1 extension the Nationals should make soon and 1 they should avoid

Over the last couple of seasons since the Washington Nationals began their rebuild, us fans have been treated with being able to see a bunch of young talent make their way to the majors to give Nats fans a glimpse into the future of the ballclub, and the next era of winning baseball in the Nation's Capital.

But as these new players come up and establish themselves in the show, the lingering thought in the back of my mind is how badly I want the front office to extend one of their young stars before they reach free agency, in order to avoid a repeat of the Bryce Harper saga in 2018. While already having signed catcher Keibert Ruiz to a long-term extension, the team is in prime position to be able to lock up another young franchise icon (or multiple), and the time might not be better than now before their value rises.

Extend: James Wood

This one would be going the route that the Milwaukee Brewers went with Jackson Chourio or the Seattle Mariners with Julio Rodriguez in that the Nationals can get a head start of locking up James Wood for a long time before he his free agency. In just 79 games, Wood showed a ton of promise at the plate, producing a .781 OPS to go along with 9 homers and 41 RBIs. The scary part for the rest of the MLB is that he hasn't even begun to consistently pull the ball in the air yet, and once that happens...look out.

The one thing that could make this tough? He is represented by Scott Boras and the Boras Corporation, who is notorious for having his players, such as Bryce Harper and Juan Soto hit free agency in order to maximize their values and create bidding wars. However, Boras and the Nationals have a very good relationship dating back a long time, as he was at the forefront of the numerous Stephen Strasburg negotiations, and understood how the club was looking out for his long-term health during the shutdown controversy.

Extending the 6'7" athletic unicorn would ensure that the DMV Nationals fans have a hometown kid to cheer on for a long time. I would love if the club would seek to give him a 10+ year deal to get him at a cheaper rate into his prime, but it remains to be seen if the club will explore this, as there have not yet been any rumors regarding this.

Need to see more: CJ Abrams

I didn't want to use the word "avoid" when it comes to extending CJ Abrams, however, I will say that at this point I just simply need to see more from the 24-year-old shortstop. There is zero doubt that Abrams is a quality ballplayer, he just had a 20-20 season in his age 23 season, and raised his OPS+ 14 points this season and was 10% better than a league average hitter this season, as well as accounting for 3.4 WAR.

Additionally, he was named to his 1st career All-Star team, however, there are still some things that need to be straightened out both on and off the field before he can be a true extension candidate. His defense, for starters, was better in some facets but worse than others between his 2023 and 2024 seasons. He had 5 less errors but had a lower DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) number in 2024 than he did the season before, so there is still a lot of room for improvement on that front.

He was significantly better on the offensive end to start the season, as through the first month of the season it seemed like he was going to legitimately establish himself as an MVP candidate in the National League. However, he would struggle with consistency in the coming months, ultimately finishing with similar numbers in both 2024 as he did in 2023 in homers, RBIs, and most of his slash line numbers, while also accounting for the same amount of WAR.

Of course, we know he was demoted to AAA to end the regular season, which signaled that the organization believes he still has some growing up and maturing to do before the club looks to lock him up for the long haul.

Personally, I have been on record as being a diehard CJ Abrams believer, and think he is going to have a big 2025 season in order to prove the haters wrong, and the organization right for believing in him and being patient with him. I am not opposed to an Abrams extension, but let's pump the brakes on him for now and focus on locking up James Wood first.

Which young Nationals player would you look to extend? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.