Yankees' Nix among players non-tendered
Jayson Nix, the New York Yankees infielder who filled in for injured third baseman Alex Rodriguez and shortstop Derek Jeter for large chunks of last season, was one of a number of major league players who were not tendered a contract Monday.
The deadline for clubs to offer one-year contracts to arbitration-eligible players was 11:59 p.m. Monday. Players who were non-tendered became free agents.
The Yankees also non-tendered right-hander Matt Daley and infielder David Adams.
Among the other players who were non-tendered, as confirmed by the teams, were Kansas City Royals second baseman Chris Getz; Cleveland Indians catcher Lou Marson, outfielder Matt Carson and right-hander Tyler Cloyd; New York Mets right-hander Scott Atchison and infielders Jordany Valdespin and Omar Quintanilla; Atlanta Braves right-hander Cristhian Martinez and infielders Paul Janish and Eliot Johnson.
Valdespin, 25, is known mainly for being one of the players who received a 50-game suspension for his dealings with Biogenesis, a now-shuttered South Florida anti-aging clinic that reportedly supplied banned performance-enhancing drugs.
Various media reports indicated a handful of other players were non-tendered, including Los Angeles Angels right-hander Jerome Williams, Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Sam Fuld and Chicago Cubs right-hander Daniel Bard. In the case of Bard, the move ends a brief tenure with Chicago in which the reliever never pitched for his new organization after being claimed off waivers from the Boston Red Sox in September.
Nix, 31, hit .236 with a .308 on-base percentage, a .311 slugging percentage, three homers and 24 RBIs in 87 games.
