This post will list all the American League players non-tendered today, but the best place to track all 200+ arbitration eligible players is our new non-tender tracker.
- Blue Jays: Fred Lewis, Jeremy Accardo
- Red Sox: Hideki Okajima, Andrew Miller, Taylor Buchholz
- Mariners: Ryan Rowland-Smith
- Rays: Lance Cormier, Willy Aybar, Dioner Navarro, J.P. Howell
- Royals: Josh Fields
- Rangers: Dustin Nippert
- Angels: Kevin Frandsen
- Athletics: Jack Cust, Travis Buck, Edwin Encarnacion
- Yankees: Alfredo Aceves, Dustin Moseley
- Orioles: Matt Albers
- White Sox: Bobby Jenks, Erick Threets
- Tigers: Zach Miner
Just a guess, but I think the Cubs will go after Lopez to play 2B. In Wrigley, he’s a likely 25 HR bat.
Hmmm…what about Blake DeWitt? I don’t see them just relegating him to the bench, and I don’t think the players would want to platoon at 2B.
Now, if they have a plan to forego a free agent solution to their 1B vacancy and move Aramis Ramirez to 1B instead, Lopez would be a nice fit at 3B.
But I don’t see that happening. The Cubs will be more than willing to throw money at one of the many free agent 1B out there, and I’m sure they hope to land Adam Dunn.
Now, their cross town rivals in the AL, the White Sox, could really use help at 3B, unless they think Mark Teahan or Dayan Viciedo(or both) can handle it. I could see moving Viciedo to 1B, or using him as trade bait, then going after Lopez to play 3B(and using Teahan as a super utlity guy, which is the role he’s made for, really.)
Just a thought. 🙂
I believe Brent Morel will be their 2011 starter at 3B.
As a Brewer fan, I’d love to see the Cubs have the completely mediocre DeWitt as an everyday player. Lopez was a 25 HR. 96 RBI guy in 2009. At just 27, there may be no better comeback player candidate than Lopez with the possible exception of Carlos Pena, who’s been linked to the Cubs.
DeWitt just is a guy and would give them insurance if Lopez doesn’t rebound, but he’s hardly the answer.
“Lopez was a 25 HR. 96 RBI guy in 2009.”
As an M’s fan, I love nothing more than when people cite home run and RBI totals from previous seasons to justify why a player is “due for a bounceback”/”worth a gamble”/insert cliche of choice.
2009 was the exception, not the norm, for Lopez. Could he have 1 decent season in him still? Sure, but that doesn’t make him the answer for anyone.
The Cubs really wanted Dewitt, he was a top prospect and he was absolutely rushed to the majors and hes learning how to play 2nd as he goes. I would take him back in a heartbeat.
The fact that Okajima’s fastball is down to an average in the mid-80’s (albeit, it was never much faster) has to be a cause for some concern. Can’t see him being very effective when his fastball is hitting 86 MPH and his changeup is hitting 77 MPH. Then you factor in his HR/9, BB/9, decrease in K/9… Seems like he’s just about finished. I’d imagine a move to the National League is in order.
As you pointed out, his stuff was never all that impressive. He mostly rode by on his deceptive delivery. He’s one of those guys that, once you figure out his timing, he’s toast. The AL East figured him out in 2008, the rest of the AL started to get the picture in 2009.
Going forward, an NL stint might be what’s best for him simple for the fact he hasn’t faced any NL teams consistently enough.
Yes, but won’t you miss Okajima Oki Doki?
Actually, I kind of will. It’s one of the most hilarious entrance themes I’ve ever encountered, second place goes to Matsuzaka using the opening theme to Street Fighter IV (Hearing him come in to the line “Innnndeeeestructible” the one time I saw him in ’09 was just hilariously ironic).
he reminds me a lot about Kazuhiro Sasaki (spelling wrong?) from the Mariners, he had that one pitch he called “the fang”, once they figured out how to hit it, he was never the same dominate pitcher and eventually disappeared into the sunset.
