Blue Jays rumours: Top 5 non-tender candidates to watch this week

December 2nd is the deadline for teams to tender a contract to arbitration eligible players, which means opportunity to could present itself for the Blue Jays.

The MLB hot stove could finally pick up some steam this week, at least in terms of a few more transactions, and likely a handful of trades.

That’s because December 2nd is the deadline for teams to choose whether to non-tender an arbitration eligible player, or offer them a contract for the 2021 season. In many cases that’s a no-brainer decision, but there are always a handful of players who become free agents at this time of year, and there could be more than usual this time around. With many clubs feeling a financial pinch after no ticket revenue was available in 2020, there could even be more surprise decisions like back when we saw Cleveland let go of Brad Hand.

Many of these situations, such as with Hand, have been resolved already, but there are a lot yet to be determined. Among the group are a few players that could interest the Blue Jays, and www.mlbtraderumors.com was kind enough to put together a list of potential non-tender candidates. They understandably included Travis Shaw from the Blue Jays, and it’s entirely possible we could see the veteran cut loose in the next day or two.

Not only could there be opportunity if players are non-tendered this week, but there could be a few trades on the table ahead of that deadline, especially in a case where there is still value with the player, but more so a need to cut payroll.

Either way, there are several noteworthy players from that list mentioned above, so let’s have a look at the options potentially available to the Blue Jays over the next few days.