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There had been some speculation as to whether the Diamondbacks might non-tender one or more of the players in that category. Cliff Pennington was the name most often mentioned, as he seems likely to earn over three million next year, a fair amount for a backup infielder. But comments after the end of the season by GM Dave Stewart indicated otherwise, and so it proved, with Pennington being tendered a contract, along with the other five players: David Hernandez, Jeremy Hellickson, Wade Miley, Addison Reed and Mark Trumbo. Swapping of figures will proceed, with the aim of negotiating a deal, or (unlikely) going to arbitration.
It's worth stressing the (obvious?) point: this certainly doesn't mean the team has to have them on the Opening Day roster. Indeed, I'd be quite surprised if one or more of the above - in order of likelihood, Trumbo, Reed and Pennington - weren't dealt elsewhere before the season begins. But offering them contracts means that they do not become free agents, and instead remain under team control while the process continues. We can continue to negotiate with other teams and make trades, whether or not a final contract has been agreed. We saw this in 2010, when we dealt for an arb-eligible Zach Duke, and agreed to a contract with him a week later.
Every other team went through the same process, but not everyone snapped up all their players by the deadline of 10pm Arizona time. Via MLBTR, here's a convenient list of non-tenders, who now become part of the free-agent pool, and can be signed by anyone. [As an aside, the free-agent pool this winter does not appear to contain a single Diamondback. I can't remember another season that ever happened] Some names pop out, though not necessarily because they're of interest to us. For instance, there's shortstop, PED user, drunk driver and Mark Reynolds' fan-club president Everth Cabrera, who was an All-Star in 2013, but was non-tendered by the Padres.
The Braves had a bit of a house-cleaning, dumping Brandon Beachy and Kris Medlen, who both followed Daniel Hudson, undergoing Tommy John surgery for the second time each in March. Neither has made it back to the majors yet, but it is being reported that this may be a similar move to what the D-backs did with Huddy, allowing Atlanta still to sign both men back at a lower cost and without them using up a spot on the 40-man roster. Another interesting arm is another former All-Star, Alexi Ogando of the Rangers. He was troubled by elbow inflammation last season - never a good sign - but had a 139 ERA+ over four seasons and 381 innings prior to that.
Among the hitters, long-time Padres Kyle Blanks was non-tendered by the A's, to whom he was dealt by San Diego in May, despite a .935 OPS for Oakland in his 21 games for them. If you look at his career batting average of .234, you might think that explains the move. But thanks to the Petco effect, Blanks's career OPS+ is a very respectable 105. He's still also only 28, so I get the feeling he won't be unemployed come spring training. Former first-round pick Gordon Beckham (#8 overall in 2008) was handed his papers by the Angels, and Eric Young Jr, the son of our former first-base coach, was released by the Mets.