As a Sox fan, I have been able to watch Okajima pitch for the past 4 years. His fastball has always been 85-89 and straight. What made him great for his first couple years was that he had pinpoint aim with the fastball and an unbelievable splitter/changeup (as he called it). Righties just couldn’t hit it at all. However, he lost this pitch the past year+ and is now just average. He is left with a high80s fastball and an average curveball.
Its all about that one pitch. Same with Papelbon, he lost his splitter about 2 years ago and hasn’t been able to get it back. It sounds weird, but its true.
Just an FYI that unlike the usual B-Ref links the links on the player names in this post go to the source for the non-tender info.
Jose Lopez possibly to the Mets? They need some pop but then again I’m not sure how great he is defensively at 2nd base and thats the only place the Mets could play him.
Jose Lopez possibly to the Mets? They need some pop but then again I’m not sure how great he is defensively at 2nd base and thats the only place the Mets could play him.
Patiently waiting for Jeff Mathis and Brandon Wood to make this list.
You do know there is zero chance Mathis will be on this list, right?
Isn’t Jeff Mathis penciled in as the starter for 2011? I honestly don’t know, but I thought Scioscia preferred him because of his D…could be wrong.
Mathis right now is the worst player ever to have 1000 PA… a .199 career BA, .265 OBP, .311 SLG%, and .576 OPS. Couple this with well below average defensive numbers, and the fact he made $1.3M last year and one has to wonder why he would be tendered a contract… at least I do. (Still patiently waiting).
Wow, I didn’t realize his offensive numbers were that bad. I thought I’ve heard he’s at least a good defender and game caller…why else is he even on a major league roster?
Wow, I didn’t realize his offensive numbers were that bad. I thought I’ve heard he’s at least a good defender and game caller…why else is he even on a major league roster?
Holy mother of Christmas trees, are you serious about the .199 BA? That’s insane!
Mathis right now is the worst player ever to have 1000 PA… a .199 career BA, .265 OBP, .311 SLG%, and .576 OPS. Couple this with well below average defensive numbers, and the fact he made $1.3M last year and one has to wonder why he would be tendered a contract… at least I do. (Still patiently waiting).
Isn’t Jeff Mathis penciled in as the starter for 2011? I honestly don’t know, but I thought Scioscia preferred him because of his D…could be wrong.
Yeah because Napoli is your catcher right? NOT!!!
Whoah dude
Jays Fans, if any of you care, Dusty McGowan was resigned today to a 1 year deal worth $450,000 and has resumed throwing, so far pain free
Any word on Litsch?
He hasn’t begun throwing yet, his surgery was in august, hip takes some time to heal and strengthen. He will be ready for spring training though as he can still keep his arm in shape so won’t fall too far behind..
Saw his comment on twitter last night about wondering what his day would bring today. I imagine he’s a little bit worried.
He’s probably worried about being non tendered… I think given his salary is 450,000 the Jays should just keep him around, he might be nice to have in the bullpen or back in case of injuries. He’s a good back rotation starter IMO
i really hope he makes some kind of comeback. whether it be reliever or starter, he was looking to finally turn the corner and then the injury happened.
He’s probably worried about being non tendered… I think given his salary is 450,000 the Jays should just keep him around, he might be nice to have in the bullpen or back in case of injuries. He’s a good back rotation starter IMO
Bye bye Lopez! There are way too many other guys who will work harder.
They would have had to pay him a minimum of $2.2 million this year if the M’s kept him. Definitely not worth it.
come on okijima sign with the blue jays
come on okijima sign with the blue jays
nooo thanks.
C’mooooooon. He won’t cost you a draft pick or anything.
lol .. still nooo
lol .. still nooo
Wasn’t Brandon Wood a non-tender candidate at one point?
Well, he is not arbitration eligible but should be non-tendered just the same IMO since he is out of options.
Wasn’t Brandon Wood a non-tender candidate at one point?
patiently waiting on Bobby Jenks…
Jeff Mathis for Bobby Jenks?
o no I meant i was waiting on him getting non-tendered but it happenend earlier
i read on ESPN that he is going to be non-tendered
I’d like to see Lopez in a Tigers uniform. I doubt it would happen though, Tigers seem inclined to go with the cheap option and give Sizemore and Rhymes a chance, at least when Guillen hits the DL.
