Before certain players become free agents, teams have to decide whether they want to tender or non-tender them.
Players on the 40-man roster who are not under contract and have fewer than six years of service in the majors must be tendered a contract each offseason by the non-tender deadline.
This offseason, the Yankees have 17 arbitration-eligible players. Some are protected because of their service while others are due raises.
Gleyber Torres, Clay Holmes, Domingo German, Lou Trivino, Nestor Cortes, Jose Trevino, Michael King, Clarke Schmidt, Jonathan Loaisiga, Kyle Higashioka, Jake Bauers, Franchy Cordero, Billy McKinney, Matt Bowman, Albert Abreu, Jimmy Cordero and Ryan Weber are the 17 eligible players.
Torres’ future with the Yankees for 2024 has already been discussed, and while other names like Holmes, King, Schmidt and Cortes will almost certainly be tendered, the same can’t be said for these five players.
Here are five Yankees players who may be non-tendered this offseason:
Domingo German
Projected salary for 2024: $4.4 million
This season was a roller coaster for German. The 31-year-old got off to a solid start to the 2023 season, going 3-3 with a 2.54 ERA in the first two months of the year.
Of course, his season peaked in late June when he pitched a perfect game against the Oakland A’s before he was placed on the restricted list after a drunken clubhouse outburst in August.
German finished his season with a 4.56 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP.
The Yankees will have a decision to make after this latest incident. Reminder: German was placed on the restricted list in 2019 after being suspended for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy.
Kyle Higashioka
Projected salary for 2024: $2.3 million
Higashioka has been a fixture as a Yankees catcher, whether as a starter or backup, for seven seasons. But with the emergence of Austin Wells, the 33-year-old may be out of a job.
Higgy did show some pop, hitting 10 bombs -- tying a career-high -- in 92 games while slashing .236/.274/.413. But if Wells continues to impress with his power and Trevino returns from injury to be Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher, the Yankees could move on from Higashioka.
