By our unofficial count, 50 players were non-tendered yesterday. You can sort the decisions by team in our non-tender tracker. Those that reached our playing time requirements have been added to the 2011 free agents list, which is robust at the moment. Let's take a look at some of the more interesting non-tenders.
- Bobby Jenks, RP. There are plenty of good right-handed relievers available, but if you take Mariano Rivera and Rafael Soriano off the board, Jenks might be the best closer. Jenks throws hard and posted huge strikeout and groundball rates this year, so he should find multiple years and at least $5MM per.
- Russell Martin, C. Martin was once one of the game's best catchers, but his performance waned and he's recovering from a hip fracture. There aren't a ton of starting catching gigs available, however. The Yankees nearly acquired Martin on Thursday for Francisco Cervelli, tweets Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times.
- Jack Cust, LF/RF/DH. Cust doesn't impress defensively, but not too many free agents can match a .395 OBP.
- Edwin Encarnacion, 3B. Another defensively-challenged player, Encarnacion hit 21 home runs in 367 plate appearances this year. Someone will give him a shot in a weak market for third basemen.
- Andrew Miller, SP. The former first-round pick is a project at this point, with his velocity down and walks up.
- Joel Peralta, RP. He's not a hard-thrower but it's difficult to argue with a 2.02 ERA, 9.0 K/9, and 1.7 BB/9. He is an extreme flyball pitcher though.
- Jose Veras, RP. Veras has control issues, but he did rack up strikeouts this year and averaged 94.4 mph on his fastball.
- Fourth outfielder types: Matt Diaz, Ryan Church, Tony Gwynn, Lastings Milledge, and Scott Hairston.
- Former setup types: Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, and George Sherrill.
- Interesting pitchers coming back from shoulder surgery: J.P. Howell, John Maine, Chien-Ming Wang.
would love to see the Mets get Jenks but who am I kidding…
Dodgers may still bring back Martin, maybe even as a 3B or LF. Makes some sense since the workload of catcher has clearly been what’s brought him down. Maybe a position change can revive his bat.
Ryan Rowland-Smith was a solid reliever before the M’s tried to make a starter out of him…might be potential there in putting him back in the pen.
Is Josh Fields healthy? Some reclamation value there?
The Brewers should take a look at Chien-Ming Wang. Exactly the type of under-the-radar, high-upside pitcher they need to find this winter.
didn’t the Sox acquire Miller for Richardson, or am i mistaken a different pitcher here?
No that’s correct. They also non-tendered Taylor Buchholz who I believe they also traded for(actually he was picked up off waivers). A little puzzling to me why they would trade for both and then non-tender them.
I don’t understand either. I was honestly a big fan of the Buchholz move, name redundancy aside.
they didn’t like the thought of giving either a raise, they will be working on a new contract with both of them.
Yeah, but its not like either guy has a familiarity or love of Boston yet. Why wouldn’t they just go elsewhere if they can find a better deal? Why trade away Richardson? Something must have changed between the trade and now.
It’s not always a sure thing, in fact it happens yearly where a guy is non tendered and and signs a contract with the team who non tendered them.
Last year both Jack Cust and Johnny Gomes were non tendered and signed with their previous teams.
They wouldn’t have given up a player for Miller if they didn’t plan to have him under contract one way or another.
I believe both of these pitchers were eligible for a new contract on a major league deal. The sox may simply be non tendering them and making them “free agents” so they don’t have to guarantee them a major league deal. (this is what happened with Cust and the A’s last year, not sure about Gomes).
Right, but Cust had already spent a few season in Oakland. Signing with a new team also means moving his life (uproot family, new house, new coaches, new teammates). The two sox non-tenders haven’t established a base in Boston, nor do they have a relationship with anyone on the roster or coaching staff.
K. you clearly don’t want to see the other side of the argument.
The red sox would not have aquired TWO players, one of which they have given up something for and then two weeks later wipe their hands clean of them for no reason at all. There are probably unspoken side deals with these players.
Omar Minaya.. maybe Theo, Cashman, etc probably not…..
I’m not saying that the Sox will no doubt give both of these guys contracts now, but you’ve got to understand that there is always more than meets the eye with things like this.
Following the 2001 season, Pokey Reese spent time on four different teams in the span of about 45 days. On December 18, he was traded from the Reds to the Colorado Rockies. The next day, he was traded to the Red Sox for First Baseman Scott Hatteberg, but the Red Sox did not tender him a contract, making him a free agent two days later. On January 30, 2002, he signed with the Pirates.
I don’t know details behind the scenes why the Sox allowed him to become a free agent but an example of trading and letting a player walk within a VERY short amount of time.
why would the sox wait till after they made these guys free agents to offer them contracts. my understanding with the non-tender deadline is that they can offer players contracts up to the deadline, but afterwards they have to cut ties with the player and the player gets to choose if they stay with their current team or with another team. before the deadline i believe you can offer a player a contract that does not include a raise and if they choose to take that contract the whole tendering process is mute. if this is all true, then the red sox should have had contracts in place after they traded for the players if they had a deal worked out with both players to not give them raises.