Do you like watching players ground out on the first pitch three times in one game? Sometimes he pops out, too. I didn’t mean to paint him as a one tool player.
Do you like watching players ground out on the first pitch three times in one game? Sometimes he pops out, too. I didn’t mean to paint him as a one tool player.
I see Lopez going to the Royals, not for his possible home runs but the fact he will probably only cost them 900K. See also Pirates,Pittsburgh
I see Colorado or Arizona. He could play 2nd for the Rockies and Third for Arizona after Reynolds is traded. Both are great hitters parks and could help him establish value.
If he was going to an NL team it wouldnt be Arizona, they arent trading Reynolds, and Colorado wouldnt like him, he screams Royals and the NL team would be the Pirates.
JACK CUST NOOO!
I don’t like the move by itself but if Billy signs Beltre and a one of Matsui/Vlad/Manny/Berkman(i guess) then I’m ok with it.
I think Beltre and Cust would have been better then any of the other DH options you listed. ;/
nah, i’d take Vlad, Manny and Godzilla over him
I still don’t understand the A’s interest in Beltre with that hefty price tag. Take Beltre’s Seattle numbers and that’s the best you’ll get out of him in Oakland.
How is that worth $10M more per year than Kevin Kouzmanoff?
Cust needs to leave Oakland.
He tried last year and nobody wanted him….really doubt anything has changed
Cust would have been a decent fit in Chicago had they missed on Adam Dunn.
At this point, the only other destination I can think of is Baltimore, but they don’t have much room unless they trade Luke Scott.
Already been there, done that with Cust. He was terrible with the O’s the first time.
I can still picture it right now. 12th inning, Cust on first as the tying run against the Yanks. Shot to the gap & Cust makes it all the way around third…& promptly falls flat on his butt. Caught in a rundown, the ball is thrown back to third with absolutely nobody covering home. So what’s he do with a clear shot to score? Falls flat on his face, AGAIN!!! Man I wanted to punch him in the nuts when he did that. Everybody around me was rolling laughing at him. Even worse the next day as they showed it on SC over & over & over. So yeah, no thank you to him & yes to Scott.
Aceves? Seriously? Over Mitre? I don’t get it
aceves hurt himself in a motorcycle accident recently
And according to reports he’d only miss a few weeks. The guy wasn’t even arbitration eligible
“The Yanks announced this afternoon that Aceves had surgery to fix a broken left clavicle yesterday. The righty injured his collar bone in a bike accident in Mexico. Aceves, says the team, will need three months for rehab, and thus, an early March return will put him a few weeks behind schedule”.
That means he won’t be able to begin his “spring training” really until March and he probably would start the season on the DL and he still has the back issues.
Yeah I would prefer to bring back both over Mitre. Aceves just had surgery for a broken left clavicle and won’t be ready at the start of the season so between that and the bad back maybe they didn’t want to spend a roster spot on him. Mosley is repped by Cliff Lee’s agent and while he won’t have any effect on negotiations it would be cool to bring him back on a non-roster minor lge deal.
The Yanks AAA rotation should be pretty full with honest to God prospects like DJ Mitchell, David Phelps, Ivan Nova, Hector Noesi and Lance Pendelton. They also have Igawa under contract for 1 more year. That’s basically a 6 man rotation right there with Banuelos, Betances, Brackman and Warren all knocking on the door in AA. The Yanks really don’t have a lot of space to stash AAAA type pitchers like Gaudin, Mosely or Mitre.
Still, I like Mosely more than Mitre and would love to bring Aceves back and stash him in the minors until he’s healthy enough to contribute to the big lge team.
“maybe they didn’t want to spend a roster spot on him”
Still. Aceves minus first 6 weeks >>>>>> Mitre for a full season.
