The biggest surprise of the day was the Marlins’ decision not to tender a contract to excellent young starter Henderson Alvarez, who was projected by MLBTR to make only about $4.0 million in arbitration in 2016. The reason for non-tendering the 25-year-old righty, presumably, is the shoulder surgery that ended his 2015 season in July, and the attendant recovery that will keep him out for a portion of 2016. To be quite clear, shoulder injuries – especially ones that require surgery – can end pitcher careers. They are not nearly as predictable as elbow injuries. So I don’t think it’s quite fair to call the Marlins cheap or foolish for their decision, despite Alvarez’s breakout in 2013 and 2014.
That said, there will be a number of suitors for Alvarez’s services, which come complete with at least two years of control left. Even with the injury, he’s going to be able to command a big league deal (in large part because he’s going to want to be sure to accumulate service time from the get-go in 2016 so that he can reach free agency after 2017), so some team is going to have to take a financial and roster spot risk on an unknown outcome.
The Cubs do seem to be an ideal candidate to take that chance on Alvarez given their lack of depth at the upper levels of the minors in the starting pitching department. Not only could the Cubs look attractive to Alvarez, but they could allow him to continue to rehab for the first half of 2016 without the need to rush him – on the 60-day DL, Alvarez would still accumulate service time, and the Cubs could then open up a spot on the 40-man roster – and then hope to have him available in the second half when he might be needed most (as well as in 2017).
Again, though: there will be tons of suitors, and tons of teams that look like a fit. Don’t get too ahead of yourself.
Some other non-tenders of note:
The Pirates clearly couldn’t find a taker for Pedro Alvarez, and decided to let him go rather than risk being on the hook for $8+ million in 2016. Although Alvarez can still hit for serious power, he showed last year that he’s a defensive liability even at first base, and I’m not really surprised to see the Pirates moving on. The money can better be used elsewhere, and the Pirates can let Michael Morse and/or another fill-in handle starts at first base until it’s time to give big-time prospect Josh Bell a shot.
[adinserter block=”1″]
The White Sox non-tendered catcher Tyler Flowers, who is a good defensive catcher and an excellent framer. He doesn’t really kill you at the plate, either. His arbitration projection was just $3.5 million, and I’m surprised there wasn’t a team out there willing to give up a little something to take him off the Sox’s hands. He’ll find a deal out there.
The Padres non-tendered infielder Will Middlebrooks, who never quite hit in San Diego (much like he fell off in Boston). There’s some front office familiarity there with the Cubs, so, hey, who knows – maybe they give him a look on a minor league deal.
The Dodgers are letting reliever Juan Nicasio hit free agency despite a really strong performance last year. He had a huge walk rate, yes, but also a huge strikeout rate, and overall had an ERA/FIP/xFIP all well under four. He was projected to make $3.1 million, and will draw plenty of interest out there.
As expected, the Cardinals non-tendered Steve Cishek, who’ll be an interesting free agent. One of the best relievers in baseball as recently as 2014, Cishek fell totally off the map last year for the Marlins, and didn’t really bounce back after a midseason trade to the Cardinals. He’ll almost certainly get a big league deal, as some team will bet on his considerable upside.
The Giants non-tendered swing man Yusmeiro Petit, whose peripherals cratered last year after a shockingly good 2014 season. Given how good he was in the rotation in 2014, and then given how much the Giants could have used him in the rotation in 2015 (but didn’t), and given the disappearing strikeout rate, I’m thinking there was something sneaky he did in 2014 that worked, and then got figured out in 2015.
Other interesting relievers who were non-tendered: Cesar Ramos, Al Albuquerque, Greg Holland (though he just underwent Tommy John surgery, so a signing team won’t get anything out of him in 2016).
Mike Minor, like Henderson Alvarez, is recovering from shoulder surgery, and was non-tendered by the Braves. He could be another interesting flyer type.
Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here.
Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.
Well that ninth inning rally started off great, with Cody Bellinger and Christopher Morel reaching, the latter on 12-pitch walk (the longest PA of his career). And then POOF. In just two pitches, the Cubs made three outs and the...
Well you don't see that very often. Craig Counsell was just thrown out of the game from inside the Cubs dugout *by the FIRST BASE umpire* after a check-swing appeal. Here's what happened. In the bottom of the fourth inning,...
