The non-tender deadline is tomorrow night, but the action is starting tonight. Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario is hitting the waiver wire as a precursor to his non-tender tomorrow.
Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario is on outright waivers, sources tell The Athletic. The move is the clearest sign yet he will be non-tendered. Twins essentially giving him chance to be claimed by team that might pay him his projected arbitration salary of $9.6M. 1/1
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 2, 2020
Twins have tried to trade Rosario, but apparently no team was eager to take him at his arb salary. His waivers expire at 1 p.m. tomorrow. If no team claims him, Twins can make case that no club wanted him at arb number, and try to negotiate a deal with him at a lower price. 2/2
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 2, 2020
Rosario, 29, was a borderline tender case, given his career trajectory, projections for 2021, and a price point possibly near $10 million:
They are differently-styled hitters, but you’re definitely going to comment on the Twins not wanting a rough-defensive, lefty-hitting, slightly-above-average offensive left fielder. If Rosario isn’t worth $9 to $10 million in 2021, doesn’t that mean Kyle Schwarber isn’t worth $8 to $9 million?
Ah, nah. I mean, first of all, all this means is that no team wanted to give up meaningful value in trade for Rosario at a likely higher price point than Schwarber (Rosario’s higher-end projection at MLBTR is actually $12.9 million). That doesn’t tell me a ton about whether the Cubs will or should tender Schwarber, a guy we already knew didn’t have much in the way of trade value at the moment. I won’t rehash my Schwarber tender stuff too much, because I wrote about it all this morning.
In any case, if Brad Hand goes on waivers and isn’t claimed at $10 million, it seems pretty safe to say that Rosario also will not be claimed. From there, he’ll be non-tendered tomorrow (unless, as Rosenthal mentions, the Twins work out a lesser deal with him before the deadline). Then, he hits free agency, and hey, suddenly he becomes a really high-contact outfield bat. Kinda interesting in some ways, no? Not for the Cubs at $9 to $10 million, obviously (or they’d claim him). But if his market recedes a lot more? I don’t know. We’ll see, I guess. I could see why Rosario might be a similar player, but a better fit for the lineup.