They wasted that roster spot they could’ve used on Aceves by tendering Mitre
I don’t think too many teams are going to jump at signing a guy who missed almost all of 2010 with a back injury and then had a bike accident that broke his clavicle. My guess is the Yanks will offer him $500k and a minor lge deal that won’t effect the roster. In fact, they mave already had that conversation with him
All it takes is 1 team with space in the 40-man and desperate enough for pen help to scoop him up. Aceves would obviously prefer the guarantee of a major league deal.
If indeed the Yankees already spoke to him and he agreed to accept a minor league deal, then you’re right, no issues.
All it takes is 1 team with space in the 40-man and desperate enough for pen help to scoop him up. Aceves would obviously prefer the guarantee of a major league deal.
If indeed the Yankees already spoke to him and he agreed to accept a minor league deal, then you’re right, no issues.
Sounds like a Kevin Towers move.
Yeah, I’m hoping that’s what’s going to happen because when healthy, Aceves was one of their brightest homegrown guys. Their bullpen is currently in a shambles with the loss of Kerry Wood.
Yeah, I’m hoping that’s what’s going to happen because when healthy, Aceves was one of their brightest homegrown guys. Their bullpen is currently in a shambles with the loss of Kerry Wood.
SEXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Who is going to be in the pen for the Yanks? id like to see them give Josh Schmidt,Ryan Pope and Hector Noesi a look
Yeah I would rather keep Noesi in AAA as a starter and let him mature unless he’s needed to start w/ the Yanks. Right now the bullpen looks like….
Mo
Joba
Logan
Robertson
Mitre
Definetly needs another top notch power righty and another lefty.
E5 didn’t last long in Oakland.
Beane probably woke up today and thought “what the hell was I smoking?”
They’ll probably try to re-sign him for less money, unless of course they pull off something big like Beltre that would make it redundant.
I guess Kouzmanoff lives to play another day.
Like we all didn’t know Billy and his OCD for defense
Maybe Brad Pitt claimed him and everyone thought he was Billy Beane.
Edwin already non tendered? Does he even get to keep the jersey?
You have Okajima listed as a Right-handed reliever in the 2011 free agent list
Think the Chi Sox could be in on Soriano?
Absolutely not. They would’ve retained Jenks for about the same cost if they didn’t think Thornton could do the job.
Thanx. Don’t know too much about the AL Central in general, just know Kenny Williams likes to make splashes. Preciate the insight. Soriano has been kind if quiet this offseason. Are the Halos still the favorites to sign him?
double post
Probably. And the Rays will probably pick up Jenks.
I haven’t heard this idea anywhere yet but the Padres should/could trade Heath Bell and get back some very nice prospects and then go out and sign Soriano for a multi-year contract. Sounds like it could be a good move in my opinion.
That would be completely counterproductive. Soriano is a Type A so they would lose their first round pick in 2011.
But they would get a nice package back for Heath Bell. It would really depend on what prospects they’d get back.
I doubt they can afford him.
Rafael Soriano? No.
Joaquin Benoit? No.
J.P. Howell? No.
Grant Ball-four?No.
WHO THE HELL IS GOING TO CLOSE!?
Longoria… he can do it all
Rafael Soriano? No.
Joaquin Benoit? No.
J.P. Howell? No.
Grant Ball-four?No.
WHO THE HELL IS GOING TO CLOSE!?
Jenks.
CHAD. BRADFORD.
“I would be shocked if I am not back with the Rays, its where I know success” – JP Howell
Me thinks they have a deal in place.
Oh and to close, I want Niemann to close and Hellickson in the rotation
Miller and Buchholz DFA’ed by the Sox? So the bullpen next year consists of Paps, Bard, uuummm…
Atchison, Wake, Doubrount, Bowden, and a couple of F/A’s to be signed later.
Awful, awful, borderline AL ready/starter, Bowden didn’t really pan out, Papelbon has been decling.
Bard should be the closer and Papelbon will just be a headache if this happens.
Red Sox bullpen is awful.
