Royals non-tender Greg Holland

The Royals have non-tendered All-Star closer Greg Holland, making him a free agent. The 30-year old right-handed reliever will miss the entire 2016 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. The Royals are reportedly interested in re-signing Holland to a two-year contract. Holland made $8.25 million last year and MLB Trade Rumors projected him to receive $11.3 million in arbitration this year, despite his injury. Holland is a two-time All-Star with 145 career saves in six season with the Royals. He had a 3.83 ERA in 2015 in 44 2/3 innings with 32 saves but lost effectiveness late in the year until it was revealed he had a significant tear in his UCL, requiring surgery.

The Royals also non-tendered minor league infielder Orlando Calixte. The 23-year old was not arbitration-eligible, but this move helps get him off the 40-man roster. The move now makes him a free agent. Calixte hit .229/.287/.339 with 8 HR 27 RBI in 107 games for AAA Omaha and appeared in two games for the Royals. He was originally signed in 2009 out of the Dominican Republic for $1 million.

The Royals also announced they have traded catcher Francisco Pena to the Baltimore Orioles for cash. These transactions, plus the acquisition of catcher Tony Cruz today put the Royals 40-man roster at 38 players.

The Royals have not officially announced tender decisions on their other players, but are almost certainly going to tender contracts to Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Danny Duffy, and Jarrod Dyson. Tendering a contract allows the club to continue to negotiate with them on a contract for next year, or take their case to an arbitrator in February. The Royals will have a decision to make to tender or non-tender Louis Coleman and Drew Butera and have until 11 p.m. CT tonight. The Royals have never had to go to arbitration under Dayton Moore. Tim Collins was also eligible for arbitration, but signed a one-year contract on Monday.

UPDATE: The Royals have tendered a contract to Drew Butera, according to Andy McCullough.

UPDATE: The Royals tendered contracts to all remaining arbitration-eligible players - Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Danny Duffy, Jarrod Dyson, and Louis Coleman.