Look, I agree with you that the Sox certainly want to re-sign both of these players or they wouldn’t have traded for them.But unspoken side deals? Really? You know you can’t talk to a player until you own his rights, right? Which means their “unspoken side deal” would come after they have already given up the talent to acquire them?”Hey, let’s make a deal. I’ll non-tender you and then pay you less money on a minor league contract, and in return you take my money and like it. How’s that sound?”Nobody’s going to agree to that, not unless there are no better offers. Why would a player who is a free agent NOT see if he’s being offered the best deal?Bottom line, it’s a calculated risk on Boston’s part. They may very well resign, but it’s not because of some side agreement to take less money and possibly go to the minor leagues for love of an organization they were a part of for six days.
Same. I was shocked when I saw it. Maybe they still bring both guys back.
Maine will get a minor league deal. If he doesn’t fall apart physically, he’ll return to form.
Jenks will have plenty of offers.
Cust will have to earn a job, again, strangely enough. I’d think he’s proven his worth after putting up decent numbers in a pitchers park in a lineup with no protection in a division with some great pitching.
Peralta will get picked up by a team with a pitchers’ park, or a lousy GM, whichever comes first.
Maybe the Nats will go after Wang – they’ve always had a thing for him. He’s certainly worth a gamble, IMO.
Wang is so done – hurt his wing 3 times
Bill James’ projection for Russell Martin is pretty optimistic. He sees him putting up something like 108 wRC+. He still put up over 2 WAR per year the last two years, so someone will get a bargain.
Yankees nearly traded Cervelli for Martin?….Cervelli is rubbish.Wonder why it fell through
Martin is also rubbish at this point in his career, and seems to be getting progressively worse.
Maybe Dodgers think they can resign Martin
Probably because the Yankees got a look at Martin’s medical records and passed.
Probably because the Yankees got a look at Martin’s medical records and passed.
What about Jenks with the Braves? He is much better than Kevin Gregg, who I heard they were considering.
R.I.P. Ron Santo
I think that’s supposed to be Adam Miller from Cleveland, not Andrew Miller formerly of the Tigers and Marlins.
I’d like the tigers to get Andrew Miller back. Put him in the bullpen as a lefty specialist till he figures things out.
Please resign Jack Cust, Oakland. Please.
Matt Diaz is going to be a good pickup for someone. I would have loved to see him back in Atlanta, but unfortunately, he doesn’t fit the Braves’ current needs (a 4th OF that can play CF in case McLouth struggles again).
By all accounts Diaz is a great clubhouse guy, he’s been really nice to me when I’ve met him, and he crushes LHP (.273/.318/.830 last season). Plus, he’s entertaining – one of the ugliest swings in the game but it somehow works.
Good luck to him (as long as he doesn’t go to Philadelphia).
Which is wear he’ll be heading. He is said to be friends with Manuel already and has won the fan base over with his trip of the ignorant fan. Plus, his number vs. Lefties are good. Perfect fit for the Phils. I would be shocked if he isn’t a Philly soon.
I bet Boston will be all over Jenks.
I’d like that move. Not at the money he was projected to get this year though.
Im sure Boston would love him as a middle innings guy but they need help from the left side first. Plus i think that Jenks will want to go somewhere he can close. And there are a handful of teams that could use him as a closer.
Atlanta is a fit even with Kimbrel and Venters. Neither of them have closer experience so a veteran closer would help a team wanting to get back to the postseason.
Tampa could use him to replace Soriano.
Florida could also use him in the 9th inning.
Those are just “contenders” that could use him as a closer there are a handful of other fringe teams that could see him in a closer role also, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Washington.
There are a few teams that could view him as an 8th inning guy but they might have to overpay some to get him to take that role. Minnesota, Boston, and NY fall into that catagory.
So while he could end up as an 8th inning guy for one of those teams I think that he wants to close and there are no shortage of teams who could use him in that role.
Here’s hoping the Red Sox can get Bobby Jenks as a setup man with an incentive laden deal.
Eh not sure there. Jenks posted pretty solid numbers last year. Probably enough to get him Benoit money I’d imagine. Yankees have to be interested I imagine.
Eh not sure there. Jenks posted pretty solid numbers last year. Probably enough to get him Benoit money I’d imagine. Yankees have to be interested I imagine.
E5’s HR total is somewhat misleading, since 25% of them came in the final 4 games of the season.
They played the twins who started pavano, liriano, blackburn and duensing… its not like they sent in their AAA arms to finish the season. . .