CUBS LINEUP — The Atlanta Braves are one of, if not the toughest opponent the Cubs will face this season. But Seiya Suzuki is back, Cody Bellinger is back, and Shota Imanaga is on the mound. This Cubs team is...
It felt like this situation with Adbert Alzolay could not go on much longer, and it has now resolved itself with an Injured List move. Today, the Cubs placed Alzolay on the 15-day IL with a right forearm strain. Jose...
Fans can now watch MLB games via Roku. Do with that what you will. The "MLB Sunday Leadoff" games will begin this weekend. The first game, featuring the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals, starts at 12:05 p.m. CT,...
Cubs vs Braves — Six of the Cubs next ten games come against the Atlanta Braves, and the first three are on the road starting tonight. And while the Cubs did recently get Seiya Suzuki, Cody Bellinger, and Justin Steele...
Over the weekend, MLB Pipeline updated their top-100 MLB Prospect Rankings, with eight new players making the list after graduations and other considerations. And TWO of those players, Moises Ballesteros and Jefferson Rojas, are Chicago Cubs prospects. All together, that...
A happy 27th birthday to Chicago Cubs second baseman, and fill-in shortstop, Nico Hoerner. He is currently hitting a career-best .275/.364/.399/122 wRC+, and walking more often (9.7%) than he's striking out (9.1%). He has been absolutely scorching over the past...
The Dodgers have a comfortable lead in the NL West, but the Padres are proving to themselves that they can make this a two-horse race. Plus, reactions from Paul Skenes' major league debut and more in today's MLB Notes. Padres...
The Chicago Cubs have had veteran outfielder David Peralta around as emergency depth going back to Spring Training, when he was working his way back from offseason arm surgery. But he might now be heading off to join another organization....
In a series opener on Tuesday, Sonny Gray will take the mound for the St. Louis Cardinals (16-24) against Reid Detmers and the Los Angeles Angels (15-26), with first pitch scheduled for 9:38 PM ET at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.The...
On Tuesday at 9:40 PM ET, Ketel Marte and the Arizona Diamondbacks (19-22) face Elly De La Cruz and the Cincinnati Reds (17-23) at Chase Field.Find out how to watch the Arizona-Cincinnati matchup below.When is Diamondbacks vs. Reds and when...
On Tuesday, Logan Gilbert will start for the Seattle Mariners (22-19) versus Michael Wacha and the Kansas City Royals (25-17), with first pitch scheduled for 9:40 PM ET at T-Mobile Park.Keep reading to find out how to watch the Seattle-Kansas...
The San Diego Padres (22-21), who will give the ball to Dylan Cease, host the Colorado Rockies (12-28) with Cal Quantrill on the mound, Tuesday at 9:40 PM ET.If you're trying to watch this game, keep reading for TV and...
A three-game series featuring the Minnesota Twins and the visiting New York Yankees will begin on Tuesday, May 14 at 7:40 PM ET.Twins vs. Yankees Series Info Yankees @ Twins Time: Tuesday, May 14 at 7:40 PM ET Twins Starting...
On Tuesday, Jack Leiter will start for the Texas Rangers (22-20) against Ben Lively and the Cleveland Guardians (25-16), with first pitch scheduled for 8:05 PM ET at Globe Life Field.Keep reading to find out all the details on how...
On Tuesday at 8:10 PM ET, Kyle Tucker and the Houston Astros (15-25) play Brent Rooker and the Oakland Athletics (19-23) at Minute Maid Park.The article below will provide you with everything you need to know to watch Houston take...
Well you don't see that very often. Craig Counsell was just thrown out of the game from inside the Cubs dugout *by the FIRST BASE umpire* after a check-swing appeal. Here's what happened. In the bottom of the fourth inning,...
In a series opener on Tuesday, Jarren Duran and the Boston Red Sox (21-19) play Isaac Paredes and the Tampa Bay Rays (20-21), with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 PM ET at Fenway Park.Find out how to watch the Boston-Tampa...
On Tuesday, Joe Ross will start for the Milwaukee Brewers (24-16) versus Quinn Priester and the Pittsburgh Pirates (18-23), with first pitch scheduled for 7:40 PM ET at American Family Field.Find out how to watch the Milwaukee-Pittsburgh matchup below.When is...
NEWSLETTER
The tender deadline has passed, and, suddenly, there are a bunch of new free agents out there, including reliever Ryan Cook, who was non-tendered yesterday by the Cubs.
