Last week, Jeff Passan from ESPN published an article where he predicted baseball's next mega-contracts for many of the game's young stars. With a recent wave of extensions for young superstars like Jackson Merrill, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and others taking place earlier this season, people around the sport are always trying to speculate on who the next stars to get paid in a big way could be.
In the article, Passan broke down the next several free agent classes into tiers escalating by $100 million, and unsurprisingly, there were a few Washington Nationals players who made the list. So who were the players who made the piece, and what were their contract projections?
$100M Tier
MacKenzie Gore will not be a free agent until after the 2027 season, but it's already hard to imagine just how long he's been on the Nationals. While it seemed like we were waiting for him to break out every year, he finally has broken through in a big way this season, and he currently leads the league in strikeouts so far in the early going.
He might be an All-Star for the first time in his career this season, and Passan chose to project him in the $100 million range for right now. Obviously, a lot of things can change in the next couple of seasons, as Passan noted how no other pitcher in this class has the ceiling that Gore possesses, and if he can continue to limit the amount of walks and homers he surrenders, he could command a deal worth north of $200 million on the open market. Gore is a client of Scott Boras, so an early extension before free agency seems unlikely, but we can always hope.
As for a non-Boras client, CJ Abrams made the list as well. Since he won't hit the open market until after the 2028 season, the Nationals have plenty of time to figure out just how valuable Abrams is to the club, and he could command a pretty hefty contract. As Passan notes, Abrams will be just 28-years-old when he hits the open market, and given that he plays a premium position while possessing a power-speed combination, he represents the potential to be a "rare free agent."
One interesting thing to note on Abrams is that Passan actually wondered if the Nationals shortstop could consider moving off the position, as he is an average defender at best. Many people have seemed to wonder if perhaps a shift to either second base or the outfield might be in his future, and I can't say I would be opposed to this.
We know the Nationals at least explored the possibility of extending Abrams last year, but then of course, the gambling incident to end last season following a second half fall off made the outlook seem bleak. Given that he is playing like an All-Star in the first half similar to how he did last year, the Nationals would be very smart to try to lock him up if he can sustain this pace for an entire season.
$300M Tier
As for the last guy in the article, you may have heard of James Wood and the unicorn of a player that he is. Wood is a true freak of nature, and there is a reason why Passan has Wood leading off the $300 million tier. Even after trading away the generational talent of Juan Soto, the Nationals got back James Wood, who has the potential to be yet another generational player.
Given that he has ties to the DMV area, I am optimistic that the Nationals can ultimately re-sign Wood to a long-term deal, but of course, he is a Scott Boras client, so I won't feel very confident that a deal could get done before he hits the open market until I see pen to paper.
Passan notes that Wood will be just 28-years-old by the time he hits free agency following the 2030 season, and even says that Wood could already have 200 career homers by then. This projection is certainly lofty for a player that hasn't even played a full season, but if we're being honest, $300 million might look like a bargain for the kind of player with Wood's ceiling.
Would you offer any of these extensions to these players? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.