The Pittsburgh Pirates have opted against tendering right-handed pitcher Jeff Karstens a contract for 2013, instead choosing to non-tender the pitcher, according to Jim Bowden of ESPN, making Karstens a free agent.

For Pittsburgh, the team did not feel Karstens would be worth a raise from his $3.1 million in arbitration, since players almost always receive raises from one year to another, so they opted to create an open roster spot.

Karstens will now be a free agent in a market that isn't loaded with cheap pitching, so he will certainly draw interest from plenty of clubs, which could include the Pirates.

By choosing to non-tender Karstens a contract, that does not mean the two sides cannot work out a contract that would bring the right-handed pitcher back to Pittsburgh.

At 30 years of age, Karstens posted a 3.97 ERA across 90 2/3 innings of work with an excellent 4.40 strikeout-to-walk ratio.