One of the more important offseason dates is nearly at hand. On Wednesday teams have to decide if they will tender contracts to eligible players on their 40-man rosters. That group of is comprised of arbitration eligible players. Should a team decide to tender a contract they will have until January to propose terms. If both sides cannot agree on a dollar figure then they go to arbitration in February.
Should a team decide they won't tender a contract to an eligible player, that person immediately becomes a free agent. This becomes interesting for two reasons. The most obvious reason is that it introduces a new group of players into the free agent talent pool.