District On Deck
FanSided

Washington Nationals: Three Players The Front Office Needs To Extend

By Max Rayman

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 03: Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals walks to the dugout after striking out against the Boston Red Sox at Nationals Park on October 03, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 03: Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals walks to the dugout after striking out against the Boston Red Sox at Nationals Park on October 03, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next

In the middle of a rebuild, Washington is attempting to find long-term pieces to join their new core. Fortunately, they already have a solid foundation and just need to bolster individual positions and add depth.

At least 1-2 years away from truly contending, now is the time for the Nationals to sign these three players to contract extensions.

Juan Soto

This one is a given, but Juan Soto needs to be given a blank check in order for him to play his entire career in D.C. The 23-year-old is the best hitter in baseball not named Mike Trout and was just named a finalist for NL MVP. He was also named a finalist for the Silver Slugger in the outfield and for the All-MLB team.

After a slow start, Soto finished the season hitting .313, with 29 homers, 95 RBIs, and an OPS of .999. He led MLB in OBP (.465), walks (145), and intentional walks (23), and also posted the sixth-lowest strikeout percentage (14.2%) (minimum 650 ABs).

A Scott Boras client, his agent is known for having his players reach free agency so they can maximize their   Yesterday during Boras’s press conference, he announced that Soto wants to know the Nats are committed to winning before agreeing to talk about an extension.

For a player of Soto’s caliber, letting him walk is a fireable offense. Filling out the rest of the offense with a solid supporting cast should be the objective in order to have Soto buy into the future.

Home/Nationals News