That's an uninspired list of non-tenders.

I guess the big takeaway for me is the massive reduction in 40 man for the Braves between the non-tenders and yesterdays trade.

Honestly I think all four of the Cardinal non-tenders would have been sent to arbitration if I was in charge. I don't see any of them costing more than they are worth. I get they are bottom roster players but Yepez and Hudson have legit upside, Knizner is definitely roster filler and maybe even more, he's dropped in the depth chart of course, but when was the last time a team only used two catchers in a season? (I do probably let Woodford go so maybe just 3 out of 4 I keep---but even there we are talking about a guy who is barely a mil a year player as a 90 era+ pitcher)

I would have kept Hudson. I assumed they would keep Knizner simply because Herrera could bring a pitcher in trade but they clearly aren't trading him now. Pedro Pages apparently is an awesome defensive catcher so he can come up in an emergency

Hudson has a fourth arb year and one option left. Any team that signs him will get him for two years with an ability to send him down once. He has almost 40 career wins at MLB level. He'll sign somewhere

The two that I definitely would have tendered are Kevin Smith and Jovani Moran. Both have shown upside (Smith at AAA only, Moran at MLB) and are still pre-arb.

Luis Guillorme still has one of the most remarkable highlights I’ve seen a baseball player make. Video

The two that I definitely would have tendered are Kevin Smith and Jovani Moran. Both have shown upside (Smith at AAA only, Moran at MLB) and are still pre-arb.

Moran is scheduled for ligament replacement surgery and will be out all of 2024.

Nick Senzel turned out to not be as good as we thought he was going to be. Drafted 2nd overall and then non-tendered at 28. Ouch. Looking over that first round draft class, it seems to have been pretty uninspiring. Will Smith was the catch, followed by, Dane Dunning, I guess? It just turned out to be a lot of yuck. Alonso and Bichette went in the second round. Gallen in the third. Burns and Bieber in the fourth.

Austin Meadows is the kind of name that is sure to catch someone's attention. The internets say that he hasn't played much the past couple years because of "anxiety issues?" That sounds brutal. If he's up for playing though, a former all-star would be hard to pass up.

I assume that Rowdy Tellez will land somewhere. He was bad last year, but he's got enough power that someone will want him.

As might be expected though, there's a lot of NRIs on that list.

Moran is scheduled for ligament replacement surgery and will be out all of 2024.

But he's pre-arb so it's just a lost year, and post-TJ prognosis is pretty good. 2.87 career FIP and 4 years of control after spending 2024 on the 60-day IL.

Moran is scheduled for ligament replacement surgery and will be out all of 2024.

Who pays for the surgery in cases like this? I guess I don't know for sure but I always assumed that the team pays for any surgeries for their players. But Moran doesn't have a team right now. Also, rehab.

I think the prior team is responsible for all medicals until player re-signs ( I think ). There must be some time limit on it

I think the prior team is responsible for all medicals until player re-signs ( I think ). There must be some time limit on it

There has to be some sort of league wide insurance.

But he's pre-arb so it's just a lost year, and post-TJ prognosis is pretty good. 2.87 career FIP and 4 years of control after spending 2024 on the 60-day IL.

The Twins are trying to negotiate a 2 year minor league contract so he can get paid to rehab without burning service time.

I assume that Rowdy Tellez will land somewhere. He was bad last year, but he's got enough power that someone will want him.

The Red Sox should sign him, if only so they don't have to pitch against him. His slash vs. Boston is 327/418/743 with 14 HR in 113 AB.

I think the prior team is responsible for all medicals until player re-signs ( I think ). There must be some time limit on it

The norm is that the team employing the player when he suffered the injury pays for surgery and rehab. Even if it's a minor league nonprospect and the team releases him with the expectation that it will be the end of his pro baseball career, usually the team still pays for surgery and rehab.

In principle it's the same as any other employer under workers comp laws, but in baseball I believe it's all in the CBA.

Woodruff definitely seems like a guy to get the Chris Carpenter treatment (The Cardinals signed him for two years, one of which was to allow him to recover from surgery) I think two years with a team option for a third year (at a high salary) makes sense.

Has Turnbull's arm now officially fallen off? He's been a good pitcher when he could take the mound. He might be the biggest name after Woodruff.

