Non-Tender is the Night
As expected, the Cubs opted not to tender a 2010 Major League contract to LHP Neal Cotts, making Cotts a free-agenct. Cotts would have been eligible for salary arbitration if he had been tendered a contract, and could not have had his $1.1M 2009 salary cut by more than 20%. So Non-tendering Cotts will save the Cubs about $1M in 2010 payroll, and reduces the Cubs MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) to 37 players.
Cotts underwent "Tommy John" elbow surgery last July and has been rehabbing at Fitch Park for the past several months, so he might agree to sign a 2010 minor league ciontract with the Cubs so that he can continue his rehab uninterrupted at the same place and with the same training staff. It's unlikely that he would get a better deal elsewhere.
The Cubs did tender 2010 MLB contracts to their eight other arbitration-eligible players, as well as to all 19 of their pre-arbitration ("auto-renewal") guys.
Should a tendered player who is eligible for salary arbitration fail to reach agreement with his club on a 2010 contract, the player or the club can file for arbitration during a ten-day period beginning on January 5th.
Pre-arbitration ("auto-renewal") tendered players can have their contracts unilaterally and automatically renewed by their club if the player and the club have not reached agreement on a 2010 contract by the first week of March.
Here is the complete list of non-tendered players:
AMERICAN LEAGUE
BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Brian Bass, RHP
BOSTON RED SOX
Brian Anderson, OF
CHICAGO WHITE SOX
D.J. Carrasco, RHP
CLEVELAND INDIANS
Adam Miller, RHP
Anthony Reyes, RHP
Jose Veras, RHP
DETROIT TIGERS
NONE
KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Josh Anderson, C
John Buck, C
LOS ANGELES ANGELS
Jose Arrendondo, RHP
Matthew Brown, INF
Dustin Moseley, RHP
MINNESOTA TWINS
NONE
NEW YORK YANKEES
Chien-Ming Wang, RHP
OAKLAND A's
Jack Cust, 1B-DH
SEATTLE MARINERS
Ryan Langerhans, OF
TAMPA BAY RAYS
Gabe Gross, OF
Shawn Riggans, C
TEXAS RANGERS
NONE
TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Raul Chavez, C
NATIONAL LEAGUE
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Josh Whitesell, 1B
ATLANTA BRAVES
Ryan Church, OF
Kelly Johnson, 2B
CHICAGO CUBS
Neal Cotts, LHP
COLORADO ROCKIES
Garrett Atkins, 3B
CINCINNATI REDS
Jonny Gomes, OF
FLORIDA MARLINS
Alfredo Amezaga, IF-OF
HOUSTON ASTROS
NONE
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
NONE
MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Mark DiFelice, RHP
Seth McClung, RHP
Mike Rivera, C
NEW YORK METS
Lance Broadway, RHP
Tim Redding, RHP
Jeremy Reed, OF
Cory Sullivan, OF
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Clay Condrey, RHP
PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Matt Capps, RHP
Phil Dumatrait, LHP
ST LOUIS CARDINALS
NONE
SAN DIEGO PADRES
Jackson Quezada, RHP
Mark Worrell, RHP
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Ryan Garko, 1B
WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Mike MacDougal, RHP
Scott Olsen, LHP
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