Non-tendered

2025 non-tender deadline: Nov. 21

Definition

When a club "non-tenders" a player, it declines to give that player a contract for the upcoming season, thereby immediately making him a free agent.

Players on the 40-man roster under club control (i.e., players who haven't reached the requisite six years of Major League service time to be eligible for free agency) who haven't yet signed contracts for the upcoming season must be tendered contracts by a set deadline or they will be considered "non-tendered."

In many instances, a club will non-tender a player because it feels the raise he will receive in arbitration would be greater than his on-field value. In other cases, a club will non-tender a player simply to clear a spot on the 40-man roster -- even if that player isn't due much more than the league minimum the following season.

Per the 2022-26 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the deadline to tender contracts to eligible players falls on the last Friday before Thanksgiving each November.