The general expectation about this year’s non-tender deadline is that it would see a significantly greater number of players than normal cut loose by their teams. The COVID-19 season completed led to a sharp reduction in revenue for all teams, something which will turn into smaller payrolls for 2021. With guaranteed contracts not going anywhere, one obvious route to saving money is to decline team options and non-tender players under team control. We already saw the team do the former, saying “Thanks, but no thanks” to pitchers Junior Guerra, Mike Leake and Hector Rondon, with the former ending up being released, despite being potentially arbitration eligible.
Diamondbacks tender contracts to Carson Kelly, Caleb Smith and Luke Weaver
