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Not Quite Non-Tender Candidates

85 players made our list of non-tender candidates, but a few fell short of our subjective 25% chance cutoff.  These are guys we can't quite envision being cut loose on December 2nd, but we can picture trades if the player's old team isn't keen on paying up.

• Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox.  Papelbon might be looking at $12MM in his final arbitration year.  Most likely the Red Sox will just overpay a bit and keep their closer.  But if they decide to go in a different direction they might find an interested club or two, if the price in players is low.
• Mike Napoli, Angels.  The Red Sox claimed him in August; certainly there will be trade interest.  We used Napoli's arbitration case as an example in this post; he could shoot for $6-7MM.
• Rajai Davis, Athletics.  The A's could employ a low-power outfield of Davis, Coco Crisp, and Ryan Sweeney, or they could shop Davis to a team seeking a center fielder.
• Carlos Gomez, Brewers.  The Brewers could turn to Lorenzo Cain and Chris Dickerson in center, making Gomez expendable.
• Leo Nunez, Marlins.  Clay Hensley might be able to close for the Marlins in 2011 at several million less than Nunez.  Though Nunez had eight blown saves this year, he had appealing peripheral stats.
• Jesus Flores, Nationals.  Flores will remain cheap despite being arbitration eligible, but Wilson Ramos may have pushed him aside.
• Josh Willingham, Nationals.  As Willingham's salary continues to climb, the Nationals could try to get more athletic in an outfield corner with Carl Crawford or Jayson Werth.  If they feel comfortable trying Mike Morse and/or Roger Bernadina in the other corner, Willingham could be trade bait.
• Lastings Milledge, Pirates.  He could be a quality fourth outfielder for the Pirates or another team.
• Jason Bartlett, Rays.  Trading Bartlett would save the Rays millions, and they could use Reid Brignac or Sean Rodriguez at shortstop.  Bartlett would definitely draw interest on the trade market.
• Carlos Quentin, White Sox.  Certainly there are teams willing to tender Quentin a contract for 2011.  Similar to the Willingham situation, the Sox could look for more athleticism in right field.

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