Cincinnati Reds: 3 players who should be non-tendered this offseason

Might the Reds move on from these three players before their salaries increase?

The non-tender deadline this winter is December 2nd, so the Cincinnati Reds have until then to decide whether or not they’d like to extend contracts to their nine arbitration-eligible players. The team has already outrighted four players (Matt Davidson, Travis Jankowski, Jesse Biddle and Matt Bowman). Might the Reds non-tender a few more players this winter?

According to MLB.com, to tender a contract to a player is to agree to give a contract for the upcoming season to a player who is under club control. The Reds have nine arbitration eligible players on the roster. Jesse Winker, Archie Bradley, Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle, Michael Lorenzen and Amir Garrett are among those eligible to be tendered a contact this offseason.

There is a second group of players who can be non-tendered as well. Any player who is pre-arbitration eligible must be tendered a contract, however, unlike those players who are arbitration eligible, that group of players have no say in their forthcoming salary. That group would include the likes of Nick Senzel, Aristides Aquino, Lucas Sims and Tejay Antone.

It’s a more likely to see players from the group of names who are arbitration-eligible to be non-tendered rather than those who are pre-arbitration eligible. Non-tendering arbitration-eligible players is typically for financial reasons, while non-tendering those players who are pre-arbitration eligible is more about roster size and flexibility.

Over the past two offseason, we’ve seen the Reds non-tender the likes of Billy Hamilton and José Peraza. Will the list be long or short this season? Which players may fall victim to the dreaded “non-tender” designation. Let’s look at a few players who might get the axe before December 2nd.