3 likely non-tender candidates Guardians must target this November

We’re at a point in the MLB offseason where teams are beginning to cull their rosters in preparation for an offseason unlike any other. And although some teams made moves to clean up their 40-man rosters before Monday’s deadline, every team in baseball has less than a month to decide whether or not they want to tender contracts to eligible players before the deadline on Nov. 20. 

Here are three players on their respective team’s roster bubble who would be good fits on the Guardians. 

There are plenty of non-tender candidates who could help the Guardians

LHP Tanner Banks, Philadelphia Phillies

While there’s a chance the Phillies could still tender Banks a contract for 2026 via arbitration, it seems like there’s just as good of a chance that they could cut bait with him after his rough 2026. 

Banks looked like he was destined to be a key piece of the Phillies’ bullpen after a strong 2025 (3.07 ERA), but that all went by the wayside this year thanks to a season where his walk rate rose by four percent while his strikeout rate dipped by a percent as well. 

But there are still some things to like. Almost all of that “production” came before he went on the injured list at the start of July with a hamstring strain, and he allowed just one run in 7 1/3 innings after returning while working as a multi-inning reliever. 

Banks’ projected $1.4 million price tag may be a lot for a fringe reliever, but this year’s postseason showed how valuable a dangerous multi-inning reliever can be. 

INF Nolan Gorman, St. Louis Cardinals

Gorman burst onto the scene in 2023 when he slugged 27 home runs in just 119 games with the Cardinals, but his career has fizzled out in the time since. He opened 2024 as the Cardinals’ starting second baseman but ended up getting demoted to Triple-A in August thanks in large part to his MLB-leading 37.6% strikeout rate. 

He’s alternated between MLB and Triple-A in the two years since, though he’s also spent a decent amount of time on the training due to a variety of injuries. He only made it into 85 games with the Cardinals last year, and finished the year with a .580 OPS. 

Gorman has power for days and has appeared at four different positions in his career, but his 33.9% strikeout rate is the fifth-highest mark in baseball since the start of 2023. Gorman would be a risky signing, but he has the one thing the Guardians desperately need. 

1B/3B Mark Vientos, New York Mets

Speaking of power, Vientos has that in spades. But, like Gorman, it’s hard to look past his injuries and strikeouts. 

It looked like he had swung his way into the Mets’ core in 2024 when he recorded a .266/.322/.516 slashline with 27 home runs and 71 RBI for a team that made it all the way to the NLCS. 

But he was worth just 0.3 fWAR in 2025 (with 17 home runs) before being a net negative player in the 87 big league games he appeared in last season. He started his career at third base but played primarily at first last season to make room for Bo Bichette’s move to third. 

Vientos could slot into the Guardians’ roster as a power-hitting first baseman/designated hitter, but that would come at the expense of Ralphy Velazquez. 

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