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Rumors of a long-term contract extension between the Red Sox and Adrian Gonzalez were made a reality yesterday, when the first baseman agreed to a seven-year, $154MM deal. While Gonzalez’s surgically repaired shoulder was a legitimate concern, there’s some belief that Boston waiting until after Opening Day to announce the deal to avoid a competitive balance (a.k.a. luxury) tax penalty. The same was true of Josh Beckett’s extension last year.

The Red Sox aren’t breaking the rules here, in fact they deserve credit for finding a creative way to save money. But as Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports mentioned yesterday, “the spirit of the [luxury tax] isn’t being honored here.” He wonders if the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement will push the deadline back to avoid such shenanigans. Between the Gonzalez and Clay Buchholz extension, the Sox have saved upwards of $10MM against the tax this year by announcing the deals after the season started.

Of course the luxury tax only impacts a handful of teams, so altering a rule that effects only a small number of clubs may be unfair. As Cork Gaines showed at Business Insider recently, the Yankees have been paying the tax every year since it’s been in place, with the Red Sox, Angels, and Tigers all contributing at some point as well. The luxury tax is based on the annual average value of the contract, and the 25% of the money goes to the “industry growth fund” while the remaining 75% is used to fund player benefits.

Every year players are non-tendered for many reasons; perhaps they’re injured, have grown too expensive, or just simply aren’t performing well. Whatever the case, these players add sometimes unexpected options to the free agent market and often yield bargain results.

Kelly Johnson has to be figured as the prize of last offseason’s non-tender crop. The Braves decided to cut the then 27-year-old loose, and he rewarded the Diamondbacks with a .284/.370/.486 line. Johnson belted 26 home runs, swiped 13 bags, played nearly 1300 innings of strong defense, and totaled 6 WAR according to Fangraphs — all for $2.35MM.

Let’s not forget Mike Rizzo’s dealings either. The Nats’ GM signed Matt Capps for just $3.5MM and flipped him to the Twins at the deadline to receive Wilson Ramos and Joe Testa. Ramos was ranked as the Twins’ #4 prospect and the game’s #58 prospect entering the 2010 season. Not a bad ROI for a low-risk move on Rizzo’s part.

According to MLBTR’s Transaction Tracker, 52 players were non-tendered this year. Some of the more interesting cases include Bobby Jenks (now in Boston), Russell Martin (now a Yankee), Joel Peralta (now a Ray), Jack Cust (now a Mariner), Dustin Moseley (now a Padre), and George Sherrill (now a Brave). All six of these players saw either strong 2010 seasons or have experienced success at the Major League level. Looking at this season and beyond, let’s pose the question:

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Pitchers and position players have poured into camps spread across Florida and Arizona this week, officially bringing an end to the 2010-2011 offseason. We saw several monster free agent contracts handed out this winter and quite a few blockbuster trades, perhaps more than we’re accustomed too. Multiyear contracts buying out arbitration and free agent years also increased in popularity.

Our Transaction Tracker shows every move completed this offseason, whether it be a trade, free agent signing, contract extension, or even a waiver claim. Some clubs improved by leaps and bounds, others made small, incremental steps. Everyone is in first place today, and we’re still about five weeks from seeing these moves actually impact the standings. That’s never stopped us from judging them though…