“Love Me Non-Tender, Love Me True…”

Who’s singing? Is it Mr. Alvarado? Mr. Andrus? Whoever is crooning you know what David Forst and company are doing: poring over the bevy of recently non-tendered players mining for hidden treasure.

While many players are non-tendered because they are simply non-good, this is not always the case. Sometimes they are just getting a bit more expensive as they fit less into a team’s plans, sometimes they are squeezed out of the 40-man roster by circumstance, sometimes they are coming off down seasons that may or may not precede a return to form.

Here, an alphabetical order, are some non-tendered players the A’s could be looking at for all we know — usually those discussions are quiet until a deal is suddenly announced.

Jason Foley, 30 – RP

The A’s would like to fortify their bullpen and Foley has a strong track record albeit not in a classic closer or set up role. Foley was non-tendered by the Tigers but was actually pretty solid again in 2025.

Foley is an extreme ground ball pitcher (career 54.1%), which is a great fit for the A’s while they call Sacramento home. His K rate was down in 2025, which is often a red flag but not as much for a sinker baller. Perhaps more concerning would be that his GB rate did fall 10% from 57% to 47%, but he still produced good results (3.15 ERA with just 5 HR in 60 IP).

Ian Hamilton, 30 – RP

Hamilton was one of 4 relievers the Yankees non-tendered and probably the one most likely to have a strong 2026 season. There was some worrisome shifts in Hamilton’s performance in 2025, but there were also some signs he is still capable of excelling.

On the down side, Hamilton’s fastball velocity did lose 1 MPH from 96.4 MPH to 95.4 MPH and his BB/9IP rate jumped from 3.35 to 4.95 — perhaps the reason the Yankees decided to cut ties.

But on the plus side, for the third straight season Hamilton K’d more than a batter an inning (40 IP, 42 K) and he was very hard to hit allowing just 28 hits in 40 IP despite throwing to a shaky Yankees defense.

With a career K/9IP rate of 9.84 and a low HR/9IP rate of 0.72, Hamilton could be a tidy fit for the A’s bullpen. It’s just a question of whether you see him improving or eroding moving forward.

Jonah Heim, 30 – C

Once an A’s prospect, Heim went to Texas in the deal for one of those Elvi and initially thrived, peaking in 2023 with a .258/.317/.438, 4.0 WAR season. He hasn’t had positive WAR since, though as both his offensive and defensive numbers have taken a sharp tumble.

Why the A’s could be interested is that as Heim may be transitioning from a primary catcher to a back up, that’s what the A’s are looking for (unless they are high on Austin Wynns). Heim ticks boxes as a back up, being solid defensively with at least some pop in his bat historically.

One negative is that the switch-hitting Heim has fared much better from the right side (105 career wRC+) than as a LH batter (75 career wRC+) and as a veteran he might not come as cheap as some of his non-tendered peers. But he might also be a luxury to have in the back up role.

Ramon Urias, 31 – 3B/2B

Hey, the A’s tried his brother in 2025, why not give the other Urias a whirl in 2026? The answer would be that Ramon is coming off his worst hitting season (.241/.292/.384, 87 wRC+) but it was also his first one under 98 wRC+ over his 5 year career.

On paper, Urias has plenty to offer, potentially, to a team seeking help at 2B or 3B. He is a career 104 wRC+ hitter (.257/.321/.403) with a modest 22.8% K rate. He is coming off of an excellent season defensively at 2B (+7 DRS, +4 OAA) and grades out well there for his career (+11 DRS, +2 OAA).

Urias is also remarkably consistent in his platoon splits. Against LHP he is a career ..250/.314/.406, 101 wRC+ and against RHP he is a career .261/.324/.401, 105 wRC+.

Thus, no matter who is on the mound Urias has profiled as an average hitter and above average fielder, and at 31 his down season is likely not the start of an age-related decline.

Jacob Webb, 32 – RP

Webb is another reliever coming off of a solid season, but he was non-tendered by the Rangers. Webb boasts a career ERA of just 2.99 and while his K/9IP dropped from 2024 to 2025 (9.21 to 7.91) so did his BB/9IP rate, by a lot (4.29 to 2.59).

2024 was Webb’s highest WAR season (0.7 WAR) and his fastball velocity, 93.5 MPH in 2024, was unchanged in 2025.

Which, if any, of these 5 would you like to see the A’s sign — or are there others on the non-tendered list you favor more, and if so why? November is officially Armchair GM Month so have at it!