Last offseason the A’s non-tendered Jack Cust rather than pay him around $4 million via the arbitration process, only to re-sign him a month later for $2.6 million. And now Jane Lee of MLB.com reports that Oakland may non-tender him again by tomorrow night’s deadline.
Cust was better in 2010 than he was in 2009, hitting .272 with a .395 on-base percentage and .834 OPS in 112 games, but his power has declined over the past two seasons and the A’s may want to invest the $4 million or so he’d likely be in line for in a different designated hitter option such as Lance Berkman.
Lee notes that Kevin Kouzmanoff and Edwin Encarnacion are also non-tender candidates, although presumably the A’s would keep one of them as the starting third baseman.