There was a lot of speculation ahead of tonight’s non-tender deadline. Players like Riley Adams, Jake Irvin and Luis Garcia Jr. were seen as potential non-tender candidates due to a combination of their lackluster production and projected salary. However, in a surprise twist, Paul Toboni decided to tender a contract to all 7 arbitration eligible players.
He has also already come to an agreement with Adams on his 2026 salary, though that figure has not been announced yet. The other six have to either come to an agreement with the team in the coming weeks or go into arbitration. I was really expecting Toboni to pull the trigger on at least one non-tender, but he did not.
Despite these players being tendered a contract, the team can still trade them at any time. I am curious to see if Garcia gets moved. He was a non-tender candidate, but he had strong underlying offensive numbers in 2025. However, we saw how bad the middle infield defense was with Abrams and Garcia. Running it back with those two would ensure a bad defensive unit.
However, it is still a surprise to see none of Irvin, Garcia or Adams being non-tendered. Adams is particularly surprising to me. He only hit .186 with a .560 OPS in 2025. The 29 year old also graded out poorly as a framer and blocker.
This has to be the new regime believing they can unlock something from Adams. When looking at his profile, one thing stands out and it is his raw power. Riley Adams has one of the quickest bats in all of baseball. His 78.3 MPH average bat speed is top of the scale stuff. Toboni must think he can turn that raw bat speed into power production with a few tweaks.
Irvin and Garcia being tendered contracts is not overly surprising, as those were decisions that could have gone either way. If Irvin and Garcia can get back to what they were in 2024, both will be more than worth their projected salaries of $3.3 and $7 million. However, they both struggled badly in 2025, especially Irvin.
My biggest takeaway from this is that Paul Toboni is making a bet on internal improvement. He is telling the world that these players can be more productive with the coaches he is hiring. Toboni has said that there are players in the organization that have another gear to hit. We all thought he was referring to guys like Wood, Abrams and Gore, but maybe he was actually referring to depth guys like Irvin and Adams.
Tendering all 7 players is a surprising decision, but it is a statement. Toboni must believe that a lot of players on this roster will be able to elevate their games with the new coaching staff. It will be interesting to see if this ends up being the case. Sometimes not making a big move can be the best move. That is what Toboni must have been thinking here.
