Some hidden gems might be found as MLB contract tender deadline approaches

Friday at 8 p.m. ET is the deadline for Major League Baseball teams to tender contracts to players eligible for salary arbitration this winter. That makes for a day of several transactions involving players on the fringes of major league rosters, sometimes with potential contributors suddenly becoming available because of a discrepancy in their valuation.

Tendering a player a contract doesn’t mean a new deal, though Friday can serve as a soft deadline of sorts for some. Relief pitcher Rex Brothers, for instance, signed a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, avoiding salary arbitration. Had he not agreed to a new deal, Brothers might have been non-tendered and made a free agent.

Other players tendering a contract — those who don’t come to new deals for 2018 — will face their next soft deadline on Jan. 12, when players and teams exchange salaries. If the two sides still can’t come to an agreement, they will present their case in front of a three-person arbitration panel, who will pick one salary or the other, with no in between.

Players are non-tendered for a variety of reasons, either for falling too far down the depth chart or perhaps due a salary raise through arbitration that the team just isn’t willing to pay.

Most times, these players aren’t difference makers. But sometimes, a 29-year-old utility man gets a change of scenery, alters his hitting approach and thrives in a new market.

Justin Turner hit .280/.319/.385 with two home runs in 214 plate appearances in 2013 for the New York Mets, who opted to set him free rather than give him a small raise through the salary arbitration process.

Turner signed a $1 million minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and has hit .303/.378/.502 with 71 home runs and 18.9 WAR in the four years since. He has three seasons remaining on his four-year, $64 million contract.

This is still a tender memory for Mets fans.

Last year, there were no Turners among the nearly three dozen players who were non-tendered. But a few did stand out.

Jose Pirela was non-tendered by the San Diego Padres last Dec. 2 but re-signed on a minor league contract four days later.

Called up to San Diego in June, Pirela hit .288/.347/.490 with 10 home runs and 25 doubles in 83 games, putting up 2.0 WAR in essentially half a season. He played mostly left field but also saw time at first base, second base, third base, and right field.

Welington Castillo was non-tendered by the Arizona Diamondbacks a year ago, but he found his way to Baltimore and hit .282/.323/.490 with 20 home runs in 96 games for the Orioles, another 2-win player. Now he is one of the top catchers on the free agent market this winter, with the soon-to-be 31 year old looking to cash in.

So keep an eye out Friday. There might be a player or two let go who turns out to be a valuable player elsewhere in 2018.