Notable players to not be tendered a contract

Yesterday, Major League teams had to make decisions as to whether to tender a contract to all players not under a guaranteed contract (i.e. pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible players). If they chose not to, the player became a free agent. Many players are non-tendered for different reasons, but here are the more notable decisions.

The Pittsburgh Pirates non-tendered first baseman Pedro Alvarez.

The Houston Astros non-tendered first baseman Chris Carter. 

The Detroit Tigers non-tendered relief pitched Neftali Feliz.

The Chicago White Sox non-tendered catcher Tyler Flowers.

The St. Louis Cardinals non-tendered relief pitcher Steve Cishek. 

The Kansas City Royals non-tendered relief pitcher Greg Holland. 

The Miami Marlins non-tendered starting pitcher Henderson Alvarez. 

The Atlanta Braves non-tendered starting pitcher Mike Minor. 

The Los Angeles Angels non-tendered relief pitcher Cesar Ramos.

The San Diego Padres non-tendered infielder Will Middlebrooks. 

A team can non-tender a player for any reason, but it usually occurs when a team feels as if a player will make more through the arbitration process than they are worth. 

Teams could have attempted to trade these players until last night's midnight deadline. It appears, though, when a player is non-tendered, a team could not get a fair enough package in return to complete a trade. 

Holland, in particular, is an interesting case. The Royals did not own his rights past the 2016 season, which he will miss due to Tommy John surgery. By non-tendering him, they are not required to pay any salary to Holland next season and could re-sign him to a multi-year contract in free agency. This way, they would be able to have Holland on their roster when he returns from injury. 

--Devan Fink
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