Clearly someone just forgot to monitor the clock.

cole hamels waiver time expired at 1:30 pm edt today so time appears up for deal — Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 8, 2014

This, of course, has been the expected resolution of the Chicago Cubs’ waiver claim of Cole Hamels two days ago. Paul Sullivan adds that the Cubs did try to put a deal together for Hamels, but it was never going to happen.

Despite the long-shot, this whole thing proved to be a fruitful area for discussion, however, about a range of things from the nature of trade waivers and why a trade in August was unlikely, the direction of the Cubs, and the value of elite prospects versus contracted veterans.

We now know that the Cubs are interested in picking up a top-of-the-rotation arm as soon as this offseason, and have the financial backing to make that happen. That’s another thing that we expected was true, but it’s nice to see the dovetail of financial wherewithal and competitiveness timeline. The Cubs have the desire to pick up a top arm, they have the money to pick up a top arm, they want to pick up a top arm as soon as right now, and they wouldn’t be in this position unless they felt 2015 had the chance to be a competitive year.

That’s all good stuff.

Now we see if the Cubs dip their toe back in the water with the Phillies in the offseason about Hamels, or if they try to swing a different trade, or if they stick to the free agent market. It should be an exciting time.