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Nationals Make Key Decisions on Their Arbitration-Eligible Players

Originally posted on Washington Nationals on SI
By Brad Wakai | Last updated Nov 21, 2025 6:08 PM ET

There were some big offseason dates looming for new Washington Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, and one of them was the non-tendering deadline.

That is when teams can decide to tender contracts to their arbitration-eligible players or not, which would either keep them with the organization for at least another season if a deal is agreed upon or make them a free agent if a contract wasn't extended.

With seven arbitration-eligible players, there was some speculation Toboni could shake up the roster a bit by letting some of them go, with second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. at the top of the list when it came to that decision-making process.

However, there was no drama on Friday. Ahead of the deadline, Washington decided to tender contracts to all seven of those players -- CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Josiah Gray, Cade Cavalli and Garcia -- with Riley Adams already agreeing to a one-year deal.

Nationals have tendered contracts to all 7 of their arbitration-eligible players, including agreeing to a 1-year contract with Riley Adams. So, no non-tenders by the new front office.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) November 21, 2025

A lot of those decisions weren't surprising. Because they are still in arbitration and are contributing at the major league level, they are cost-controlled assets that present a lot of value to the franchise in a financial capacity.

Cutting ties with someone like Irvin -- who had a horrendous season in 2025 -- or Garcia -- who hasn't been the cornerstone second baseman they envisioned -- could have been a real option for Toboni and this new front office. But instead, they decided to keep them around on the roster at least through this key date.

What This Means for Those Players

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Now, Washington and that group of players -- excluding Adams since he already agreed to a deal for 2026 -- will begin to figure out their contracts. That either means they will agree to a salary figure for next year or they will go to arbitration, which is a salary dispute process that gets decided upon by a panel of independent arbitrators.

MLB Trade Rumors projected what the Nationals' arbitration-eligible players could get this winter:

Luis Garcia Jr.: $7 million
CJ Abrams: $5.6 million
MacKenzie Gore: $4.7 million
Jake Irvin: $3.3 million
Riley Adams: $1.5 million
Josiah Gray: $1.35 million
Cade Cavalli: $1.3 million

At the time of writing, it's not known how much Adams' contract is worth. How aggressively Toboni wants to negotiate with the rest of this group will be interesting to see, especially when it comes to their projected salary amounts.

What This Means for Nationals

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All this means is that Washington decided to hold onto all seven of their arbitration-eligible players ahead of the non-tender deadline instead of making one or more free agents. That still means they can try to trade any of them if they want, especially the headlining duo of Gore and Abrams.

Similarly, this doesn't mean these players are guaranteed roster spots ahead of the 2026 campaign. The Nationals can still designate them for assignment or put anyone on outright waivers if they don't have a good showing during the spring.

All in all, it was a lackluster day for Toboni when it came to shaking up this organization, as he'll turn his attention to the future months if he wants to make a splash.