going to tick back up to 40 when Brendan Ryan is officially named as the PTBNL in the Starlin Castro trade, and after Trevor Cahill’s deal is finalized.

In the Circle of Waiver Life twist, the guy whose spot on Baltimore’s 40-man roster that Olmos takes is none other than former Cub Junior Lake, whom the Cubs traded to the Orioles at midseason for Tommy Hunter. The O’s will have 10 days to waive, trade, or release Lake. He’ll likely be waived and could be claimed by another team. If not, he’ll head to AAA for the Orioles next year to keep trying to work out his offensive game.