Some decent backup Cs here. Well, maybe, at least worth AAA spots. CFB, I assume the issue with Knizner is that, while you will use at least 3 Cs in a season, you don't generally want to carry 3 on the 26-man. I don't know what the rules are on tendering and minor-league options but no team wants to pay a guy a full arb salary to play in AAA.

On the Cubs trio: Heuer was part of the return for Kimbrel and some prospect-y folks thought he might be something but he ended up going down the reliever path then got hurt and has thrown just 12 innings the last two years -- i.e. his 3 years of service time was mostly on the IL. Hughes isn't even arb-eligible -- he was quite useful in 2022, mostly hurt in 2023. He was a "pitching lab guy" who we thought might stick. Roberts is just an anonymous reliever who keeps getting hurt, 8 IP in 2022 and none in 2023.

Some decent backup Cs here. Well, maybe, at least worth AAA spots. CFB, I assume the issue with Knizner is that, while you will use at least 3 Cs in a season, you don't generally want to carry 3 on the 26-man. I don't know what the rules are on tendering and minor-league options but no team wants to pay a guy a full arb salary to play in AAA.

If this was a normal team, I would agree, but this team seems hell bent on making sure that their best catcher doesn't play catcher that much. (Contreras). I mean, it's possible that they let Knizner go simply to be nice to him, but honestly he's major league ready, he's a solid backup with starting potential, coming off a fairly decent year at the major league level. He's probably only going to make about 2.5 in arby, and that isn't enough to break the bank or even bat an eye. Compared to cycling through retread 3rd string catchers to cover the inevitable injury that happens at the position it's probably just cheaper to keep him. (and he has more midseason trade value than he will ever have in the off season---not that they will get anything other than a conditional pick or a backend reliever, but they would be able to get something when a team loses a catcher)

Luis Guillorme is a good glove man with no power but a .344 lifetime OBP. Good W/K percentage. He'll get picked up quickly. Very disciplined batter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPWNmtK-SJA).

I must admit that I'm shocked that Knizner had a 92 OPS+ last year (boosting his career mark, in 794 PA, to a still very fungible 73).

turns age 29 in February. nothing to get excited about, but does seem palatable as a backup C IF 2023 offense wasn't a fluke. projection I see was $2M in arbitration (I think the Mets are paying third-stringer Nido about that much in 2024). Career -13 defensive runs saved and 21% caught stealing rate for Knizner - meh.

amusing to see that a Brewers fanboy site has him as an acceptable replacement for backup Caratini who is a FA - thus making him a caddy for the other Contreras....

Guillorme is out of options, which sealed his Mets fate.

#18: No disagreement but I assume they tried to trade him before non-tendering him and couldn't find any takers. Like you said, maybe they're being nice and giving him his freedom rather than pick up an A-ball reliever and forcing him to go to KC or wherever. I think his track record is fine -- a 1 WAR player which is all you can expect from a backup. But (cf the minor-league FA thread) I'm not sure he's got anything going for him that Alfaro doesn't and he's been freely available since the end of 2022.

The thing about Knizner is he knows the pitching staff and the team philosophy on pitch handling, it's a lot tougher to bring someone else in and expect them to follow the team philosophy (again see Contreras) that it seems this particular organization usually over values catchers and it's a bit surprising to me. I get clearing roster space, that makes their free agent job a lot easier of course, but the team attitude towards the position is a bit different and stressed as more important than probably most other organizations.

I mean I get why they did it, just not sure I would have made that move, and not fully sure that this particular move falls within their organizational philosophy or is in the best interest of the organization. I'm not thinking Knizner is a good player in particular (although I do think he could be a 2 war player if given a full time job and maybe even peak to a 3 war player a random year) just that he's more than a qualified backup catcher who in a pinch could be a starter that probably doesn't hurt you. (of course going from Contreras to Him is a big drop, but that is the case with any all star level catcher and a backup---the drop between a starting catcher and a backup is probably the biggest drop on average among all the positions)

Knizner is a good pickup. His bat finally woke up last year. He had 10 HRs in 200+ at bats which is really nice in a big stadium like Busch. But his defense is bad, really bad. Contreras' defense is bad too. I'm fully expecting the cards to sign a defense only catcher and have three catchers in the roster because Herreras defense is bad too.