Juan Soto, Nationals agree to one-year, $8.5 million deal to avoid arbitration

The Washington Nationals and young phenom Juan Soto have agreed to a one-year, $8.5 million deal to avoid arbitration. Joel Sherman of MLB Network was the first to report the value of the deal.

Soto gets a significant raise compared to his 2020 salary of $629,400. The 22-year old became first-time arbitration-eligible this year by gaining Super 2 status. Which is reserved for a player accruing more than two years of service time but less than three years. By rule, he will have four years of arbitration eligibility before hitting free agency in 2024.

Despite his youth, Soto has emerged as the face of the Nationals franchise with the departures of Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon over the last two winters. Last season, Soto became the youngest player ever to win a National League batting title with a .351 batting average.

He also led the MLB with .490 on-base percentage and .695 slugging percentage during coronavirus pandemic-shortened season (47 games, 196 plate appearances). He belted 13 home runs and 37 RBIs despite missing 13 games due to an elbow injury and quarantining at the start of the season. His 3.1 oWAR was only second to NL MVP Freddie Freeman.

Since his arrival in 2018, Soto has ascended into one of the best power hitters in baseball, finishing second in NL Rookie of the Year voting. In 2019, he was one of the centerpieces that led the Nationals to the World Series title. Through three seasons, Soto has a .295/.415/.557 career slash with 69 home runs.