Friday is deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players

The Dodgers and the rest of their fellow MLB teams have one more day of action before the Winter Meetings begin in two weeks. This Friday, November 30th is the deadline for all teams to tender contracts to their arbitration-eligible players.

The Dodgers began the off-season with 13 players on their list, that number was reduced by three last week when the Dodgers released right-handed pitcher Tom Koehler and designated right-handed pitcher Erik Goeddel and left-handed pitcher Zac Rosscup for assignment. Goeddel and Rosscup were later released and became free agents.

The ten remaining players are outfielders Yasiel Puig and Joc Pederson, utility players Kiké Hernández and Chris Taylor, shortstop Corey Seager, left-handed pitchers Alex Wood and Tony Cingrani and right-hander pitchers Josh Fields, Pedro Baez and Yimi Garcia.

At this time, I can see only Fields and Garcia as possible non-tenders. And if you look at those two, Fields has the highest projected 2019 salary ($2.8M) so he might be the one player who is not tendered a contract by November 30th.

If you are unfamiliar with this mechanism, if the teams tender a contract to their arbitration-eligible players, that means the teams have until January 11, 2019 to agree to a contract with these players. If the teams and players don’t agree, they will begin the arbitration hearing process by exchanging contract figures.

If teams do not tender a contract to their arbitration-eligible player, he becomes a free-agent. Note that the player is still subject to his service time requirements so while he would be free to sign with any team, if he does not complete at least six-years of service time at the end of the 2019 season, he would go through the non-tender process again, this time with the team that signed him to play in 2019.

Last year, the Dodgers tendered contracts to all eight of their arbitration-eligible players, in 2016, the Dodgers tendered contracts to six of the seven players that were arbitration eligible. Only right-handed pitcher Louis Coleman was not tendered a contract.

In 2015, the Dodgers tendered contracts to six of their seven remaining arbitration-eligible players, right-handed pitcher Juan Nicasio was the only one who was not tendered a contract.

And in 2014, the first off-season overseen by Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers tendered contracts to all seven of their arbitration-eligible players.

If the Dodgers do tender contracts to all ten of their arbitration-eligible players, they will have a completely full 40-man roster.