Yesterday, there was both some good and bad news as it relates to our beloved Washington Nationals on the arbitration front. The good news? The club was able to agree to terms on 1-year deals with various players who all figure to be a part of the club in 2025 in MacKenzie Gore, Riley Adams, Derek Law, Luis Garcia Jr., and injured righty Josiah Gray.
That sounds great right? What could the bad news possibly be? Well, despite the Nationals seemingly having a good day and giving out enough money to make a lot of their players happy, the club failed to come to terms with their prized offseason acquisition, Nathaniel Lowe.
And while I do think that this matter will be resolved before it has to go to an arbitration hearing, the optics on this matter do not paint the organization in the best light. Our staff here at District on Deck was debating this topic yesterday after the news broke, and although I was definitely on the optimistic side when it comes to settling the deal with Lowe before the hearing, other team members made some pretty great points that gave me another perspective.
First of all, although being in a prime position to spend money to significantly upgrade the team this winter with Patrick Corbin's albatross salary finally coming off the books, the club has settled for cheaper upgrades, failing to dish out the big bucks to this point for guys like Alex Bregman or Anthony Santander. While I do not dislike any of the additions the club has made, as a fan we really have to begin to wonder if or when the front office will ever spend significant money again.
The fact that Lowe, who is by far the most significant addition the club has made in years, is basically being told by the club, "We think you are valuable, but not THAT valuable," which is not a great start to this marriage. Lowe was estimated to be worth about $10.7 million heading into yesterday's deadline, and it appears that the Nationals once again are attempting to pinch pennies instead of making the smart move.
Lowe and the Nationals can still negotiate on their own, and the team has a history of settling most of these cases before going to an arbitration hearing in February. https://t.co/6hrfCjoX16
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) January 10, 2025
While I am sure that it is a pretty standard negotiating tactic by Lowe and his camp to aim for more than what you are estimated, the fact that the Nationals went lower than the expected number and are now headed for a hearing is just unnecessary in my opinion. Whether intentional or not, the fact that you came in lower runs the risk of sending a message to the player that you are going to nickel and dime him during his tenure in DC, and that is not the message that you want to be sending to a guy who is expected to be the veteran leader when you have a team of rising superstars and young talent.
I really truly hope that the Lerner family has a trick up their sleeve to field a competitive club at some point soon, because things like this that might not seem like a big deal are not going to go unnoticed. This is most likely going to be an overreaction, and everything will be settled before the hearing, as everyone seems to expect, but the fans, players, and team employees deserve better from ownership, and little antics like this need to stop. It's time to get serious, and give the fans a product that they deserve.
What do you think of the Nathaniel Lowe arbitration news? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.