As the free agency period continues, there are increasingly few options to spend meaningful money on to upgrade the roster. Even on Wednesday night, Pete Alonso (one of the only impactful hitters left on the market) reached an agreement to re-sign with the New York Mets.
With that in mind, the next best option for the Washington Nationals would be to secure their best players for future seasons. Aside for players for whom we're all banking on potential, the most qualified extension candidate is likely second baseman Luis Garcia Jr.
After experiencing mixed results for the last few years, Garcia finally had his breakout season in 2024. Long believed to have decent power, contact and speed potential, Garcia struggled to put it all together early in his professional career. That all changed last season, when he was arguably Washington's most productive player, and one of the better second basemen in the league.
All told, Garcia finished 2024 with a .282 batting average, 18 home runs, 70 RBIs and 22 stolen bases to go along with relatively consistent play at second base. If CJ Abrams is able to bounce back, there are reasons to believe that the Nationals could have a solid, if not very good, middle infield for the next few years. One step they could take to ensure that is the case is if they agree to a contract extension with Garcia.
Although 2025 will be the sixth season in which he spends time in the majors, Garcia doesn't turn 25 years old until May and won't reach free agency until following the 2027 season. Therefore, even if the Nationals stand pat with him, he's still under contract for three more years, including the early portion of his prime.
Still, wouldn't it feel great to have a player that we're confident can be highly productive, and take a step to ensure he'll be staying in Washington for the foreseeable future? Particularly if James Wood, Dylan Crews and perhaps others improve like Garcia did last year, the Nationals could have the building blocks to form a solid batting order for years to come.
Another reason why this is a conversation worth having is, as widely discussed by Andrew Lang and Talk Nats, the young second baseman switched his agency from the Boras Agency to the MAS+ Agency. His new representation is much more agreeable towards re-negotiating a contract ahead of free agency. In fact, it wouldn't be surprising if this was a driving factor in Garcia switching agents. After all, it's much more common for players to hire Scott Boras once they become stars, not vice versa.
It's no secret that Mark Lerner, Mike Rizzo and company haven't handed out much new money in the last handful of years. However, it is worth noting that catcher Keibert Ruiz was given a contract extension that, while inexpensive in terms of annual value, was still an eight-year commitment (or three years beyond hid rookie contract).
At the time, it seemed like Garcia might be next in line to receive an extension. It didn't happen then, but could it happen now that he has an agent once again who would be agreeable towards it?
For now, Garcia is slated to earn $4.5 million this year, after agreeing to terms in his first arbitration-eligible season. If he performs as well as better compared to 2024, his salary could easily double next season and continue to increase substantially as he approaches free agency.
In order to gain some cost control, not to mention ensuring he doesn't sign elsewhere, it may be smart to pursue a longer term contract with Garcia sooner rather than later. And of course, considering the Nationals aren't spending substantial money on incumbent players or trade/free agent acquisitions, they certainly have available funds to spend elsewhere as they see fit.
What do you think? Could now be the time to extend Garcia? Let me know what you think @stephen_newman1 on X.