It happens almost every year at this time.  The MLB front office sets a deadline for teams to make an offer to arbitration-eligible players for a contract deal for the upcoming season. And every year, the deadline passes and there are some big name players who, for whatever reason, did not get an offer.  For some teams that have money to spend, this is a golden opportunity to pick up some real talent, if the price is right. As of now, there are 59 baseball players looking for a team.

MLB Non-tender Period Leaves Questions

Perhaps the front office was running a bluff on them. Perhaps the player is running a bluff on the front office.  Maybe they just forgot, although that’s not likely with some of the names that were left out this year. At any rate, we now have several quality baseball players who have just become free agents, also known as non-tenders in baseball jargon.

Back when the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, which was not so long ago, one of the heroes was an outfielder named Kyle Schwarber.  He was the fourth overall selection in the 2014 MLB Draft and started out in MLB with a bang, helping the Cubs to win their first World Series in a long, long time.

So, the second year in the Big Leagues and he already has a World Series ring and a couple of great seasons at bat, hitting 38 home runs in 2019 and now has another 30-homer season under his belt.  Then the bat started to slip on him as well so that last year he only hit .188/.308/.393 in the 59 games that he played in, and Schwarber seemed to have lost the handle on the home run balls as well totaling only 11 homers and 24 runs batted in. All of that for a salary of over $7 million.  That’s over $118,000 per game. No wonder they didn’t make him an offer this year.  But just watch, some team will pick him up, dust him off and figure out how to make a good baseball player out of him.

All-Star Duvall Needs A Home

Outfielder Adam Duvall was an All-Star player for the Cincinnati Reds back in 2016.  For the past three seasons, he has played for the Braves in Atlanta and, in 2020, he hit a respectable .237/.301/.532 and slammed 16 home runs, which tied him for third place in the National League.  He was chasing his teammate Marcell Ozuna, but end up two long balls short. Somebody will be snatching up Adam Duvall P.D.Q.

Outfielder David Dahl is by now a seasoned veteran at 26 years old after being the 10th first-round pick in the 2010 MLB Draft. Dahl had been a productive player, but has also spent a lot of time on the injured reserve list. Like missing the whole of the 2017 season. In truth he hasn’t made into more than 100 games in any of his four seasons in the majors. Still, in his first three seasons in the majors, Dahl never had a slugging percentage below .500.  When he plays, he plays well. Well enough to be named to the MLB All-Star team in 2019.  But, in 2020, Dahl was back to missing games due to various injuries and his numbers dropped off a bit to .286/.334/.494.  Still not bad, but apparently not good enough.

Mazara, Rosario, Bradly On The Hunt

Three other good baseball players now available are outfielder Nomar Mazara, who did well down in Texas, but his first year with the White Sox did not go too well.  Outfielder Eddie Rosario should not have much trouble finding work.  He hit 32 home runs in 2019 with 109 RBIs.  And, finally, you have to wonder how right hand pitcher Archie Bradly ever got on this list.  He was excellent with the Diamondbacks, who picked him 7th overall in the 2011 draft. Bradly will find work pretty soon.