EE is streaky though, but has a lot of raw power.. good DH in my opinion
I was just looking at EE vs lefties because the Twins could use a guy like that. The only issue might be prying the big unwieldy thing off his left hand and convincing him to never play defense again.
I’d love to see a stat that showed how he did at the plate after an error. because as many errors as he had he never handled it will and always tried to hard the next at bat to make up for it…
If someone can give him a spot at 1b or DH, I see no reason why this guy couldn’t hit 35 HR’s next year and OPS .850 +
I believe 10 of them came in 2 series. One was against the Twins and the other 5 came against some other team, can’t remember who at the moment.
Anyone know if Martin will be recovered in time for the start of spring training? I wonder if the Red Sox will bid on him in spite of signing Varitek. I’m sure they’d like another starting option in case the Salty experiment doesn’t work out.
Martin was over used by Torre and crew – catching 140 games? Cmon .. Reduced catching load 100-110 games will help him rebound
Diaz makes sense for the Rockies.
Diaz does make sense there but i think that there are 2 big market teams that will end up battling for him and thats Phildelphia and the Yankees.
Philly needs a RH compliment to Domonic Brown
and NY needs a 4th OF that can give them something like what they got from Thames last year. If he ends up somewhere other than one of those 2 i would be a little surprised.
I think the Jays will target Jenks.. Seems like a good fit to anchor an inexperienced pen.
I agree. Good fit, plus he looks like he pounds back a quart of rye before he goes out to pitch…and that’s a plus in my books
inexperienced pen? with camp (35) and frasor (on pace to have the club record for pitching appearances) i’d say that the 2011 jays pen won’t be that green. of all the young pitchers competing for a spot all have had some time in the show. add a bullpen coach like pat hentgen (who is still young enough to relate to today’s ball payer), one of the most successful pitching coaches in the majors last year in walton, and a manager who is a pitching guy (farrell) to oversee the whole operation, to me that sound’s like a good mix for developing your own in house talent.don’t get me wrong, if there is good value out there on a veteran arm that AA can turn into a bigger asset then go for it. but to me this is the year to see really what you have in Litsch, zep, mills, Roenicke, & company. there will be little room in the rotation, even if these guys aren’t starters, we know they have mlb arms. i say no to just for the sake of an “inexperienced pen”.
Wow talk about nit picking… Who exactly is going to close? Fraser? Who buckled under the pressure when asked to close out games? .. We had one of the worst pens last year in the league, with Downs and Gregg both having good years and camp having a great year..
Theres nothing wrong with adding a veteran presence to close out games, who can handle pressure.. Especially when Purcey, mills, Rzep, Litsch all have very little experience in the bullpen.. If you think its just a flick of a switch to go from a starters routine to a bullpen job it really isn’t..
i don’t think they should start the year with a defined closer. it should be an open competition out of spring training, and no promises should be made to whoever has the the roll. make these guys compete week to week.
I somewhat disagree with that. It’s important to have some more experience in the pen to give some stability. It’s good to have competition but you’re asking guys to compete for tons of spots and it could end up being a disaster.
Frasor-Camp-Jansenn are locks. Purcey, Rzep, Roenicke could all crack the rosters. None of them seem closer material so therefore, I think Jays should go after Jenks. He had an unlucky year and it would be a good buy-low situation. Signing with a LH specialist wouldn’t be too bad either.
I agree, although I think you should add Purcey to the lock pile..
To me the hardest part about closing is blowing a save, its going to happen, and coming back from it.. i doubt very much anyone on staff right now has the mental strength and short sidedness that a guy like Gregg had. I don’t like the idea of a defined closer as well, but I want someone in the pen that can come in, stink up the joint but come back and strike out the side the next day.
the Moneyball Mets should pick up Cust for the bench. .395 OBP is right up their alley!
Does the lefthander JP Howell have anything left? I know he was hurt, but i am guess his rehab must not of been going very well…
Sounds to me like it’s going well, but the Rays would rather sign him to an incentive-laden deal than risk arbitration.
I can’t believe the Angels tendered Reggie Willits and Jeff Mathis contracts. Stupid.
But scoscia NEEDS hustle and grit in the lineup. Plus, if they don’t sign Mathis then how else can he keep Napoli on the bench?
I can see the orioles, who missed out on Dunn, offer Jack Cust a 1yr deal. IMo would be a great fit as a Full time DH/Part time OF. I can also see Balt taking a chance on John Maine.
I could see the Orioles offering Jack Cust a contract. Baltimore seems like a city where they’re just not going to get a big-time free agent to take their money (Adam Dunn, Paul Konerko, etc.), so going after a mid-level player like Jack Cust sounds like it could work. He’s an East Coast guy as well from New Jersey, so I’m sure he’d like to be closer to home.
I’d like to see the Royals go after Howell (a guy we traded four seasons ago) if he has anything left in that arm.