Should be Doubront/Wakefield (long relief), Guerrier/Wheeler, Rauch, Downs, Bard (closer)
Papelbon should be traded for either a starting 1B/3B, OF, C, RP with similar salary or players that would lessen the blow on losing two draft picks.
Wakefield is a complete waste of a roster spot in my opinion. All he can do is either long relief, or spot start. That would be fine if they didn’t already have 2 other guys in Doubront and Atchison who can not only do the same thing as Wakefield, but can also pitch successfully in short relief.
Wakefield is a complete waste of a roster spot in my opinion. All he can do is either long relief, or spot start. That would be fine if they didn’t already have 2 other guys in Doubront and Atchison who can not only do the same thing as Wakefield, but can also pitch successfully in short relief.
Can someone please explain to me why the Red Sox traded for Miller and Buchholz only to non-tender them? Weren’t the Marlins almost certainly going to non-tender Miller regardless?
Uhm, so they can renegotiate their contracts?
I don’t get it either. Aren’t they free agents now?
Yes, I know it’s so they can try to sign them for less money, but weren’t the Marlins going to non-tender Miller anyway? Why give up a player in a trade when they could have just signed one, and probably both, of these guys in free agency after their previous teams non-tendered them?
To answer your question, yes, FL was probably going to non-tender Miller.
Miller was acquired by trade for Dustin Richardson, but has a 2011 contract
for $2MM. Therefore, by non-tendering him, the Sox can renegotiate with him, at the risk that someone else can offer more money or years. But given his downward slide, other teams will probably not want to get into a bidding war for this reclamation project. And given the strength of the Boston coaching and conditioning staff with regard to pitchers, Miller is unlikely to want to go anywhere else at this point. The risk of losing him by the non-tender is very low.
Taylor Buchholz was picked up off waivers from Toronto, so no prospects were surrendered on him. He is arbitration eligible and had a salary of around $1MM the previous two seasons. By non-tendering him, we can renegotiate that salary downward without submitting to arbitration, where he would probably get a raise. Again, this is a guy that was unwanted by both the Rockies and Blue Jays, so the risk of some other team stepping in on us is very low.
Theo is taking a calculated risk to try and bring these high upside potentials on board and into conformity with their true contractual values. Only Miller carries any loss risk, and that would be that we received nothing for Dustin Richardson, who the Sox had basically given up on by the end of last season.
Thank you for explaining that.
Yes, I know it’s so they can try to sign them for less money, but weren’t the Marlins going to non-tender Miller anyway? Why give up a player in a trade when they could have just signed one, and probably both, of these guys in free agency after their previous teams non-tendered them?
Yeah, I don’t get that one either. Buchholz was not a trade, it was a waiver pick-up. But the Miller one I can’t understand
Yeah, I don’t get that one either. Buchholz was not a trade, it was a waiver pick-up. But the Miller one I can’t understand
I could see the BoSox signing Navarro as a reclamation project. Maybe a split contract, with MLB time incentives built in.
Ugh. Well, enjoy the fat, lazy catcher who doesn’t know how to use a bat and wouldn’t even join the team incase we needed another C in the playoffs.
But hey, he has a decent arm….
Yeah, I understand. But if he stays fat and lazy, he’ll stay in AAA. If he wants back into the show, he will get some motivation. He’s not gonna command big dollars, so its not much of risk. But if he can get back to his prior form, he could become a solid front-line catcher again.
Ugh. Well, enjoy the fat, lazy catcher who doesn’t know how to use a bat and wouldn’t even join the team incase we needed another C in the playoffs.
But hey, he has a decent arm….
Can someone please tell me why the Red Sox would trade for Andrew Miller and then let him go no more than 1 month after acquiring him?
Richardson was a gift from Theo saying “hey here you go, have a young arm under control for some years, you know we do a lot of good trades you and i, we need a SS, I hear the guy we gave you developed pretty solid there, almost out of your price range, you know, we have a guy who we could give you, his bat needs work but he is cheap and will produce solid defense, how about we do a little swapperoo here and you take him and we get our guy back….”
I would venture a guess that both Buchholz and Miller will be back with the Sox, albeit at reduced rates.