Today is non-tender day

By D.J. ShortDec 12, 2009, 8:38 AM EST
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Welcome to non-tender day, everybody. Yes, today is the deadline for teams
to decide whether to tender
contracts to unsigned players on their 40-man roster.

It’s usually done
with a player between three and six years of service time coming off injury or a team simply doesn’t feel the player is worth a
new contract. However, this winter we have a number of teams (I’m looking at you, Padres and Reds) who would
prefer not to keep a productive player because of a considerable jump in salary.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve profiled a few of the most likely non-tenders (Kelly Shoppach, Garrett Atkins, Kelly Johnson) and
even though Shoppach was recently traded to the Rays, as a result, his new teammate Dioner
Navarro is now one of the more likely names on the chopping block.

Here are some
other non-tender candidates of note, complete with ’09 stats:

Kevin Correia (Padres) – 12-11, 3.98 ERA

Jack Cust (Athletics) – .240/.356/.417 with 25 home runs and 70 RBI

Chien-Ming Wang (Yankees) – 1-6, 9.64 ERA

John Buck (Royals) – .247/.299/.484 with eight home runs and 36 RBI

Jonny Gomes (Reds) – .267/.338/.541 with 20 home runs and 51 RBI

D.J. Carrasco (White Sox) – 3.76 ERA and 1.41 WHIP in 93 1/3 innings

See any good fits for your team? Keep it here throughout the day for the non-tenders as they roll in.

B.J. Upton is going by B.J. Upton again

Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images
By Bill BaerJan 15, 2019, 7:14 PM EST
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Outfielder B.J. Upton went by the name B.J., short for Bossman Junior, through the 2014 season. His father Manny was known as Bossman, hence Bossman Junior. Upton decided he wanted to be referred to by his birth name Melvin starting in 2015, saying that everyone except baseball fans knew him by that name. Now, he’s back to B.J., Scott Boeck of USA TODAY Sports reports.

For those keeping score at home, Upton is the artist formerly and currently known as B.J.

Upton, 34, hasn’t played in the majors since 2016. He signed a minor league deal with the Indians in December 2017 but was released in the middle of last March and wasn’t able to latch on with another team. It seems unlikely he finds his way back to the majors.